MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UNICORN RE:0096

On the day of the ceremony marking the transition from the A.D. to the Universal Century calendar, the space station Laplace, official residence of the Earth Federation prime minister, is destroyed by a terrorist bombing. One of the terrorists, a young man named Syam Vist, is caught in the explosion but barely manages to survive. He obtains a forbidden box that will come to be known as Laplac...

Evading Marida, who has come to take Audrey back to the Garencieres, Banagher finally manages to get Audrey to the mansion in Magallanica where she hopes to meet with Cardeas, the current head of the Vist Foundation. Here he sees the "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestry, and feels a strange sense of déjà vu. Cardeas appears, sending Banagher away and then refusing Audrey's plea that he halt the handover of Laplace's Box, which could start another war. At the same time, the Earth Federation Forces assault landing ship Nahel Argama, which is carrying an ECOAS special forces team on a secret mission to stop the Box from changing hands, is approaching Industrial 7. Zinnerman and his comrades, who are members of a Neo Zeon remnant group known as the Sleeves who have survived Char's Rebellion, begin negotiations to transfer the Box. But what Cardeas is offering them is merely its key. Zinnerman is also suspicious of Cardeas's claim that he is keeping Audrey under his protection. Then they learn that Federation Forces mobile suits have engaged the Sleeves in battle.

The negotiations between Cardeas and Zinnerman break down as a mobile suit battle begins inside the colony, claiming the lives of Banagher's classmates. Banagher rushes back to Magallanica to help Audrey, but loses his way, and in an industrial block he discovers a white mobile suit with a single horn. Cardeas has been mortally wounded by Alberto, who infiltrated Magallanica, and he now reveals that he is Banagher's long-estranged father. Entrusting Banagher with the hope that he can change the fate of the Vist family, who have been cursed by Laplace's Box, Cardeas gives him the Unicorn Gundam, the key to the Box, and then disappears amid the flames. As Banagher's suppressed childhood memories return, he activates the Unicorn Gundam and confronts the Sleeves mobile suit Kshatriya. He pushes it out of the colony, but finds himself in peril as it counterattacks.

After repulsing the Kshatriya, Banagher loses consciousness, and along with the Unicorn Gundam, he is retrieved by the Earth Federation Forces warship Nahel Argama. The ship has also rescued Audrey, as well as Banagher's friends Takuya and Micott. Zinnerman of the Sleeves detects the Nahel Argama's position via a clever trap, and the ship comes under a fierce attack by Full Frontal, known as the second coming of the Red Comet, and his mobile suit Sinanju. Audrey begs Banagher to escape the ship with her in order to dispose of the Unicorn Gundam, the key to Laplace's Box. But Daguza of the Federation's ECOAS special forces group takes her prisoner, demanding that Frontal halt his attack. For Audrey is actually Mineva Zabi, the Zeon princess.

Daguza has taken Mineva (or Audrey) hostage, but Frontal rejects his demand for a ceasefire and declares that he will sink the Nahel Argama. In order to save Audrey, Banagher sorties in the Unicorn Gundam, with the support of the Anaheim executive Alberto. However, Alberto's true intention is to have Frontal destroy the Unicorn Gundam, and thus block his path to obtaining the Box. The Unicorn Gundam changes into Destroy Mode, and Banagher engages the Sinanju, but he is taken captive along with the Unicorn Gundam when Marida's Kshatriya launches a surprise attack. Banagher is dragged away to the resource satellite Palau, the stronghold of the Neo Zeon remnants known as the Sleeves. The masked Full Frontal is waiting there to meet him.

Removing his mask and revealing his face, Frontal requests the cooperation of Banagher, who can activate the Unicorn Gundam. When Banagher refuses, Angelo berates him for killing one of his subordinates. As Banagher struggles with the knowledge of his guilt, Marida takes him to shrine inside Palau. Meanwhile, the Nahel Argama prepares for an operation to recapture the Unicorn Gundam. Captain Otto is frustrated by his impossible orders from staff headquarters, but Daguza, the commander of the operation, asks him to also think of it as a mission to rescue Banagher. A Federation Forces spy notifies Banagher of the upcoming surprise attack, and he is appalled to learn that Palau will now become a battlefield. At the same time, Micott discovers that Riddhe, having gotten to know Mineva, plans to help her escape to Earth. Learning of Mineva's resolve, Micott lets them go.