In the year Cosmic Era 0071, a military battle between two mobile suits results in the demise of a neutral country. Shinn Asuka finds that his whole family has been slain as a consequence of the bloodbath and dedicates his life to a vengeful chase of the Earth's Natural forces, thinking that they are to blame for his family's death. Shinn advances through the ZAFT military ranks, eventually gaining access to the cockpit of the prototype Impulse mobile suit. Athrun Zala, a recent battle veteran working for ambassador Cagalli Yula Athha, gets drawn into a new conflict between the Naturals and the Coordinators: people who have been genetically modified before birth and are reviled by the Naturals for their biological advantages.