Solomon shook under the pounding of the Federation's second-day assault. The corridors trembled, lights flickered, and officers scrambled like ants in a nest that had just been kicked open. Reports flooded the command center, each one worse than the last. The first defensive ring was gone. The second line was collapsing. The Federation vanguard had driven straight through the weak point like a spear.
Dozle Zabi stood in the center of the storm, his massive form casting a shadow across the tactical map as red warnings spread across it like spilled blood. His jaw clenched so hard it looked like it might crack. He slammed one fist against the reinforced console, the impact rattling the entire table.
"They're pushing again!? They won't stop!?" he growled, teeth grinding.
"General! The third sector has lost thirty percent of its defensive turrets—"
"Then reinforce it!" Dozle roared, the entire command room flinching at his voice. "Send every ship that can still move to the second line! They break there, Solomon is finished!"
Officers scattered to relay the order. Screens flickered with deployment commands, Zeon ships adjusting course, mobile suit units scrambling out of hangars. But even as they moved, Dozle knew it wasn't enough. Not against multiple Gundams, the Federation vanguard, and that accursed Shirogane fleet cutting into his perimeter with perfect coordination.
He closed his eyes for one second, remembering Mineva, remembering the Zabi name he carried. When he opened them again, they burned with resolve.
There was only one option left.
"Prepare the weapon," he said.
Every engineer and officer froze.
"You… you mean—? General, it's not finished—!"
"I know it's not finished!" Dozle shouted. "But if we let the Federation through, nothing matters! Ready Big Zam! I will pilot it myself if I must!"
Silence fell like a physical weight.
Then the alarms switched. The heavy blast doors of Solomon's deepest hangar slid open, revealing the towering shadow inside.
Big Zam.
A giant barely awake, its armor incomplete, its joints still exposed, coolant pipes running like pale veins along its unfinished skeleton. Sparks flashed around its knees where workers were still welding, and the massive eye in its head remained dark and lifeless.
Dozle marched into the hangar with purpose, boots echoing against the metal flooring. Engineers swarmed around him, bowing, panicking, sweating.
"It isn't stable!" a chief engineer cried. "The I-field generator is only at forty percent calibration! The mega cannon overheats instantly during tests—!"
"Make it work," Dozle said, towering over them. "Even at half power."
One of the mechanics swallowed. "General… half power will melt the internal conduits…"
"Then reinforce the conduits!" Dozle barked. "Salvage anything from the spare hangars! This fortress will stand!"
Jason Arkadi arrived at that moment, quickly saluting before stepping forward. "General Zabi, you requested me?"
Dozle gripped Jason's shoulder with a massive hand, almost crushing his bones. "I need every ounce of your talent. Get Big Zam operational. Even for ten minutes. Even for five."
Jason pretended to think, lowering his head respectfully. "I'll try, sir."
He turned away quickly, because the grin threatening to spread across his face was too obvious.
This was jackpot.
And right on cue, his hidden comm unit pulsed. Lelouch's encrypted voice slipped through, quiet and surgical.
"Jason. Begin copying every development log, structural design, and generator schematic. We will not allow the Zabi family to monopolize technology of this scale."
Jason's eyebrows twitched. "Understood. This is… a lot of data."
"Good," Lelouch murmured. "The more we take, the more power Zeon loses."
Jason whispered back, "And the more points my system gives me."
A pause.
"Points?" Lelouch asked.
Jason cleared his throat. "Engineering motivation system. Please ignore."
He cut the channel before Lelouch could pry deeper.
Jason opened his system window only he could see.
—
[HIGH-CLASS TECHNOLOGY ACQUIRED – BIG ZAM PROTOTYPE]
+2500 Points
[ACCESS: CLASSIFIED ZEON I-FIELD BLUEPRINTS]
+3500 Points
[MAJOR CHARACTER: DOZLE ZABI TRUST INTERACTION]
+5000 Points
—
Jason forced his face to stay neutral even as joy screamed inside him. He was rich. Rich in system points. Enough to buy multiple mobile suit blueprints in the future. Enough to elevate not just himself, but Lelouch's whole faction.
He got to work immediately.
The hangar filled with the crackle of energy and the metallic howl of stressed engines as he and the engineers worked to stabilize what shouldn't be stabilized. The I-field generator emitted unstable pulses that pushed nearby mechanics off their feet. The mega particle cannon short-circuited twice, sending sparks across the floor. Several coolant pipes melted before they could be replaced, drenching the floor in steaming fluid.
But slowly—painfully—Big Zam's systems began to hum.
Not ready.
Not safe.
But humming.
Dozle watched every step with a mixture of awe and desperation.
"This machine… this monster… it'll tear the Federation apart," he whispered. "Solomon will not fall."
The lights flickered. The deck shook violently as an explosion somewhere in the fortress boomed through the walls. The Federation had reached the third perimeter.
"Faster!" Dozle demanded. "Jason, report!"
Jason wiped sweat from his brow, fingers flying over the control panels. "We can attempt a low-power start-up. But I recommend we don't leave it running for more than a minute."
"A minute is enough to see if the soul of a warrior exists in this machine," Dozle muttered.
He raised his hand.
"Begin activation!"
The entire hangar descended into a deafening roar. Big Zam's eye flickered, off—on—off—then on again, glowing a deep emerald. The machine's massive limbs twitched. The reactor let out a tortured groan, as though waking from a nightmare.
Panels rattled. Sparks burst from its chest. One of the coolant lines ruptured again, showering workers.
Jason shouted, "Stop! Shut it down! Stability at seventeen percent—meltdown risk!"
But Dozle did not look away. His hands were clasped behind him, his gaze locked onto the gigantic titan shaking under its own incomplete birth.
Big Zam emitted a final rumbling noise—somewhere between a growl and a dying breath—before its eye dimmed and its systems fell silent once more.
Jason exhaled. "It can't sustain full activation yet… but we're close."
Dozle stepped closer, placing one massive palm on the machine's cold armor.
"You will be ready," he whispered. "For Zeon… you must be ready."
Behind him, Jason transferred the last of the stolen data.
And far elsewhere in Solomon, Lelouch opened the files, eyes narrowing with brilliant calculation.
Big Zam slept again.
But the war was waking it up faster than anyone wanted.
Four days later, the monster woke.
The ground under Solomon's inner fortress trembled as engineers disconnected the last anchor clamps. The completed Big Zam cast a shadow that swallowed half the hangar, its eye igniting with a burning green flame.
Dozle Zabi stepped into the cockpit with a grin that was half pride, half desperation.
"This will stop the Federation. Even if it costs my life."
The generators roared.
The I-Field stabilized.
The leg boosters ignited.
Big Zam rose, step by step, like a titan pulling itself from myth.
"BIG ZAM… LAUNCH!"
The doors split open.
The titan marched into war.
---
Meanwhile, the Federation was convinced Solomon was moments from collapse.
Admiral Tianem's fleet surged forward with renewed momentum. GM units pressed the advantage, Balls fired suppressive volleys, and assault carriers charged into the breach. White Base and Shirogane Miyuki's Vanguard fleet carved a path through the outer defense that Zeon once held with pride.
Among the Federation vanguard, Strike Gundam streaked across space with precision fire.
Gary Lin sat inside it—calm, sharp, and infinitely more aware than any normal pilot.
Because Gary wasn't a native of this world.
He recognized the tremor in the Minovsky field.
He knew the oscillation pattern.
He knew that heat signature, that hum, that shape—
"Big Zam," Gary whispered as its silhouette emerged from the smoke of destroyed debris. "The I-Field fortress itself… and piloted by Dozle Zabi."
This was not shock.
This was the cold dread of a transmigrator who had watched this scene in the anime and now had to survive it.
"Strike's beam rifle won't work. Beam saber won't cut it. I need solid rounds, high mobility, or I'll get turned into vapor."
The system chimed in his cockpit.
[HOST, PLEASE DO NOT PANIC. BIG ZAM ONLY HAS A 99.3% CHANCE OF KILLING YOU IN A SINGLE DIRECT HIT.]
"Very comforting, asshole," Gary muttered.
The Federation fleet did not yet understand what they were seeing.
But Gary did.
The Big Zam raised its main cannon—the massive belly-mounted mega particle launcher charging with a shriek across the battlefield.
"Oh shit—BRIGHT! BIG ZAM IS ACTIVE! EVASIVE FORMATION NOW!"
Bright Noa didn't hesitate.
"All ships scatter! All mobile suits break formation!"
But they were seconds too late.
The green beam fired.
A colossal spear of death tore across space and annihilated an entire GM platoon in one strike. Assault carriers exploded, Balls evaporated, and the shockwave forced even the Strike Gundam to brace.
The morale of the Federation evaporated in an instant.
---
Inside Solomon's command center, Lelouch closed the last encrypted file Jason had sent him. Big Zam's full development log. Every parameter, every shortcut, every strength… every flaw.
"Good work, Jason. Withdraw and prepare the next phase."
He turned toward the tactical map as Big Zam's icon appeared.
"Now then… let's see how the Federation responds to Zeon's last monster."
He was not on Zeon's side.
He was not on the Federation's side.
He was on his own side.
And Big Zam becoming active meant that the next stage of his plan could begin.