As anyone who has followed current events can attest, Path of Liberty simply does not work anymore.

In the wake of Euromaidan, I thought about rewriting it to incorporate the events in the Ukraine. I couldn't really figure out a decent way to do it, though, either after Euromaidan or with the events and attitudes in the background. There's so much more I (we?) know about power dynamics in that part of the world now. I thought about it some more, and thought about Euromaidan and the Liberation of Daein, which seemed more promising. I slept on it and came up with a better concept.

At the end of Path of Liberty, the President of the Ukraine is dead. Russians have occupied Ukraine, Russia taking the place of Begnion if I understand the lore correctly which I probably don't. Now, a Ukrainian independence group called the Dawn Brigade seeks to restore their country to its former glory. The backdrop? The most tense period in East-West relations since the Cold War.

Somewhat like Path of Liberty, this is a story about ultranationalism and radicalism. In some ways it's almost a deconstruction of the former.

There is some retconning with respect to Path of Liberty. For example, Russia and not the UN has occupied Ukraine, and the President is a different guy.

I also wrote most of this at one in the morning, and I still haven't played the game, so there's that.

Fire Emblem – Liberty Dawn

One Year Later
Kiev, Russian Mandate of Ukraine

"If things had been different, perhaps we would be fighting against our own government," the woman said. Her accent was heavy, Ukrainian, though few watching would be able to tell Ukrainian from Russian. "But we do not have a government anymore. Mere puppets put in place by the Russians. Ukraine is an occupied country.

"When the war broke out, the Russians intervened. We thought they would be peacekeepers. To end the Crimean Crisis, bring back peace and stability and democracy. But the Russian President- he has other plans.

"The Russians were not liberators. They are occupiers. They took their precious Crimea, kept it for their own, and put Ukraine once again under their yoke. It is going back in time. It is a new era of repression, of recession, of hate and of anger.

"And we have been betrayed also by the West. When we gave up our nuclear weapons, they made the promise to protect our borders. When they were violated, America and Britain did nothing. I ask Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, if the Russian army rolled in, would the NATO intervene for you?

"Ukraine has fallen alone. But if nothing more is done, Ukraine will not be alone. More will fall. The Soviet Union, the Tsar Russia, they will rise once more. A new empire is rising, in an age of freedom and democracy. Ukraine, Belarus, who is next?

"I am Micaiah of the Dawn Brigade. We are many. We are strong. We will rise and throw down the chains of our oppressors. We will prevail."

Zagreb, Republic of Croatia

"What a mess," Ike muttered, closing the browser window. "It's been a year and they're still fucking around."

"What do you expect?" a tall, well-built blonde woman said, shutting the laptop in his face.

"I expected that it wouldn't be worse!" he replied cynically. "T, we're directly responsible."

"Your father had the same set of morals, you know," the woman replied softly. "It was always his fault, whether it was or it wasn't. He hid... but he was a man defined by guilt and regret."

"He was a great man," Ike argued meekly.

"I'm not arguing that," the woman replied, regretting her earlier statement. "He took that guilt, and instead of letting it consume him, he tried to make up for it. Did some good, you know."

"I know."

"We all have our demons. Things in the past we'd rather forget. That's why we're here- why we're together. Your father, he saw those things, understood the damage and the potential that still remained. Brought everyone together. Even if we couldn't make up for what we'd done, maybe we could at least feel like we did."

She smiled weakly. "Shit, I'm no good at this-"

"Better than you think."

"Maybe. I guess I'm trying to say that, well, your father wasn't perfect. But I had a lot of respect for the man."

"Yeah."

"I know you're still upset."

"Yeah."

"It's been over a year, Ike," Titania said softly. "You have to move on eventuall."

He sighed. "I know. I know."

Simferopol, Autonomous Republic of Crimea

The woman stared out the window, at the partially rebuilt city she once again called her home.

Her father's actions had set into motion a spiralling chain of events that tore apart Crimea. For a long time, the peninsula had been closely tied to Russia, not Ukraine, and clamouring for independence was not a new idea. But Roman had done it without Russian support, against a Russian-backed President, declaring anti-Russian sentiment.

How had he expected to succeed? There was literally nothing with him, not even his own people. The people of Crimea didn't want a war. When the Ukrainian military rolled in, they offered little resistance. When they tore down the regime, there was more cheering than protesting. Her father was a dictator, and not a well loved one at that.

And the international community? They would never side with Crimea. A breakaway republic, starting a war over a piece of land that seemed inconsequential to them? Unlike some other nations, Ukraine was well accepted by both West and East and Crimea seemed to be at fault.

She had been so sure of her duty to liberate Crimea. In a way she had been indoctrinated by her father. Not the dictatorial insanity, the lust for power and control, but the ultranationalistic attachment to a nation that was not really a nation. She saw the Ukrainian intervention as a brutal invasion and was willing to do anything to stop it.

She appealed to the only country that would have even a chance to listen to her; Russia. And for a time, she had genuinely thought they actually cared about what she had to say. About her people. Her country. But the Russians saw it differently.

To the Russians, it was a power play. Territory that they saw as their own, a leader that acted without their approval, and a show of power to the West. It was like the Cold War all over again, and amid accusations of such, the Russian President had taken full advantage of it. Now he had Crimea, Ukraine, and there was not a thing anyone could do about it. Not with his hand on the tap.

And perhaps as a last joke, she was put in as the symbolic leader of Crimea. Nothing but a puppet to Moscow and a symbol of an episode of history best left forgotten. She was a target and nothing more. Anything that went right could be credited to someone else. Anything that went wrong she took the fall for.

Elincia was hated by her own people, and she couldn't blame them at all.

Kiev, Russian Mandate of Ukraine

Five men and one woman stood in a dark apartment, leaning over a table covered with maps and charts. Kalashnikovs lay against one wall, with a crate of ammunition pried open beside it. Several Molotovs were arranged neatly in a cluster on the floor. A sixth man, wearing a heavy beard, stood in the corner, observing but not taking part. The woman nodded, and they began collecting weapons.

"There is still one question I have for you," the tallest of the men asked as he gently placed Molotovs in a bag.

"Ask." She replied absentmindedly, picking up one of the rifles and checking it.

"Why the silver hair?"

"I needed a disguise and it was all I could find at the time," she dismissed.

"That does not explain why you kept it."

"Silver is the colour of liberty."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"I'm not sure if that is even correct. Are you sure?"

"Then I will not say any more." She stuffed a magazine into her tactical vest.

"I still say this is lunacy," said the tall man after a pause. "Not that I want to stop, of course. There is too much at stake for that."

"We are all lunatics in an insane world, Nolan," 'Micaiah' replied, pulling a balaclava down over her face.

"Why do you insist on calling me that even when we are alone?"

"For safety. You never know when the government is watching."

"You know they probably know who we are already in this age."

She shrugged. "Perhaps I am a romantic."

"So, tonight is where you take your great stand?" the bearded man awkwardly asked from the corner, stumbling over and butchering his Ukrainian.

"No," she replied in English. "The square is only the beginning. Kyiv will burn with the fires of liberty."

"You really believe you can take on Russia and win?"

She cocked her Kalashnikov. "I am sure of it."

Where is Fire Emblem? In Ukraine, targeted toward Moscow.

And that's as far as I go, because I don't know enough about either Eastern European politics or Fire Emblem to put together something decent.