The battlefield over Ananke burned in streaks of beam fire and collapsing debris as Shin Matsunaga's white Gelgoog Jäger carved through the Federation line. He moved with cold precision, each strike of his beam naginata severing mobile suits in clean, efficient arcs. Even amid the chaos, the shining white armor of the legendary White Wolf remained unmistakable.
Then a new blip entered his radar—one he did not expect.
GUNDAM: RX-78-2
Matsunaga's eyes narrowed. A Gundam outside of the known elite units? And piloted by someone he didn't recognize?
The Gundam launched toward him, shield raised, thrusters flaring like a comet tail. Their first clash sent a shockwave across the tattered line of Zeon and Federation suits. Matsunaga withdrew, analyzing her movement—hesitant in places, but graceful. Unrefined, but instinctively sharp.
Then her voice came over open comm, firm but cracking around the edges.
"Zeon pilot! Stand down—this battle is pointless!"
The sound of her voice struck deeper than any beam. Matsunaga zoomed in on her cockpit feed. Her face appeared on his HUD—golden hair, striking eyes, features that pulled at something buried in the back of his memory.
His heart jolted.
No… that face… it can't be.
A vision from years ago rose unbidden in his mind. He stood as a young officer inside a dusty archive of Side 3's High Command. He had just delivered a report for Kycilia's intelligence division when an archivist left a canvas partially uncovered on a desk. He glanced only once—but it was enough.
A painted portrait of Astraia Tor Deikun, warm and regal, with two smiling children beside her. The red-eyed boy: Casval Rem Deikun. The little girl with golden hair: Artesia Som Deikun.
The archivist had snapped at him, panic in his voice.
"You didn't see anything. Those children are gone. Wipe it from your memory, Lieutenant."
But Matsunaga had never forgotten their faces.
And now, the girl—no, the woman—on his screen looked exactly like the child in the painting.
Sayla charged again, forcing him back to the present. His Gelgoog parried, but there was no killing intent in his movements now. He delivered a counterstrike, but the beam grazed the Gundam's chest instead of cutting through it. Sparks burst across her armor, her breathing audible over the open channel, but she held her ground.
Matsunaga felt something tighten in his chest.
If she is Artesia… if the rumors of their deaths were lies… then she is Deikun's last surviving daughter.
If she fell here, the lineage of Zeon's founder would truly end.
And it would be by his own blade.
He made a decision without hesitation.
His thrusters ignited, and the white Gelgoog Jäger shot backward, retreating from the engagement. Sayla didn't pursue—Kai and Hayato had arrived, firing suppressive shots to cover her. She watched Matsunaga withdraw with confusion, unable to understand why Zeon's White Wolf surrendered distance he easily could have held.
The retreat immediately caught the attention of Zeon's rear command. Dozle's adjutant snarled into the comm channel, fury overflowing.
"Matsunaga! Why in hell are you retreating!? You had that Gundam cornered! Return to combat immediately!"
Matsunaga's voice remained controlled, firm, betraying none of the revelation that was burning through his mind.
"My beam naginata is unstable. One more clash and it may overload. I'm returning for a replacement. That's all."
The adjutant paused, unconvinced but aware of Matsunaga's reputation.
"…Fine! But make it quick! Big Zam needs support!"
The connection cut.
Matsunaga let out a slow, quiet breath.
Alone in his cockpit, away from the battlefield's screams, he finally allowed the truth to surface.
Artesia…? Could it really be you? They said the Deikun children died. But that face from the painting…
His right hand trembled.
If you survived this long… then may whatever gods remain on this cursed world let you survive a little longer.
His Gelgoog turned away from the battlefield, retreating into the shadowed debris fields, not out of fear but out of recognition.
For the first time in his career, the White Wolf fled a kill not because he was unable to take it…
…but because he refused to.
The battle raged like a storm without horizon. Dozle's Big Zam still towered above the Federation line, armor scorched, joints sparking, but very much alive—still hurling mega particle blasts that melted entire cruisers in seconds. Even crippled, the monstrous machine refused to fall.
And yet the second Big Zam, the incomplete one, struggled. Without Dozle's instincts, without elite escorts, its movements were clumsy, its I-Field failing to stabilize under prolonged bombardment.
Oreki Houtarou saw the pattern instantly.
"That one can be killed," he muttered. "Focus everything on the secondary unit."
Revil nodded sharply. "All ships—redirect fire! Gundam units, take the opening!"
Amuro shot forward in the Alex, weaving between explosions and debris, reading every weak point the stuttering I-Field revealed. The second Big Zam charged its cannon, but the output flickered—unstable.
"Just like the simulations…" Amuro breathed.
He fired the moment the I-field collapsed for a half-second. The hyper dart shot ripped through the Big Zam's throat armor, severing stabilizer cables. The massive MA lurched violently.
Gary Lin tore in from the right with Strike, blade ignited. Mikazuki slammed Duel's shield into the reactor housing from the left. The coordinated hit knocked the behemoth sideways.
Amuro didn't waste the opportunity.
He pushed Alex to its limit, engines screaming, diving underneath the machine. Every warning in his cockpit lit up red.
"Don't miss…!"
He tossed all remaining explosive charges into the exposed undercarriage and pulled away sharply.
The detonation erupted like a miniature sun.
A shockwave tore through the battlefield as the second Big Zam burst into a cloud of burning fragments, the I-Field collapsing in a ripple of dispersing energy.
When the flames died, nothing remained but drifting wreckage.
Amuro exhaled shakily. "Secondary Big Zam destroyed."
Gary swallowed. "One down…"
Mikazuki looked ahead. "The real one is still there."
Because the first Big Zam—Dozle's Big Zam—still stood.
Limping. Cracked. Half its armor molten. One leg nearly severed. But alive.
And furious.
More furious than ever.
From inside the cockpit, Dozle Zabi bellowed like a maddened titan.
"YOU FEDERATION BASTARDS—YOU THINK I WILL FALL LIKE THAT WEAK COPY!?"
He slammed the controls, forcing the damaged Big Zam to rise despite the agony of its failing systems. The machine groaned, metal straining, but obeyed.
A mega particle blast surged forward, disintegrating an entire squadron of Balls and a GM formation behind them.
The Federation line trembled.
"Big Zam—still advancing!!" a sensor operator shouted aboard the Ananke.
Revil stiffened. "By god… it's still moving."
Oreki narrowed his eyes. "This one won't go down by chance. Someone will have to make him stop."
But Amuro was out of charges. Gary and Mikazuki were damaged. Sayla could barely stand after Matsunaga's attack. Lockon, Athrun, and Hikigaya were still locked against Elmeth and Great Zeong.
Dozle saw the hesitation, and his entire being erupted into savage triumph.
"This is the difference between copies and the pride of a Zabi! COME—FEDERATION! FACE ME IF YOU HAVE COURAGE!"
The Big Zam roared forward, damaged but unstoppable, its massive silhouette burning against the fires of Solomon.
Only one Big Zam had fallen.
The real monster was still alive.
And the chapter closed on the looming shadow of Dozle Zabi's rampaging colossus, advancing toward the Federation line with murderous intent, the war for Solomon far from over.