The second battle of Amsterdam had basically been won, all due to the appearance of the Aegis Reform. Weirdly however, they chose to capture it.

  "Bring it in, bring it in!", ordered the head engineer.

  The massive orb created thud that echoed throughout the ship.

  "Well what is this thing?"

  "A Harbinger core, Boris. Now, we have the honor of dissecting it."

  The team moved the large piece of metal to the engineering lab.

  "Looks like this place will work just good enough."

  "But Sir Franks, we can't tear through that forcefield without equipment back home."

  He smirked and looked at the crew member.

  "Are you sure?"

  Another loud thud was heard inside the lab.

  "Well, Franks! It has arrived!", shouted Boris.

  The two ran down to the deck to see what has arrived.

  "Woah."

  "Well, Woah indeed Franks. This is the Xa-v Megandan.It focuses so much energy into a space the size of a nail!"

  But Franks looked confused at Boris.

  "How in the world do you plan to use this exactly?"

  Boris smiled and said.

  "Well, we point it of course!"

  He said, completely dismissing the fact that this was a 150kg laser pointer.

  Upon realization, he said.

  "Well actually, we can hook it up there!"

  He pointed at the top expecting to see a crane. But no one expected the need of a crane in a lab.

  "Well, how do you live?", Boris asked.

  Meanwhile, the Aegis had just landed.

  "Justin! Luna! How are you guys?"

  "Suzina! We're glad you made it safely."

  They hugged each other tightly.

  "Suzina, nice one not following the plan.", Justin said.

  She scratched her head.

  "Well, uhmm, it worked atleast!", she said.

  Her companions laughed.

  "Well anyways, that was amazing! Your new mecha is so cool!", exclaimed Luna.

  "That was pretty amazing. I thin you oughto visit the makers.", Justin suggested.

  She considered it for a moment.

  "Oh yea right, I should thank Sir Franks and Mr. Boris!"

  She sped away and left the other behind.

  "So, what do you guys wanna do?"

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  A voice ineterrupted them from behind. It was Anastasia.

  "Guys! I hear you needed something to do?"

  They looked at each other for a while.

  "I mean, yeah. We have nothing to do here."

  Anastasia showed a visible smirk.

  "Well, how about you go to our ship. You can surely have some... fun."

  They looked at eachother scratching their heads.

  "Sure, I guess.", Luna said.

  "Yeah, it's not like there's anything here.", Justin interrupted.

  Anastasia's face brightened.

  "Let's go then!"

  And they all went away following her.

  Meanwhile, back in the lab, Suzina had just arrived at her destination.

  "Sir Franks! Mr. Niko!", she shouted.

  "Well, Niko? What kind of nickname is that?", Boris thought.

  "Oh, there you are Rinmann! How was the Reform?"

  Franks has just finished talking to his subordinate at the top.

  "The new Aegis is amazing! It flew so fast and I felt like I could see where the enemy was going!"

  His face grew a smile.

  "Well, that's what's it supposed to do. But give more credit to Sir Niko over there, he designed it."

  Suzina was enlightened.

  "Oh yea, right. Well, where is he?"

  She scanned the room very carefully.

  "Well, you must be Suzina Rinmann?"

  He suddenly appeared behind the two.

  She sprung away upon seeing him.

  "Oh, Mr. Boris. Sorry for that, you shocked me there!"

  Nikolaev laughed.

  "Well, how were the upgrades?", he asked.

  Suzina gathered herself and calmed down.

  "The Reform is so cool! It was so fast and so agile!"

  "Well, we did what we could do. Glad you liked the design."

  "What changes did you even do exactly?"

  His face thought for a while.

  "Well, we added some thrusters on it and made the joints smoother. All for it to turn a bit better."

  Her face lit up like a firework.

  "Wow, it's so cool!"

  "Well, indeed it is little girl. Now go to your friends and were working."

  She saluted to him.

  "Yes sir!"

  She sped away once again into the distance.

  Meanwhile, Anastasia's group had just gotten to the Zabytaya.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the casino!"

  Doors sprung open as jazz music played in the background of a lively gambling paradise.

  "They allow these?"

  "Yup, best way to keep morale up during war, implemented since the 2040's."

  She invited them in and bought them to the man in the front.

  They managed to get some tokens and started choosing where to gamble.

  "Wait a second, aren't you that recon captain from a while ago?"

  It was Petrov and there was bad blood.

  "Well, well, well. If it isn't the hotshot wannebe, James Swift."

  "It is you! Petrov Andrestov."

  His eyebrows tightened, looking at Petrov with disgust.

  "I know we have a disliking of one another, but in Eurasia, we don't argue. No..."

  He smirked and added.

  "We gamble."

  He tossed a coin high and caught it with his hand.

  "You? Challenge me in gambling? Oh, you have it coming! Deal!"

  Luna and Justin's faces were in terror. James was a terrible gambler and they knew it.

  They had to stop it or else James would lose all his money, but you could never stop James.

  Their victim? The most universally known casino game, Poker.

  They sit down in the table.

  Background music, roulette sounds and murmuring/exclaiming voices, all blocked by the atmosphere.

  In a 1v1, James' opponent, Petrov, is directly ahead of him.

  He puts his small blind, €50, being directly left of the dealer.

  The enemy adds €100.

  The cards are dealed.

  They each look at their respective sets, a peek will do.

  "A 5 of Diamonds and a 7 of Spades. Not too bad.", James thinks.

  However, his positive vibes are instantly reversed.

  "Raise to €300."

  An early raise.

  James is alerted but must keep his poker face.

  His opponent is smirking down on him, it's a challenge.

  "Call!"

  Pot raised to €600.

  Justin and Luna are already regretting their decisions.

  James borrowed atleast €700 from both of them.

  Then, the community cards are dropped.

  "6 of Clubs, 6 of Spades and an 8 of Clubs. I might be able to pull of a straight if I'm lucky enough."

  Raise is called again, this time to €800.

  He accepts the challenge and calls. €1000 in the pot.

  "This guy is pretty confident in what he's doing, huh.", James thinks to himself.

  His opponent does look confident, he's just fixing his watch with a somewhat rested posture.

  The fourth community card is dropped.

  "9 of Spades! Perfect for my plan!", he celebrates in his mind.

  But his opponent is unwavering.

  "Raise to €1,300!", Petrov says.

  "Call!", follow James.

  €1,600 in the pot.

  Both of them are feeling good, but the two behind James are barely holding on.

  The fifth community card is dropped, a 4 of clubs.

  "Well that doesn't help me, but it shouldn't help him either. I can win this round!", James wonders to himself.

  Two taps on the table, that's a check from his opponent.

  "Raise 400!", James says.

  James and Luna are shocked at his aggresiveness, praying that somehow, someway, he wins this round.

  "Reveal your cards, gentlemen.", says the dealer.

  The table is silent as can be, the two spectators are gripping their fists as the players showcase.

  James' set, a straight from 5 to 9.

  Petrov's set, a 4 of clubs, 5 of clubs, 6 of clubs, 7 of clubs and a 8 of clubs.

  James' face goes in shock, that's a straith flush which beats his straight.

  He lost.

  The tokens jingled as they were bought to Petrov. €2,000 worth of chips.

  He can't accept it, and as could be expected out of him.

  "Petrov! I challenge you to a rematch!"