During the war of C.E. 71 between the Naturals (OMNI) and the Coordinators (ZAFT), a ZAFT unit is dispatched to the neutral colony of Heliopolis to seize the Earth Alliance’s newly developed mobile suits. Kira Yamato, a civilian Coordinator studying at a technical college on Heliopolis, learns that four of the five suits have already been hijacked. He discovers the last one, the Strike, and is forced to pilot it in order to save himself and his friends. In the ensuing confusion, Kira reunites with his childhood friend Athrun Zala, who is revealed to be a ZAFT soldier and one of the hijackers. With control of Strike, Kira joins the Earth Alliance aboard the ship Archangel to protect his friends.