Ace Combat: Fires in the East

This is my version of how the aftermath of the Anean Continental War turned out. I hope you’ll like it. Please comment.

Main characters of the story

Aerial

• AWACS Athena: C-767
• 66^th Bomb Wing, Stervyatnik: 3x AC-130
• 44^th TFS Tserber: 5x F-20A Tigershark
• 1^st Aerial Refueling Wing Pomoshchnik: KC-135R
• 1^st Mercenary Unit Giyena: 5x Me-109
• Flying Refueling Centre: Gades
• Rebel Squadron: Draco: 6x MiG-29K
• Rebel Squadron: Gadyuka: 6x F-16E

Naval

• ENS 3^rd Naval Fleet: 1x Kuznetsov class carrier Poseidon, 2x Typhoon class submarine, 5x destroyers and 3x Iowa Class Battleship
• Anti-naval Squadron Zimorodok: 1x PC-3 Orion, 1x Boeing P-8

People

• Natasha Skolova, commander of AWACS Athena, Age 41
• Dmitri Ivanov, Admiral of the carrier Poseidon, Age 45
• Sergei Dvornik, nephew of Gen. Gustav Dvornik, leader of the Rebel Squadron Draco
• Krill Dvornik, brother of Sergei Dvornik, leader of the Rebel Squadron Gadyuka
• The remaining Generals, the RD council heads
• Chris Burke, leader of the 1^st Mercenary Unit Giyena. Roots: Osean, Age 36
• Andrei Belikof, leader of 44^th TFS Tserber, Age 38, protagonist.

Nord Islands Introduction

The Nord Islands are the eastern most points of the Federal Republic of Estovakia. There are a total of seventeen islands and they are named in the manner of Nord Island-X or NI-X. The further an island from the main land, bigger the value of X e.g. the eastern most islands is named NI-17 (you can look on the map it is very far out). Every NI has a naval port and out of the 17 islands 9 of them have either an air force base or a commercial airport.

THE BEGINING

13^th April, 2016. The Generals Government is over thrown and a communist government is put together by the bureaucrats of the former government. All the generals are relieved of their posts and power and are forced to live on the eastern most islands of the Nord islands of Estovakia. As the Nord Islands did not participate in the Anean Continental War, the soldiers in the area still respected the Generals a lot.

14^th April, a peace and development accord is signed between Estovakia and Emmeria which made the two nations close allies. Both the nations wanted to forget about the bitterness of the past war and wanted to go forth in the future as developed and peace loving nations. As this news reached the ears of the Generals in the Nord Islands they looked upon their sources in the military and retrieved a copy of the official accord. The accord stated that both the nations were to help each other regain back strength and integrity and any threat to any of the two nations shall be faced off by both the nations’ militaries. This enraged General Putin, one of the leading Generals during the war. He calls all other generals and to NI-17 and holds a conference which is named the “Rising Dead”. The former Generals agree that the peace accord is a betrayal of their nation and they will make a new propaganda and aim to turn the soldiers over there onto their side. The next day the “Rising Dead” gathered all the soldiers on NI-17 and using isolated frequencies they also connected to the other NIs. Each General made a speech, trying to brainwash the soldiers into thinking that this peace accord is a betrayal of their nation by the new government. The entire crowd is in silence until to ace pilots from different squadrons come forward and pledge an allegiance with the generals. These two aces are the Dvornik brothers; namely Sergei and Krill. They are the nephews of the late Gen. Gustav Dvornik. Orphaned at a very early stage, both the brothers were raised by their uncle and joined the military. Under direct training from their uncle the two pilots soon became renowned aces but as they were posted in the Nis, they did not see any action during the war but when they heard that their beloved uncle was killed by Emmerian forces they naturally developed a hatred for the Emmerians and were seeking for a chance for revenge. When the other pilots saw the aces join in, other volunteers started to come in and when the volunteers stopped coming the rest were assassinated. Although before getting assassinated a loyal soldier had radioed the New Generals about the situation.

15^th April. The NIs; taken over by the new rebel group boycott all communication from the main land. Discussions take place in the capitol about the situation as the Rebels take the civilians there as hostages. In the capitol the President orders an aircraft to be sent to the NIs carrying a few captains and colonels from the army to bring back the soldiers on their side. Along with this stiff warnings were being given to the “Rising Dead” of the dire consequences the followed if they did not stop their propaganda. As an A340 flies closer to the islands, it asks for permission to land but instead of getting instructions it receives warnings that if it flies any closer it will be shot down. The A340 crew asks for support and two planes from the Tserber squadron are sent over as escorts. Having two F-20As by its side the airbus continues but as soon as they come within 3 miles of NI-2, SAM alerts start to go off in the headsets of the F-20s and the A340 is ordered by AWACS Athena to make a run for it back to the main land but as it banks north the left wing gets hit by a Flak shell, and within seconds the entire aircraft is engulfed in flames, soon to plummet down from the skies. The F-20 leader, Belikof orders his wingman to turn back to the main land apply full thrust. As the two pilots land back at the closest AFB, the capitol receives a message through Morse code stating that the Nord islands are now a free nation and will not comply with the ruling hypocrites in the capitol. Astonished at the rate of aggravation of the situation the political higher ups decide to keep this within the walls of the Joint Chiefs of Staff house and the Presidential house. Secretly they decide to send in a reconnaissance aircraft to investigate the NIs and pinpoint the concentrations of the rebels. After the data is received they will conduct a raid through helicopters and eliminate all threats and rescue the civilians. The plan is executed as a U-2 surveillance plane is sent over the NIs. As it flies into hostile territory it captures photographs of the bases over taken by the rebel groups, the rebels plundering the ammunition bunkers and making the civilians their slaves making them do severe labor. In the morning of 17^th April two squadrons of MH-60R Seahawks are prepared, each squadron consisting of 7 Seahawks. The Seahawks are given orders to liberate NI-1 and NI-2 only. They are instructed to act fast and achieve all objectives ASAP. All Seahawks first land on the 3^rd naval fleet ships, most of them on the ENS Poseidon.

A MH-60 landing on the Poseidon prior to the raid on NI-1

As the ships steam forward toward NI-1, team 1 of the Seahawks is prepped for mission. They are told they will be supported by the amphibious forces. While the amphibious forces will take out resistance on foot and rescue civilians, the Seahawks are to destroy any major rebel facilities. When the teams hit NI-1 and NI-2, the amphibious forces quickly take control at the beaches and the Seahawks fly over and attack the bases. They are faced with stiff opposition and a raging battle between helicopters and ground forces along with rebel helicopters ensues for forty-five minutes, after which all rebel forces are neutralized. The remaining rebels are taken into custody and are transported to the main land via Hovercraft. The NI-1 and NI-2 islands are liberated.

18^th April. Blinded by their rage at this defeat the RD council sends in a fully fledged assault team consisting of destroyers, aircraft carriers and the Draco squadron towards the liberated islands in an attempt to take it back but during the operation the Draco squadron leader Sergei disobeys orders from the council and flees west, towards Emmeria. Carrying external fuel tanks the MiGs are able to reach a naval Emmerian facility near the border and bombard it. On the other side near the NI-2, the loyal navy engages the rebel fleet and the Tserber squadron are also called in. The Tserber planes engage the F-18s from the aircraft carriers while the battle ships from the 3^rd naval fleet batter down on the rebel fleet, sinking the carrier. As soon as the carrier starts to make her way into the deep the rest of the ships flee. The remaining F-18s are forced to land on the Poseidon, their pilots taken into custody and then the Draco Squadron flies from above, unarmed. The attack on the Emmerian facility was bound to cause tension between the two newly formed allies. Within a few hours of the attack the Estovakian President receives a call from the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Emmeria and what he wished to remain secret unwillingly is exposed to the Emmerians on a secure line. Obeying the treaty, Emmeria decides to help Estovakia to get out of this struggle by providing fuel for the naval and aerial units.

Due south of the Nord Islands and due east of the southern peninsulas of the main land lies Kruk island. It is mainly a settlement for agriculture but has a few industries such as refineries and foundries. Over there is also a research facility that explores for new fuels. A few years prior to the war the Hyper Fuel lab made a fuel and named it Hyper Fuel-1 or HF-1. Because the fuel did not meet the requirements of the order it was destroyed and another fuel was made. It was very high yielding but due to its instability it too was abandoned. The same fate followed the 3^rd fuel but on the fourth attempt the lab produced a marvel. By this time the war had ended and the new fuel yielded 45% more than the conventional aviation fuel (it was made to replace the aviation fuel) it was named HF-4. Due to its high ratio of yield/mol the aircraft being powered by it could travel very long distances without having to refuel in mid air or to land. This cut down the fuel cost by 20% and all seemed fine but the combustion of this fuel resulted in the production of a poisonous gas which was dangerous for all sorts of life. This made the fuel a massive problem on ground but as the gas would disintegrate under strong UV light into harmless substances it was suitable for high altitude flying. This led the big transport aircraft in having two fuel tanks, one filled with conventional aviation for taking off and the other filled with HF-4. The HF-4 was employed for powering the aircraft once it had crossed the altitude of 10,000 feet. This had led to the formation of the Gades Floating Refueling and Maintenance Centre. The GFRMC is powered by a nuclear core and various engines running on HF-4 making electricity for the onboard programs and the four massive rotors that keep it afloat in the air at an altitude of 15,000 feet. Any small to medium sized aircraft could land on it, refuel, get checked for flaws or short comings and take to the air again. The GFRMC does not fly, it floats but it can move around if ordered to change position at a speed of 279 mph. its main use was for war but to perform in war it needed to be armed which could not be possible because the armaments would weigh it down so instead they made it a refueling and maintenance airship. Despite its size the GFRMC is very fuel efficient. The nuclear core only needs to be refueled once in 6 years, and solar panels also help in the making of electricity. It also has drag efficient wind turbines to further remove the stress on the engines. When HF-4 was made a sample of it was given to the main land and they appreciated it and funded the lab to make a factory which would make the fuel. Since then every month, two oil tankers dock at Vartatska Dockyard to take the fuel and deliver it to the main land and the RD council new about this.

25^th April. With skirmishes continuing from the previous bloodbath the navy keeps pushing forward on the NIs and as a resultant NI-3 is also liberated. On 4:30 am that night a cease fire is called between the two sides and by complete coincidence a tanker carrying HF-4 is also passing through. By a wild guess the RD council decides to use it as a weapon. The Gadyuka Squadron is deployed and the rebels on NI-4 are ordered to fire artillery shells on the loyal navy to distract them. As these two forces face off with naval units the Tserber squadron along with an Emmerian mercenary squadron by the name Gargoyle engages in the battle. As the battle heats up a rebel tugboat escorted by a gunboat belonging to the same party intercept the tanker and force it to make its way toward the navy. As the distance between the tanker and the navy slowly diminishes one of the destroyers spots the activity. Too busy to intercept the tanker the destroyer calls out for assistance and base command sends in the Giyena squadron. Chris Burke and his wingmen in their Me-109Es attack the gunboat and the tugboat. Using his 20 mm frontal cannons Burke takes out the engine of the gunboat, rendering it motion less, but the tug continues its work. Burkes number three makes a vertical dive and drops a concrete bomb on the tug splitting it in two and the tanker captain not wishing to be a part of any of this stops its engines and drops port anchor, halting the vessel within 600 yards of the navy but at the same time a rebel AC-130 gunship circles over the halted tanker and commences firing. Using its Howitzer the gunship quickly starts to punch holes through the vessel.

The rebel AC-130, as seen firing on the oil tanker.

Giyena-3, still flying nearby notices this plan for catastrophe and starts unloading his guns on the gunship but the heavily armored gunship refuses to give in and keeps making pylon turns around the vessel to set it ablaze. Giyena-3 calls in for support and his team mates come hurrying and they too start to unload on the gunship. Not being able to handle anymore fire the gunship decides to retreat but the Giyena keep following it, ultimately ripping the gunship to shreds. But this is a hollow victory as the tanker is already ablaze. The navy calls in for an extinguishing team to take out the fire but in the chaos of artillery shells, aircraft flying over and bombs exploding nothing reaches to anybody. Within the tanker, the HF-4 expands and boils with the heat. As the pressure keeps increasing the tanks reach their breaking point and rupture. Within milliseconds the HF-4 comes in contact with the flames and that yields an explosion so majestic it outshines the soft light of dawn. The heat released is so great it incinerates the men onboard the nearby destroyers and melts the surface metal sheeting on them. Behind them the men on the battleships and the carrier suffer from 3^rd degree burns and on NI-4 the rebels also suffer burns. The shockwave that follows capsizes the nearest destroyers, bends heated metal, shatters concrete and temporarily deafens the surviving men onboard while they get pushed off board by the sudden spike-up in the air pressure. The shockwave is so powerful it is felt as far as Sonne Islands. Although the casualties on both sides were very high the RD council still counted this as a victory. The burnt and shaken navy returns back to a base and the 2^nd and 4^th naval fleets take its place. Seeking revenge for their loss the Estovakian Joint Chiefs of Staff start a new operation named “Fires of the East”. In this operation the Emmerian navy also aids in terms armaments and ships.

1^st May. The new naval fleet launches aircraft for a raid on NI-4. The phosphorous bombs quickly incinerate the rebels but a few F-18s get damaged and make their way to the GFRMC for repairs. Watching this one of the surviving rebels contacts the RD council of this and they plan on destroying it.

2^nd May. AWACS Athena contacts the fleet and base command and warns them of two squadrons, one of large radar blips and the other of small one. The large radar blips are heading straight for the navy at supersonic speeds and the other small blips are heading toward Vartatska Foundry. Upon viewing, the large blips turn out to be Tupulev Tu-160 supersonic bombers. The Tserber along with Gargoyle are deployed to intercept and because the small blips are slow, the Giyena are deployed to intercept them. As the F-20As and F-15Es reach the bombers they are confronted by the Su-27 escorts. The Gargoyle engages the escorts and the Tserber engage the bombers, as the bombers are shot one by one; the last surviving bomber flees the scene without anything more than a few bullet holes. One of the escort planes takes too long to get shot down and being chased by Gargoyle-3 he sees the GFRMC. He targets a rotor and fires his R-77 and just when the missile leaves his plane, an AIM-9M rips into his fuselage from Gargoyle-3. The R-77 hits the rotor and the latter disintegrates into small pieces. The GFRMC crew calls for help but Gargoyle-1 says to him that the threat had been neutralized but then he notices small flying objects in the distance reflecting the sun’s light off of them. AWACS Athena warns the aircraft that she has detected small, almost invisible blips on radar and she confirms the presence of stealth aircraft. The now stable but still damaged GFRMC is again being targeted and the crew calls for help again. As the unknown bogies close in it becomes clear that they are PAK-FAs. The stealth fighters are being flown by Sergei and his men and after breaking from his squadron Sergei attacks the Gargoyle squadron, shooting down two F-15Es out of the five. In the mean time Tserber squadron put all their efforts in protecting the GFMRC but ultimately fails as the PAK-FAs destroy another rotor and the GFMRC plummets. The Draco squadron now out of ammunition easily falls prey to the Tserber squadron but they forget about Sergei and he comes in from behind and damages Belikofs number 3’s plane, without the GFRMC he is forced to bail out while his flight lead shoots down Sergei. As he drifts downward in his parachute AWACS Athena calls one of the Seahawk teams and tells them that a pilot is down and gives them the estimated coordinates of his location. By this time calls for assistance reach the Gargoyle and Tserber teams from the Giyena squadron. They scream on the radio that the situation has gone very bad at Kruk Island. Both the teams hurry over to the 1^st Aerial Refueling Wing Pomoshchnik who is a few miles away.

Gargoyle-1 as seen by on board camera on the Pomoshchnik while refueling.

Pomoshchnik tells them that he has been detecting pretty messed up radar activity and after getting refueled the remnant planes of both the squadrons go full afterburner towards Kruk. They reach Kruk in 150 seconds and are astonished at what they see but are prepared as to what to do as before Pomoshchnik had briefed them in flight. Both the squadrons split up, the Gargoyles attack the naval and amphibious rebels while the Tserber engage the Gadyuka Squadrons who had come to the scene as aid for the A-10A squadron who had been detected by Athena as the small and slow blips going towards Vartatska Foundry. Soon all the Gadyuka except 1 and 2 get killed in battle and then the Tserber go to assist the Gargoyles against the naval forces but are relieved to find out that the jobs have been done, and done well. Belikof jokes to the Gargoyle leader saying that he and his men wouldn’t have been of any use as they were out of ammunition. On their way back they are told by AWACS Athena that Tserber-3 has been located and the rescue team is bringing him home. She also tells them that the bodies of Gargoyle-2 and 3 have been retrieved. Hearing this, a silence falls over the two teams and they return to base without saying anything.

5^th May. The 66^th Bomb Wing Stervyatnik is sent to neutralize rebel gunboat movements in the vicinity of NI-4. As the island was still occupied by rebels after the explosion of the oil tanker, rebel movements were still very hot over there. Escorted by the Giyena they AC-130 Gunships made their way to target destination and commence firing on the naval units there. Soon a few gunboats are sunk and Stervyatnik-1’s fuselage gets a direct hit from a shell fired from a gunboat. The Giyena fly at an altitude slightly higher than that of the Gunships and keep a keen eye out for trouble, which they soon spot out. The mercenaries notice two aircraft approaching from the south-east; it was the remaining members of the Gadyuka squadron. The two F-16s fire their AIM-7s at the Gunships and the latter manage to dodge them by deploying chaff.

Stervyatnik-1 and 2 deploying flares to evade the AIM-7s from the Gadyuka Squadron.

Giyena obviously not fit for encountering the jets call in for support and the Tserber squadron is awaken from their beds and scrambled to protect the Gunships. As the Tserber hurry towards their destination in their new planes (Su-33-D) and along with a new team member to replace the injured and out of action number 3 the Giyena contact them on the radio through AWACS Athena and tell them that they should hurry up as he is noticing more naval hostiles moving closer to NI-4 and that he will be engaging them. The props try their best to hold off the jets but ultimately one Gunship gets shot down but by this time the Tserber are within range and they engage the Gadyuka. The Messerschmitts dive down like birds of prey, each plane carefully positioned by its pilot and when the gunboats come within range they fire their 13 mm cannons, the bullets passing through the propeller arc and precisely hitting their respective targets. Giyena one scores as the bullet burst kills all the crew members on his target gunboat. The gunboats retaliate by firing AA guns but the Giyena manage to evade and bullet riddle all the boats. Flying back to base from their fresh victory Giyena-5 notices some movement on the surface of the ocean and reports it to AWACS Athena, who reports it to the navy. Back at the battle ground, Krill manages to damage two Su-33s and flees after his wingman’s plane gets crippled and he ejects. The Tserber fly back to base and there they are given a warm welcome by the Gunships’ crews whose lives they had saved earlier. On the other side the navy sends out a destroyer to investigate the vague surface movements. Half way into its journey, two torpedoes rip through the vessels hull. While sinking the destroyer calls the navy to operate an intercept with anti-submarine aircraft. Base command sends in a PC-3 Orion from the Zimorodok squadron. The Orion quickly identifies a submarine under the surface and launches two torpedoes which within a minute find their target and the rescue teams there rescuing the sailors from the sunken destroyer witness two huge explosions in the water; denoted with the signature rise of water and bubbles and the almost inaudible bang. Just as the PC-3 banks towards the main land the crew onboard notices a quick but extremely bright flash of light and in a second the big plane is rattled by a shockwave and all electrical functions fail. Nevertheless the pilots manage to crash-land the plane on NI-2 as the Orion doesn’t use fly-by-wire system. Amazed and shivering the rescue teams wonder what that was and by paddling their boats back to the base they tell all that happened. At the same time a drone is sent to investigate the situation and it detects Gamma radiation in a very small area surrounding a crater on NI-4. It was clear, a nuclear explosion had occurred and this information sends chills down the spines of the Chiefs of Joint Staff and the President and the political higher ups. Did the rebels have nuclear weapons?

29^th May. For 24 days there were no conflicts whatsoever. Both the sides were afraid that the other side had used a WMD. The rebels thought that it was used against them and the loyalists thought the rebels used it against them. During these days, former Tserber-3 had regained consciousness and he was recovering well. When this news reached him he knew that the explanation that was given to him was not correct. After some deep thinking he remembered what was actually going on and he called his mates and tells them that what had actually exploded was not a nuclear bomb but the GFRMC nuclear core. He says after touching ground he found himself very close to the wreckage of the GFRMC and the remaining HF-4 was burning. He knew that its combustion produced a poisonous gas so he tried to drag himself away from the flames but due to his leg injury he could not move quickly enough and passed out because of the inhalation of the fumes. The crash had destabilized the core and ultimately it had exploded. In the chaos of the war no one had paid any attention to this and instantaneously the fear of a nuke disappeared. The Chiefs decide that a blitzkrieg shall be performed on the remaining occupied NIs and all stations began preparing their bombers and at 01:30 am the base launched 6 Su-32s, 4 Tornado GR-4s and 12 Mirage 2000s. The planes cruised along in the night sky they eventually reached the NIs and started their raid. The escorts followed close after and the Tserber, Gargoyle and a lot of other squadron engaged in the battle to protect the attack aircraft. The battle consumed the whole night and at dawn all planes that left came back unharmed and on the other side the rebels had suffered unimaginable losses. All islands except NI-17 were liberated. At dawn Blackhawks took off from the two carriers to assault the facility where the RD council was sheltering itself. As the helicopters get closer to the buildings they are faced with heavy resistance. Aircraft engage them and shoot them down. The military decides to end this once and for all and all the aircraft that were sent in last night are deployed again, the rebels had given them too much to bear. The aircraft engage the squadrons defending the building but the number, to the surprise of the loyalists was so great that all squadrons were engaged with aircraft and none were left to destroy the buildings so base command sends in the Giyena squadron with bombs to destroy the RD council building. Carrying external fuel tanks the Giyena reach NI-17 after 2 hours and even then the battle in the air was proceeding with full vigor and the situation was the same on the ground. The Giyena fly in the chaos, select their targets and after dropping bombs they do whatever they can to help the loyalist amphibious forces. Although the council building had been destroyed all planes receive a message via broadcast saying: “You’ll never get us alive!” and then AWACS Athena alerts the forces that the Generals are trying to escape into a nuclear proof bunker via a bridge that would take them over the rolling hills, hence they will reach there a lot faster than expected. The bunker is underground and full of supplies that would sustain the generals for years and this would stretch the conflict too long and the war-recovering governments could not afford that, this had to end now. Giyena-1 disengages from destroying the rebel pillboxes and heads toward the bridge. In an attempt to stop the Generals he precisely times the release of the external fuel tanks and the latter falls on to the bridge, igniting the fuel but this does not deter the generals travelling in two Hummers. Seeing this attempt of halting the generals fail Tserber-1, who was equipped with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles; like all other planes as this mission was a multirole mission lines himself at an angle with the bridge and launches his AS-7 Kerry air-surface missile and the guided, heavy warhead missile rips into the structure of the bridge at Mach 3 and explodes. This causes the bridge to split in two and the Hummers on it are pulverized and are pushed off of the bridge. Falling a few hundred feet the Hummers then look like squashed mosquitoes. The death move had been delivered by the Tserber lead and the rest of the rebels without leadership quickly fell apart and were arrested for treason. The Eastern Rebellion was finally over.

Both the Dvornik brothers are killed during the rebellion. Sergei failed to eject when Tserber-1 shot him and plummeted to his death inside his PAK-FA. Krill fled the scene after the gunship encounter when his wingman got shot down and flew to NI-17. He was killed during the final battle, after his plane got hit by a burst of 20mm bullets being fired by Giyena-4 as the latter was aiming at a pillbox but Krill accidentedly flew in the way. The burst had hit the front of the plane and and three rounds flew straight into the cockpit and hit Krill in his upper body, one in the neck, severing the spinal column. His body was recovered by the foot soldiers investigating his F-16's crashsite and his body was recocgnized by one of the arrested rebel soldiers. The cause of death was made clear by the medics there serving the rebels.

The Dvornik brothers in their teens. Krill (L) and Sergei (R).

Trivia

The Giyena squadron was put together in the early 2000s as piracy in the Nord Sea had increased but the government could not afford expensive missile technology to be used on pirates so the planes the mercenary unit had to choose from were old, guns-only aircraft. Although carried out as an experiment the Giyena were very successful at confronting pirate boats so the government decided to keep the program going. Their old, tough bodies, cheap fuel requirements and cheap ammunition made them ideal for pirate control. They could not even be shot down easily by the pirates as their old bodies were not built to give a beating but to handle one and keep going. The piston engines, low maneuverability and less speed made them incapable of engaging in dogfights with modern jets so in the air all they can target are transport aircraft, gunships and AWACS aircraft along with Anti-Submarine warfare aircraft along with other low manuverability aircraft.

The Giyena in flight over NI-7, summer 2006. The photo shows Giyena-3 and 4. Photo taken by Giyena-5.