text: [Themes: edutainment, drama, historical]
  
  The next few months are a dark, miserable time. Ever since the Sean McGarry incident, you and Joseph are both noticeably darker. You contribute less to the cause, spending large amounts of time at home in the fields. There, in the fields, you can work for hours on end, focusing on nothing but work. You don't have to picture children burning alive in fires just out of your view. No, you don't have to deal with that until night falls.
  
  By April 1923, the fight for independence has worsened considerably for your side. More and more IRA soldiers are captured, with over 12,000 imprisoned at this point in the war. Ernie O'Malley, the man who trained the old IRA unit in the fight against the British, is shot twenty times, before being captured. Impressively, he manages to survive. The IRA forces are desperate for peace, hoping they'll simply survive as it becomes clear there's little chance of success. Frank Aiken, who you know quite well at this point, is elected to the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army, becoming the anti-Treaty commander. He's nearly captured, with the Quinn brothers, his lieutenants who you talked to briefly, being killed or captured. Frank Aiken manages to escape, although little more than a week later he calls a cease fire in an attempt to minimize the death and destruction from his new position.
  
  The month after has little fighting, mostly just waiting, as you patiently wonder what's to happen. Due to the fractured nature of the IRA, many continue fighting despite the ceasefire, although the violence is hugely decreased. Then, Frank Aiken gives the order. "Dump arms, and return home". It's that simple. Toss your rifle aside and go home, and the war is over. Eamon DeValera supports this move, sending out the following message: "Further sacrifice on your part would now be in vain and the continuance of the struggle in arms unwise in the national interest. Military victory must be allowed to rest for the moment with those who have destroyed the Republic". It's a spiteful message, sure, but an order of surrender.
  
  It isn't a major battle that ends the war, not a decisive victory or some great battle. No, it's a bunch of old friends growing tired of shedding each other's blood, or killing civilians, or executing prisoners. Instead, it's a few words, and a desperate plea for an end to the fighting.
  
  The night of the 24th of May, you're staying in an IRA safe-house with the rest of your unit as you wait for word, preparing to attack if the Free State break the cease fire.
  
  When you get the order, there's a mixed response. Some cheer. Some swear. Joseph, however, doesn't say a word. He nods grimly, and heads to his bed. There's a few words of complaint, but most of the men are tired of the killing. There's rumors that a few of them are going to mutiny, to refuse the orders and continue the fight. You... you don't know anymore. You've given up so much for this war. Done so much. You wonder, can you abandon the cause after all this?
  
  > Mutiny from the IRA and join the remaining rebels
  You decide to mutiny from the IRA. You refuse to surrender, to abandon the Republic of Ireland, especially after all you fought for. You don't tell the others, though, in case they let the Free State known. Instead, you assemble those who are clearly against the truce in secret. Instead, you abscond into the night, looting the rifles and weaponry before they can be dumped. With that, you prepare to leave late at night, before the surrender takes place, ditching out from the safe house you're staying at.
  
  You pause on the way out, as you notice a sleeping Joseph in the downstairs bedroom. Joseph is not among those who wants to continue fighting, instead deciding to surrender with the rest of them. You stare at him for a moment, before letting out a sigh and moving out of the room.
  
  "Let's go," Casey, one of the hardcore rebels, says from the doorway. "We don't have time to stick around."
  
  You nod, following them outside the door as you abandon the IRA to continue to wage the unending war for freedom.
  
  > The Queenstown Attack
  The next few months are spent desperately trying to hide out, protecting your arms and trying to avoid arrest. Now that the central anti-Treaty IRA forces have surrendered, the Free State's law and enforcement has increased to a huge degree, making it far harder to stay hidden, let alone perform attacks. Eventually, however, you manage to secure equipment, and a target. You manage to steal an armored car from a Free State military base via forged credentials, as well as using stockpiled weapons stolen during th remain chunk of the Treaty War, to prepare an attack on the HMS Scythe in Queenstown, formerly Cobh in it's Irish tongue, one of the three Treaty Ports that exists . You plan an assault on the British warship, in hope of sparking a brutal retaliatory attack from them on the Irish populace. This could remotivate the IRA to oppose them, and perhaps even bring the Free State over and create an international issue.
  
  You sit in the drivers seat of the armored car, driving down the back roads of Queenstown towards the famous port that'll be your target. The others in the car are all dedicated warriors of the cause, all brutal fighters who've lost a lot in the war to independence. Casey, the gunner, lost three brothers in the Easter Rising, one a civilian who was just watching the fighting from their home, and lost his pregnant wife to a Black and Tan attack. The two riflemen in the back, the O'Riordan brothers, lost multiple cousins, their father and their sister. It's clear that you're all willing to die for the cause.
  
  The armored car begins coming up on the port, but it's Free State details mean it's not stopped or doesn't cause any suspicion. You soon make out the HMS Scythe, a large Destroyer that sits docked to the port. Most of the crew is up top with civilian dock workers, making preparation for launch. You drive up to them, getting the widest range of fire. Then, you stop and the gun slowly turns to aim. There's a brief pause, before it begins.
  
  The burst of machine gun fire begins from the top, a thunderous roar as the gun's maw fires streams of lead to cut down the British enemy and their collaborators who betrayed the nation. You watch, as they're hurriedly
  
  For a brief moment, adrenaline floods through you, as you watch the sailors are gunned down on mass.
  
  You pause, however, as you realize what's actually going on, staring out at who you're shooting at. Not British soldiers occupying Irish villages, but simple sailors in the British Navy returning home, mainly, who are unprepared for the attack, thinking their days of fighting were over. Civilians, who just happen to be at the dock, who the gunner appears to be firing at indiscriminately.
  
  You're massacring civilians, not waging war. This isn't justice, this is hatred. This isn't an attempt to gain independence, but an attempt to shed blood.
  
  The enemy, those with guns, begin returning with heavy fire.
  
  You slow down the armored car, as bullets thud off it. You let out a sigh, swinging open the door, and giving the soldiers outside a clear shot at you.
  
  You'd like to have thought you were dying as a martyr, but you died as a villain.