Following the dirty bomb attack on Lagos, West Africa descended into chaos. While the bomb itself did not do an exceptionally large amount of damage, the confusion it caused did. Over half a dozen governments in the west declared independence from the Confederation, either due to popular revolt or rulers seeing the writing on the wall. In the ensuing turmoil, forces under the Islamic State surged outwards into the Confederation, brushing aside any resistance. As they moved, they crucified any non-Muslims who made the mistake of being in their way. Accounts of the many atrocities were then spread by the extensive media coverage, making their way into the televisions of many European, Israeli, and American households. Parallel with the Islamic State’s advance came the sudden unexpected revolt of thousands of Communist revolutionaries. Armed with Chinese weapons, the revolutionaries quickly seized the southeast bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The government of Liberia, once a colony of the United States, also fell to Communist revolutionaries. It was the combination of the insolvency of the West African government, the spread of the Islamic State, and the rise of Communism that finally forced the hands of Western governments.

In the morning of September 4th, American and European long-range bombers appeared in the sky of West Africa. One of the few survivors later remarked that they appeared like “a swarm of hellish locusts.” In the first time since 1945, nuclear weapons were used against an enemy force. Across the Islamic State and its border regions, any major settlement numbering over 50,000 was consumed in nuclear hellfire. Millions were killed in the blink of an eye. The shrinking Lake Chad, which had finally started to grow under the Islamic State, completely evaporated in the face of the multiple nuclear blast waves. The mighty Niger River, the lifeblood of many West African citizens, turned charcoal black as ash and nuclear fallout settled.

Several hours later, several regiments of the French Foreign Legion landed along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. With the Islamic State effectively neutralized, they turned their sights to the Communist insurgency. Far more numerous and armed with modern Chinese equipment, the rebels gave a valiant resistance to the crack troops of the FFL.