The Maximals spend a solemn evening recycling their honored lost. Then, the matter of the chain of command must again be resolved. However, the warning monitors begin to alert the Maximals of a falling stasis pod, and before a real argument can ensue, Scythe immediately takes command in order to resolve the situation.
The pod has fallen in the coldest part of the northern mountains, and the Maximal ship has to search for a nearby place to land. They finally find it at the shores of an ice lake. Setting down, Paladyne, Shadowraith, and Scythe head out to greet their new arrival. Shadowraith picks up the approaching Maximal signature in the air. But the creature that approaches from the skies is not a Maximal, but an actual dragon-a white dragon that breathes ice breath on the unsuspecting heroes. As they engage the creature in combat, the Maximals are surprised to hear a cry of 'Maximize' from above, as the new Maximal, Snowshriek, joins the fray. With the aid of Snowshriek, whose beast mode is a giant owl, the Maximals defeat the dragon. Scythe enlists Hulk in aiding him to carry the dragon corpse back to the ship, wondering if its remains can be sold or used in research.
After this, the Maximal team travels to the city of Wanderlust Pass, south of the Dragonstooth Mountains, and the adventuring capitol of the world. It is here where they set up their meeting with Muldin Gemcutter, the greedy dwarf to whom they promised to teach advanced energon refining in return for a share of his store. After making contact with the Gemcutter family, the Maximals are invited to Blackforge, Muldin's home. They are directed to a mountain pass that leads to a secret cave, and a dwarven guard leads them deep into the earth, to the energon mines. Muldin demonstrates the "proper" way of carving energon, a method which uses precise chisel-blows and which Snowshriek recognizes as dangerous. The dwarf is willing to accompany the Maximals back to their ship to witness their methods. However, upon seeing the way the Maximals do their carving, he's still unconvinced. He speaks about the scenario with his wife, and they finally decide that they will require a downpayment of gold in exchange for the first set of ore, before they can manufacture the equipment the Maximals are teaching them to use, and put it to proper dwarven testing. Thus, the Maximals will need to find a way to make some extra collateral.