Dozle Zabi had always been a loud man—booming, furious, larger than life.
But this was different.
Inside the Big Zam, the sensors flooded his cockpit with red alerts, enemy signatures, damage reports, retreat signals… and something inside him finally snapped.
Not fear.
Not desperation.
Something primal.
His voice cracked through Zeon channels like thunder.
"ALL ZEON UNITS—DESTROY THEM! EVERY LAST FEDERATION SOLDIER! CRUSH THEM UNTIL NOTHING REMAINS!"
Every cannon on the Big Zam surged to maximum output. The entire superstructure glowed a molten red as he fired indiscriminately into the Federation swarm. Half a dozen cruisers erupted at once, debris spraying like shrapnel rain.
Gary Lin, Mikazuki, and Amuro were forced back immediately.
"HE'S LOST IT!" Gary shouted, throwing the Strike into a hard roll as a beam ripped past him. "Revil's fleet will be wiped out at this rate!"
Mikazuki didn't flinch.
He just tightened his grip on Duel's controls.
"Then we break him before he breaks everything else."
But Dozle roared again, as if hearing them through the void.
"COME, FEDERATION VERMIN! I'LL ERASE YOU ALL!"
Another blast destroyed three GM squads trying to flank him.
Revil swallowed hard as the tactical map bled red.
"This has become a slaughter…"
Yet Oreki Houtarou wasn't looking at Dozle.
He was staring at a single dot on the map—Samus Aran.
Veering wildly.
Chasing phantom signals.
Weapon systems overheating.
Psycho-emissions spiking past safe levels.
She was still lost in the Newtype rampage Lelouch redirected.
"If Samus doesn't return to rational state soon," Oreki muttered, hands trembling over the display, "we lose the only pilot who can pierce Big Zam's defense line. And she'll tear herself apart before she even reaches it."
Revil turned sharply.
"What do you need?"
Oreki closed his eyes just long enough to steady himself.
"Samus's mind is in feedback overload. She's not fighting enemies—she's fighting every thought at once."
He pulled up a specialized transmission frequency.
"Her armor has a deep-connection neural port. If I match the oscillation of her Newtype field, I might pull her back."
Revil nodded instantly.
"Do it."
Oreki exhaled, then locked onto her signal.
Samus saw nothing but the kill.
The gold signal.
The threat.
The instinct to strike.
Her Full Armor Gundam ripped through another cluster of debris hunting the Tanya-echo. A phantom enemy. A lie.
But she couldn't stop.
Her pulse was a war drum.
Her vision kept splitting, then collapsing, then splitting again.
Target.
Kill.
Target.
Kill.
Then—
A voice.
Calm. Precise. Sharp enough to cut through the roar.
"Samus Aran."
Her entire cockpit flickered.
"That signal you're chasing is false," Oreki said. "You've been diverted from the battlefield. Redirected. You are losing control of your senses."
Samus's breath stuttered.
Her hands trembled on the controls.
"Identify… caller…"
"Oreki Houtarou. Tactical Officer. Ananke Support."
Her heartbeat slowed—by only a fraction, but it was enough to wedge open a gap in the frenzy.
"You are not in danger," Oreki said softly. "You are not under attack. You are overloading. Listen to my voice and return to baseline cognitive patterns."
Samus squeezed her eyes shut.
A blue aura pulsed violently around her suit.
Her mind reeled.
Thoughts slammed together, tearing at focus.
"I… can't…"
"Yes, you can," Oreki said. "Because you're Samus Aran. The one who broke Solomon's left flank alone. The one everyone here is following. The one who does not break."
Her breathing steadied.
The blue glow dimmed.
Her vision cleared.
The rampage cracked—and fell apart.
Samus opened her eyes fully.
"I'm… back," she whispered.
Oreki exhaled in relief.
Samus's suit shifted into combat stance, weapons powering back to normal levels.
"Revil," Oreki said, "Samus is stable."
Revil didn't wait.
"Then we strike the Big Zam!"
And Samus turned her thrusters toward the blazing titan in the distance.
Toward Dozle.
Toward the heart of Solomon.
She was calm again.
Deadly again.
Ready again.
And Dozle?
He was still screaming for blood.
Arthrun Zala and Lockon Stratos noticed it first—
something was wrong with the flow of battle.
The Zeon charge that had been sweeping across the sector minutes earlier suddenly bent away from them, like a violent tide redirected by an unseen force. Gelgoogs, Rick Doms, entire assault units that should've overrun their position…
ignored them.
Lockon lowered his rifle a fraction. "Uh… Arthrun? Are we invisible today or what?"
Arthrun watched the Zeon formation with narrowed eyes, Aegis Gundam poised but still. "No. They're not blind. They're redirected. Look at their vector—they're all heading for Revil's flagship. For the Ananke."
The two Gundams drifted amid a small cluster of GM units who were equally confused.
One of the GM pilots sputtered over comms,
"Why aren't they attacking us?! We're— we're right here!"
Lockon grimaced, switching channels. "Because Dozle's lost his damn mind and ordered an all-out rush on the flagship. They're obsessed with breaking command."
Arthrun's screen flashed—Revil's emergency command priority.
"Aegis Gundam Buster Gundam Solomon now. While we handle zeon attack here you unit is only that can destroy Solomon base"
Lockon blinked. "…He wants us to go inside?"
Arthrun nodded. "And destroy everything we can. Revil's betting on Samus cutting down the Big Zam while we cripple Solomon from the guts."
The GM squad leader steadied his breathing and spoke for them all:
"Orders received. We'll follow your lead, Gundams."
Lockon turned his Buster Gundam toward Solomon, engines flaring.
"Well… guess we're not being ignored after all. They just think Revil is the bigger prize."
Arthrun gripped his controls. "Then we make them regret that choice."
Behind them, the Zeon onslaught thundered toward the Ananke—
a hurricane of mobile suits trying to crush Revil's command core.
Ahead of them, Solomon's gates burned under Federation fire.
And between those two fronts—
Lockon Stratos and Arthrun Zala charged with their GM escort,
a blade aimed at Zeon's fortress heart while the rest of the army fought to hold the line.
Behind them, explosions shook the void as the Zeon horde clashed with the Federation fleet.
Arthrun glanced once over his shoulder.
"Revil… we'll keep the pressure off you."
Lockon chambered a fresh round in Buster's cannon.
"And we'll make Zeon feel this one."
Their thrusters ignited—
and the strike team dove into the firestorm toward Solomon.
Other side of battle.
Johnny Ridden saw it two flashes cutting through the debris cloud, distinct, unmistakable.
Aegis Gundam.
Buster Gundam.
And behind them, a squadron of GMs pushing directly toward Solomon's exposed internal gate.
His blood ran cold.
"They're aiming for the fortress core," Johnny growled. "If they breach that, Solomon is finished."
Anavel Gato came alongside him, his Gelgoog streaking red-hot from engine burn.
"I see them. Aegis and Buster… damn them."
His voice was controlled, but the fury beneath it crackled like voltage.
"The Federation intends to stab Solomon through the heart."
Johnny adjusted his throttle. "Then we intercept. Now."
But before they could accelerate, a harsh, frantic voice cut across their comms—
Dozle's adjutant, shouting over the chaos.
"All Zeon units! Continue the assault on the enemy flagship!
Lord Dozle orders total forward pressure!
Ignore secondary targets! Break the Federation command ship!"
Johnny froze mid-pitch. "What?! They want us to abandon pursuit? Those Gundams—"
Gato clenched his teeth. "This is madness. If those suits reach the inner fortress—"
The adjutant cut in again, voice shaking.
"This is Lord Dozle's personal command.
He will take responsibility.
All units: PUSH FORWARD!
Solomon survives only if the Federation fleet is destroyed!"
Johnny slammed his fist against his console.
"He's betting everything on crushing their command structure… even if it means letting those two maniacs through."
Gato stared ahead at the Aegis and Buster, streaking toward the fortress with frightening speed.
"…We're really letting them go," he said quietly. Not disbelief. Not cowardice.
Just the heavy realization of a soldier obeying an order he hated.
Johnny exhaled through his teeth. "We fall back into formation. If Dozle wants an all-out assault, then we give him one."
The Zeon line lurched forward as if pulled by gravity itself—
a massive, singular charge toward the Ananke.
Johnny and Gato joined it, swallowed by the roaring swarm of Doms and Gelgoogs.
Behind them, the Aegis Gundam and Buster Gundam slipped deeper into Solomon's breach, unopposed.
Johnny muttered under his breath, unheard except by the cold walls of his cockpit:
"Dozle… this gamble better be worth it."
Gato gripped his controls, eyes locked forward.
"For Zeon, then. We push."
And with that—
the Crimson Lightning and the Nightmare of Solomon surged into the savage storm,
leaving the fate of Solomon's inner fortress in the hands of two Gundams they could not chase.