Phoenix Phire

"Are you sure Nix?" Jun Li had felt sick to her stomach when he relayed what the prisoner had said. The Salamander guild had paid Nottingham and Marauder to come after them.

Banzi scowled at the words, "they think we are easy pickings? We should teach them a lesson."

Wind nodded in agreement, "the fact that these two guilds accepted means they have no respect for us. They should have stayed out of it."

Wylie was holding the prisoner, special shackles were attached to his ankles and feet. He was also gagged so that he couldn't speak. "Why are we bringing this person? There has been a ransom offer for him already."

Nix was finding it hard not to stare at his Knight Captain. Since they were meeting the Royal family of Phelinomia, they were all wearing formal attire which Nix had made. Her silver hair was worn up, she looked stunning in pale blue.

"Is there something on my face?" Wylie was smiling at Banzi, his red face was evidence that he had been caught staring. Wind laughed at his discomfort.

"I'm sorry Captain Wylie, " Banzi's deep voice made her smile, everything about the Inferno tank was oversized and exaggerated. "You look like a princess."

The Knight didn't seem bothered by the comment, "thank you Banzi. You look very nice also."

Wind and Nix exchanged glances, but neither commented. Did those two like each other?

"I have my reasons for having him accompany us." Nix led them away from the Lohai platform. Lohai was one of the most beautiful cities in all of Colonial. White spires rose up on every block. The streets were made from large brown stones that had been buffed until they were smooth. There were well-armored guards on every corner. As they continued to walk down the main street toward the Palace, they eventually arrived at a cordoned-off area that was heavily guarded.

A fully armored knight held out a hand when they approached. "Halt. This area is off-limits."

Wylie stepped forward, "this is your superior officer, Colonel Nix. It was his people who stopped the invasion attempt."

The Knight quickly saluted and stood to one side. "Colonel! I am Captain Haven. I will escort you to the site."

Nix nodded and followed the knight while the rest of the group fell in behind. They walked half a block before they came upon a massive crater that had destroyed the street and part of two buildings. There were still Aquarion bodies littered about. "No one has tampered with anything?"

The Knight shook his head, "we were ordered to maintain security until you arrived to search the bodies."

Wind moved to the side of the crater, he kicked a dead Rock Work into the hole. " You can see where they stopped digging. They were within fifty feet of breaking through." He pointed to where the smoothly dug sides ended.

Jun Li knelt and examined one of the Aquarions, "they were boiled Nix. The water super-heated and eventually the pressure broke through the surface here."

Banzi stepped toward the edge and peered down, "so there are thousands of Aquarions down there? All of them were boiled alive?"

The Knight nodded, "we would have been caught by surprise. The Palace is one block from here, a few thousand Aquarions would have overrun the guard quickly."

Nix spotted an object the size of a pineapple and picked it up. It was metallic and covered in squares that had been adhered to each other. He held it up for the others to see. "What is this?"

Jun Li shook her head, "there are a few laying around. I've never seen anything like them."

Wind held out his hand and Nix handed it to him. "You can bet its a weapon of some sort."

"A bomb maybe?" Banzi refused to touch it, "put it down carefully until we know for sure."

Wind smiled at his best friend, "nervous Banz?"

The big man nodded his head and backed up a few steps.

"We should continue to the Palace. Captain Haven, I want you to clear up this site. Have a team enter this tunnel and remove everything that could be deemed useful. Then fill it in."

"Right away sir. We will send it directly to Glory Island." Haven saluted crisply and turned to one of his men. "Escort Colonel Nix and his group to the Palace immediately."

The Inferno group followed the guard and within a few minutes were sitting comfortably in a waiting area outside of the Royal Court.

A Royal page approached them. "I will be escorting you into the Court. Please follow me."

Nix stepped into the Royal Court to the sound of loud shouting. "Introducing Colonel Nix from the Knights of Colonial and his trusted companions.

/Guildchat: Jun LI: F*ck! When did I become a trusted companion?

/Guildchat: Semmi: Hmm?

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Never mind.

Phelinomia was ruled jointly by a King and Queen. They had a son and daughter that were standing next to the Queen's throne. Each of them had the same dark hair and tanned skin that were prevalent in the Phelinomia archipelago. The King was dressed in rich red colors and wore a large golden crown. The queen was wearing a lighter red dress with a simple silver circlet on her head. Her dark beauty immediately made Nix think of Sharl and Ronnie. She could have been their older sister.

Nix stopped next to the page and bowed deeply. "I am Nix and these people are Banzi, Wind, Jun Li and Captain Wylie of the Colonial Knights. Each of his friends bowed when they were introduced.

Neither the King nor Queen spoke, but their daughter did. "Well met Nix. I am Princess Festa. Would you please describe the events of this Aquarion invasion?"

"Of course. While we were hunting for mounts at the Lapu crater we became aware of an Aquarion Assault force inside. At this time we declared a guild emergency and used all of our available resources to ascertain their mission. We were able to uncover a plot between the Aquarions and two human guilds to invade and capture the city of Lohai."

/Guildchat: Jun Li: What the f*ck?

/Guildchat: Wind: Oh... you're good Nix.

Nix paused until the Princess motioned for him to continue. "We sent a brave team into the heart of the volcano to ignite the inner core. Sadly everyone on that team was killed while carrying out their mission. Their efforts superheated the water in the tunnels that the Aquarions were digging."

"How many of your people died saving us?" The King finally spoke, his manner was calm but there was anger burning in his eyes.

"Twelve Sire. We lost many more during the naval battle."

The King nodded gravely, he had heard of the great battle. "Explain please."

"While our team was heading into the volcano, we discovered the enemy invasion fleet moving toward Lohai. We intercepted them with our four frigates and destroyed most of their fleet. A few of them managed to limp away because our ships were too heavily damaged to pursue."

The Queen lay her hand on the King's arm and then stood up. "This prisoner is a member of the invasion force?"

Nix nodded, "The Nottingham and Marauder guilds thought they could rule Lohai, their ships were loaded with soldiers. The Aquarions were tunneling toward your Palace, while their ships were poised to take your docks to make you fight on two fronts."

The Queen made a gesture and two guards grabbed the prisoner and dragged him away. "You've suffered loss because you chose to defend us. We shall not forget this."

Colonial System Message: The Kingdom of Phelinomia has entered into an alliance with the Inferno Guild.

Colonial System Message: The Kingdom of Phelinomia has declared war on the Nottingham Guild. No members of Nottingham are allowed entry into Phelinomia. [Limit 120 Days]

Colonial System Message: The Kingdom of Phelinomia has declared war on the Marauder Guild. No members of Marauder are allowed entry into Phelinomia. [Limit 120 Days]

/Guildchat: Semmi: What's going on over there? Both of those guilds have their headquarters in Phelinomia.

/Guildchat: Wind: They've just been Nixed.

[All members of Inferno have been given the title of 'Knight of Phelinomia.']

[The Inferno Navy has been given a Legendary Shipyard to upgrade their fleet]

[For halting the invasion before it reached Lohai, you've been given a special gift.]

[New Guild Options available]

Onion Quest Part III

Dunham's trail led you to discover a plot to invade Lohai. You discovered a mysterious map that he left behind.

[Onion Quest Updated]

Onion Quest part III, Investigate the mysterious map.

****************

A few hours later the group from Inferno returned to through the dock portal. There were dozen of crates full of gear and objects stacked neatly. Jun Li opened one of the crates. "Captain Haven works fast, it's the loot from the Aquarions."

/Guildchat: Nix: Could you come to the docks Min? There's some Aquarion gear here.

/Guildchat: Filamina: Right away Nix.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: When we going to see Shae?

/Guildchat: Nix: Tomorrow morning, sorry I'm a bit tired.

Nix was looking at the new options for the guild. They could build a shipyard and there was an option to build a Phelinomia embassy. The embassy came with a hundred Knights.

Jun Li had been hovering close to him since they got back. "We can put that shipyard on the West side of the island."

Nix nodded, "I was thinking the same thing. The embassy can wait until we advance our town."

Jun Li smiled, "let's see what the special gift is Nix."

Nix held up the small wooden box he had received. "You mean this?"

She tried to grab it but he moved it way. "Open it Nix!"

"Fine." Nix opened the box, it was completely empty.

[New Quest Available: Help Lionel out at the Phelinomia Quarry]

Jun Li sighed heavily. "It's a quest?"

Nix shrugged, "guess so."