Firestorm of the West

Chapter 1

Hello, everyone. So, I'm a little bit of a "military nerd". As someone who has started military training in college, I try to be well informed in military matters. And over the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I've tried to follow the events closely. And during the course of the invasion, I've seen several youtubers who are well versed with these kinds of events do videos on certain scenarios that could arise in the course of the war.

One I've seen addressed quite a few times is how NATO and other countries would respond if Russia used nuclear weapons in Ukraine. So, I've decided to write my first story on this site's that's not a fanfiction, and write my own version of this scenario.

Keep in mind, as I'm not a part of the military, there may be some inaccuracies, and in certain areas, what I write may be overestimations or even underestimations of capabilities or reactions. But, I hope this story will be a good read, and hopefully be realistic.

Also, this story will begin in the near future, a few weeks ahead of our current time.

Alright. Let us begin.

Chapter 1

(July 29, 1436 local time)

A Russian artillery shell flies over a trench filled with Ukrainian soldiers. In the trench, Private Aleksander Ivanovich ducks as he hears the sound of the shell passing overhead. Aleksander pops his head up after a second, scanning for any Russian soldiers in sight.

Aleksander is a young private assigned to the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, and is taking part in the battle for Bakhmut. His brigade has been moved in recent days, and is now approaching Bakhmut from the south from the direction of Klischiivka.

In the recent weeks, ever since the Wagner Group revolt, Ukrainian forces in and around Bakhmut have made significant progress to retaking the city. They have retaken multiple square miles, and the 3rd Brigade is waiting for an expected opening from another brigade's attack to make an all out attempt to break through into the city. And this is only one of the many successes Ukraine has been experiencing in the last few weeks.

Aleksander inspects his rifle quickly before he returns his attention to the land ahead. Then, Aleksander's radio barks to life, and one of the brigade commanders calls out, "All forces, radar reports ballistic missile attack incoming."

Aleksander ducks back into his trench. The Russians have been using their Iskander and Tochka tactical ballistic missiles to pound Ukrainian ground forces in and around Bakhmut in recent days. Hearing of another ballistic missile attack raises no particular alarms among Aleksander and his fellows.

Aleksander braces himself, waiting for the missiles to begin landing. After about two minutes, he hears the first of the missiles landing, impacting one of his brigade's positions, but about half a mile from his trench. Aleksander waits for the attack to finish, with two more missiles landing in the coming seconds. He also watches as one is successfully destroyed by Ukrainian SAMs.

Aleksander waits for a few moments, wondering if the missile attack is over. Then, right as he begins to stand up, thinking that the missile attack may be over...

All of a sudden, a brilliant flash blinds anyone not killed as a massive fireball erupts amidst Ukrainian lines. The fireball expands outwards as a massive shockwave streaks out in all directions as a mushroom cloud begins to form over Ukrainian lines.

In his trench, Aleksander is protected from the brunt of the blast thanks to the trench and his distance from the detonation point. However, he does not escape unscathed. Aleksander instantly feels burns forming on some of his exposed skin from the heat. He crouches down as low as he can in the trench to hopefully escape the worst of the blast. As he does, his mind begins to grasp what has just happened. Russia has just used a nuclear warhead to try and win at Bakhmut.

(July 29, 0536 local time)

In a control room at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, a controller of the 21st Space Wing watches his screen in shock. He is watching feeds being fed to Peterson by several detection satellites in high orbit, which are monitoring Ukraine. And on his screen are two large blooms of heat and light that are indicative of one thing and one thing only: a nuclear detonation. One of them is located just outside the city of Bakhmut. Another is located in Kherson Oblast in a spot where Ukrainian forces had made some of the most significant advances in their counteroffensive in the region.

The controller eventually reaches for the phone at his station. He picks it up and dials a number, waiting anxiously for someone to pick up. As soon as he hears someone pick up on the other end of the line, he says, "This is Captain Moorhouse. I have detected two nuclear detonations in eastern Ukraine. I repeat, I have detected two nuclear detonations in Ukrainian held territory. The Russians have escalated."

(1450 local time, Kyiv)

In the situation room of the Mariinskyi Palace, President Zelenskyy is sitting around a table with his chiefs of staff, having just received the worst news of his presidency.

"Any word on the casualties?" Zelenskyy asks.

"No firm numbers, but at least 12,000. Our field commanders also report the loss of many of our newest tanks we received from the West," General Valerii Zaluzhnyi answers the president's question.

"Radiation dispersion?" Zelenskyy asks.

"So far, we've been able to confirm that at least 12 square miles have been contaminated between the two places, and radiation is still spreading, albeit slowly," General Zaluzhnyi responds.

Zelenskyy is quiet for a few moments before he firms his face, his anger evident, before he orders, "Alright. We're not holding back any longer. Deploy all possible forces to the front lines. We cannot afford to lose any momentum in our offensive." He pauses, then says, "And get in touch with President Biden. Inform him that if they still refuse to render us further aid and arms shipments we have asked for, I am authorizing full use of our firepower to begin striking back against Russia within their own land."

(0817 local time, Washington DC)

In the Oval Office, President Biden is sitting at his desk, having just gotten off the latest phone call. He had been rushed out of breakfast by his chief of staff, Jeff Zients, when the first call came in from Space Force command.

Biden has now been informed of the developing situation, with information coming from Peterson SFB and from Zelenskyy himself, who had made the call to Biden as he instructed. While he still has many questions as to exactly what happened, it's clear that Russia chose to use nuclear weapons to try and stem its string of defeats and loss of territory, especially after losing face in the face of the Wagner rebellion.

Russia has finally crossed the line. Biden knows that he has to respond. And not just in a statement to the press. He had previously stated that use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine was a hard red line that if crossed would bring about an armed response from NATO. Clearly, Russia had decided that Western reluctance to escalate their involvement and scale of their arms shipments to Ukraine meant that they would not actually respond with force to a nuclear attack.

President Biden picks up his phone and dials a number. Moments later, the line picks up and Biden says, "Get me General Milley."

There is about half a minute of silence before Biden hears the voice of General Milley. "Mr. President," the general says. The tone of his voice shows that he is aware of what is going on.

President Biden is quiet for a moment before he says five words, "General, execute the Bravo Contingency." Bravo Contingency was one of two contingency plans that had been set in place for if Russia carried out a nuclear strike on Ukraine. Bravo was the less severe of the two contingencies, and was set out for if one or just a few warheads were used. The Alpha Contingency was set in place for a much more serious nuclear scenario, and involved full scale war with Russia, and possible nuclear strikes in return. However, Bravo was more limited, but would still be devastating for Russia, and with luck, would be enough to finally drive Russia out of Ukraine.

The military had prepared and trained for this scenario. Now, President Biden can only hope that the plan will work.

And, I'll end there. I know this may not be super detailed, but I'm not as well versed in the political side of things.

Also, just know that most future chapters won't have these author's notes.

Next chapter will be up soon. Stay tuned!