text: [Themes: edutainment, historical]
  
  Early in the 28th of June, the artillery attacks beginm hitting the Four Courts and beginning the Treaty War. The artillery is meant to quickly force out the rebels and quickly end the conflict. Instead, it lasts through the day, before they decide to send in your unit to take the Eastern Wing.
  
  You stare as the next barrage of artillery begins, explosive shells slamming into the Four Courts with explosive punches. You pause, wondering how many of your former allies are in there. Is Joseph there, among the other traitors, standing by the window with a rifle, waiting to shoot you as you walk by?
  
  "Michael?" Fionn asks, as you return to reality.
  
  "What?" you say.
  
  "Did you hear our old friend Ernie O'Malley is commanding a large group of traitors?" Fionn asks.
  
  "I didn't know that. Is that supposed to help me do this?" you say darkly.
  
  "It was just an interesting fact," Fionn says, looking down.
  
  You march along the street with the rest of your Free State unit, heading towards the Eastern Wing. Securing that and capturing the men held there. After a few minutes of walking down the street, you quickly come under-fire. The bullets smack into the ground around you, as you quickly rush behind cover, hurrying to dive behind a concrete wall. You stare over it, at a large rolling beast of metal and firepower.
  
  "Dammit! It's the armored truck they stole, the Mutineer!" Fionn shouts at you. "Stay down!"
  
  You pause, staying low and trying to hide behind a building as bullets thud off the concrete around you. You stare out at the heavily armored car in front of you, it's machine bursting down the street in an attempt to stop your unit from moving up the street to secure the Eastern Wing. You pause, wondering how best to take it out.
  
  > move along the cover of the buildings to get in close
  You quickly dive in behind one of the buildings, machine gun fire flying past the street outside. You raise your rifle, smashing the butt of it into the window as you quickly break the glass and knock it from the frame. You clamber in through the window, finding yourself in an abandoned office. You move through the empty building, quickly skipping over the machine gun fire as you hurry along the path. You finally reach out at the other side of the street, climbing out of the window to find you're at the direct flank of the armored car, right next to it's side. You hide in cover, making sure they can't spot you, before planning your next move to take out the armored car.
  
  > use your grenades to disable the Mutineer
  You pull your grenade out of your hand, tearing the pin from the grenade. You chuck it through the air, as it bounces along the pavement before rolling to a pause next to the armored car. It explodes, spraying shrapnel into the car as it blows a hole in the side of the armored car. The armored car tries to reverse, but shrapnel has torn the armored car wheels straight off, and it's left unable to move. This quickly leaves the Mutineer vulnerable to artillery, anti-tank weapons and anything else the Free State can bring to the table.
  
  You stay in cover, watching as the crew of the Mutineer clamber out of the armored car, hurrying to rush back towards the Eastern wing. Without the support of the armored car, the other IRA soldiers still quickly begin retreating back to the building and hurrying inside. The Free State soldiers hurry to push up to the disabled Mutineer , where you quickly rejoin them. Then, your Free State commander who is leading your mission appears, quickly assembling the group to send them off on their missions, to break up and take the next few objectives.
  
  "OK, we're splitting off!" the Free State commander says. "We're sending soldiers to storm the Eastern Wing to take control of the building and force the enemy out of this place. We're also sending soldiers to go take O'Connell street, where Cathal Brugha and a group of IRA soldiers have attacked. We need some men to capture Brugha and end the attack. Finally, we need a segment to circle around, cutting off the chance for the anti-Treaty leaders to escape down the river and continue this fight. Any volunteers?"
  
  > push in to take the Eastern Wing
  You and Fionn quickly join in on the assault on the Eastern Wing, raising your rifle and rushing into the building, ready to fight. You charge inside the building with a surge of Free State soldiers, quickly taking cover behind a marble column in the old building.The attack has taken the IRA soldiers by surprise in its intensity, and with that and the fact that you outnumber and outgun them, you have a serious advantage over the IRA forces. Many of them are forced to use old-model rifles and pistols, while your forces have top of the line weapons thanks to support from the British Empire.
  
  The IRA soldiers quickly realize their position is failing, and they begin to fall back, desperately trying to escape out of of the Eastern Section. The majority, however, realize they're outnumbered and don't have a chance.
  
  "Surrender! By order of the Irish Free State!" Fionn yells out amongst the din of battle.
  
  There's a brief pause, as the exchange of gunfire comes to a close. After a few minutes, the IRA soldiers begin to lay down their arms. You quickly move forward, rounding up the anti-Treaty soldiers and their wounded, as you quickly capture the Eastern Wing.
  
  "The area's secure," Fionn says. "Well done, gentlemen."
  
  Soon, the rest of the Four Courts is taken, as the area is captured. The last force taken out is Cathal Brugha and his diversionary attack at O'Connell street. Cathal Brugha orders his forces to surrender, before walking out into the street with his pistol raised to die a martyr. With his death, the rest of the Anti-Treaty forces either surrender or escape out of the area through using contacts in the National Army, escaping out into the countryside where they can disband.
  
  The Battle of Dublin has been a quick, brutal battle. Although it was a decisive win for the National Army, that was always going to be the case, as the IRA troops in the Four Courts were outnumbered twenty times over, with only 200 IRA soldiers facing 4000 Free State Troops. Although the Irish capital city of Dublin was secured by the new government, leaders like Cathal Brugha killed and men like Rory O'Connor, your old friend at the original IRA, and even though the anti-Treaty soldiers were dispersed and their strength broken, many anti-Treaty leaders such as Oscar Traynor, your old friend Ernie O'Malley and many other anti-Treaty fighters managed to escape to continue the fight. With this, the spirit of war managed to survive, and inspired many other anti-Free State units to stand up and oppose the new National Army.
  
  You know this is the start of what's to be a brutal conflict. All you can do is prepare to serve your nation and do the best you can.
  
  > A War of Brothers
  Over the next few weeks, the anti-Treaty forces begin regrouping and making plans, as hostilities rise. They attempt to recruit and find arms, but there's little actual engagements. The fighting is kept to small-time raids and ambushes. It's clear that no one really wants to kill their fellow countrymen, their comrades, their friends, their family.
  
  Eventually, after several tours defending the area from potential IRA ambushers and attacks, you return home, where you meet with your family, including the newest addition to the family, Morgan, Mary and Arthur's child. Well, not exactly Mary and Arthur's, but... still.
  
  It's good to return home to be with your family, and you've a few weeks leave, so you might finally get a break from the constant cycle of violence and bloodshed and killing.
  
  > Days Pass...
  You sit in the kitchen, a cup of tea in your hand as you read the newspaper. You're out of your uniform, back to normal street clothes. Ma is in gone shopping, while Mary and Arthur are coddling over Morgan.
  
  "He's been baptized, has he?" you ask absent-mindedly. "He's safe in God's heart?"
  
  "He has been," Mary nods. "We got him baptized as soon as we could."
  
  "By a Catholic?"
  
  "Yes," Arthur says. "I made a concession there."
  
  "For the best," you nod.
  
  "So, how's running about as a soldier going?" Arthur says. "You know, for an actual nation?"
  
  "It's going... it's going," you say. "What more can be said?"
  
  "I want you to know, even though I'm a unionist, I really respect what you're doing in serving the nation," Arthur says. "In fact..."
  
  There's a loud knock on the door, as you stand up from your seat.
  
  "One moment, I'll get that," you say.
  
  You walk to the door of the house, pulling it open to reveal Joseph, standing there with his rifle slung, dressed in a mixture of plainclothes and IRA uniform.
  
  Instantly, your hand reaches down for your pistol, as Joseph desperately holds up both his hands in a gesture of peace.
  
  "I'm not here for violence!" Joseph says, raising his hands. "For god's sake, I don't want violence in Ma's house. I just want to see my family. To talk to them."
  
  "You're on the run as a traitor. You can't be let into the house, you fucking bastard."
  
  "Don't turn your own brother away, Michael. Can't we just be at peace for the next few hours?"
  
  You stare at your brother, wondering what to do.
  
  > take Joseph prisoner
  You grab your rifle from it's position resting in the doorway, raising it to aim at Joseph's chest as you snarl at him.
  
  "You're under arrest by the Irish Free State, Joseph! You are now a prisoner of war! I'm not letting you walk away after what you and your traitorous allies did in Dublin
  
  "I'm not being captured by my own brother at my own house!" Joseph snarls.
  
  "Let go! Let fucking go!" Joseph yells.
  
  Joseph charges forward, grabbing the rifle and twisting your arm. He slams the rifle against you, pushing itno the doorway. The rifle goes off with a bang, as you're slammed against the wall. You slowly skid down, leaving a large trail of blood going down the wall, groaning as blood begins to pour from the bullet whole in the center of your chest.
  
  "MICHAEL!" Joseph screams, tossing his rifle aside. "Michael, you stupid son of a bitch! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I swear to God, I didn't mean to. Don't worry, don't worry."
  
  You try to talk, but your entire chest is rapidly growing cold and numb, as the warm blood running down your chest feels ice cold. Your clothes are quickly soaked through with blood, your shirt sticking to your chest as it's stained crimson red. Joseph presses his hands against your chest in an attempt to stem the tide of blood pouring down your chest, but the blood just keeps gushing out. Your mouth opens and closes, as you try to tell Joseph it's not his fault, but no noise comes out.
  
  "Michael! I'm so sorry, please Michael, don't die, don't die," Joseph pleads, his voice growing fainter and fainter.
  
  That's the last things you hear, as the world grows dark.