"The test has been a success. At 70 kilotons, it has put the American bomb to shame." The messenger had reported, their own voice filled with disbelief at what they were saying.

France didn't know what to make of the new power in his hands and the fact that he was now on par with the Soviet Union, the United States and United Kingdom in terms of nuclear power.

He felt energetic and dare he say it, important once again after a few decades of military defeats and overall shame. Despite his best efforts in the Second World War, in the end he was no British Empire or Soviet Union, choosing to outwardly surrender to Germany and going for a quieter form of resistance.

But at the same time, he found himself feeling fearful of what he would soon be capable of. Fighting had tired him out over the centuries and he could hardly motivate himself to participate in it wholeheartedly.

The was a war of independence currently going on in Algeria and he knew he would soon lose yet another former colony.

Gerboise Bleue, as the nuclear test was called, had been conducted in the Algerian desert and France wondered how it was affecting Algeria themselves at the moment.


Gerboise Bleue ('Blue Jerboa' in English) was the first French nuclear test bomb detonated on 13 February 1960 in the Sahara desert during the Algerian War.

It was met with much criticism and further tests were conducted underground as a result.