I wake up in the van as me, Barton and Jonathan pull around the corner. The new girl disappeared in a blue bubble, Jonathan and Barton went inside with guns and things. I stayed in the car (at Barton's insistance) to guard it. The intruders have been cutting through the concrete block that was surrounding the sword and it's case, and have mostly succeeded. Dana and Dargo are down. I ran into the building to get Dana out, but I couldn't move very fast. Too tired. (barton fought with people. REALLY scary gun!) ("I tried something impressively stupid and it worked!"-Tommy) (Jonathan tried to shoot at the bad guys and a wraith appeared. This is a really cool one. It says *"go back, this is needed"* to him *"why?"* *"It is needed to fulfil an obligation. This is necessary. Go back."* *"And then?"* *"It must be used to fulfil an obligation"* *"Of what kind"* *"of necessity"* *"To do what"* *"That which is necessary"* Jonathan bowed faintly and retreated to the stairs. I made it into the building, grabbed Dana and pulled her up the stairs. Jonathan said, *"They seem to be escaping with the sword, I can't do anything more, and my hand isn't working"* Tom said, *"There are people on the roof. We might be able to question them"* The heads of the people upstairs exploded (cortex bombs) and then so did all the other bodies. One was an elf, the rest were human. Armor is varied, some stolen. I got Dana up the stairs and tried to do first aid on her with her computer, then took her up the stairs to a bed. I told A' *"I need a nap, let me know if you need me"* and lay down on a bed next to Dana. I got back up after about half an hour. Barton started flaming about the "shit pirates" who ran off with our sword, and about how old he is, and only vaguely remembering things that have happened since. He started hitting on Dana and I, and teasing us about not being good in battle I took out my tangler. He said "that's not a gun". I said "yes it is" and shot him with a tangler. There are hovercraft coming towards our building, matching the sky. I wave, and pass out. (A' called the ambassador and told him that we no longer had the sword. Talshara called and said "what are you doing. You should know better. You called in the Tir.) Talshara started speaking into my head. *"You should have known better. I warned you what would happen if you went crawling back to those breakaway scum. The gold towers can't protect you, and there's no point in my bothering either."* (The Tir Tangir specialops show up, not pointing guns at us, telling us to get into their hovercraft. They pick up my unconsious body and take me into it. A big fireball hits us, ricochets and keeps hitting. We all have nasty fevers, boiling alive.) *"I'm going to try to arange the shrimp to maximize the feng shui of the freezers"* -Justin Radio crackles "You are in Tir Tangir controlled airspace. Password?" "We're in trouble, everyone is passed out, and there's only two of us..." "The word is mayday"-Jonathan "MAYDAY!!!"- Barton "Password acknowledged. Land on North runway" "Welcome, I suppose" -Ambassador "how?" -A'leia "Not now. We need to get a warded space. If you two (indicating A'leia and Jonathan) feel up to helping, we could use it." -Ambassador "Sure" -Jonathan "How can I help?" -A'leia "Come this way" -Ambassador Jonathan and I hold candles for a several-hour long ritual, in which they chanted in sperethial about shielding the building. Barton wakes up, is stunned again, and all the unconsious people are taken to a hospital. When the ritual ended, we were taken to the infirmary. I told them the story of what had happened, and asked how the Tir knew we were needed. Dana told me "we called them" *We did* **WHAT?!?** <reality dawns> *I'm going to kill him. I am going to rip out his memory chips and every wire, one by one.* The Ambassador came in. *All of you will be safe here from that assault for 24 hours at most. I expect that shield to fall when the sun rises. I don't think we have the resources to keep it up longer than that. Therefore, you need to make some very quick decisions. Clearly many of you are not able to travel or engage in any type of heroics. I'd like to ask you to swear an oath of loyalty to Tir Tangir, but I expect you to refuse, and really won't hold it against you. Surprisingly, the party swore their loyalty. **The Oath** *"I swear to protect, uphold and defend the Heart and the Nation of Tir Taingire"*