5th Luna
We begin in the middle of the action. Having seized the asteroid 5th Luna, Neo Zeon intends to push it out of Earth orbit and set it falling towards the Federation capital in Lhasa, Tibet. As well as disrupting the Federation government, this operation will be the first step in Char's master plan - using asteroid impacts to bring about a "nuclear winter" like the one said to have wiped out the dinosaurs. Earth's elites will then be forced to flee the frozen planet and join the rest of the human race in the space colonies.

The Neo Zeon fleet is opposed by the Federation's Londo Bell taskforce. This tiny fleet is commanded by Bright Noa, and its mobile suit forces are led by ace pilot Amuro Ray - both of them veteran warriors who battled Char during the One Year War, then joined forces with him to resist the brutality of the Titans. The Londo Bell are unable to prevent 5th Luna's fall, and the asteroid strikes Lhasa with devastating force, narrowly missing an ascending space shuttle.

Near the Moon
The Neo Zeon fleet begins its journey back to Sweetwater, with the Londo Bell in hot pursuit. As they approach the moon, Amuro makes a side trip to the lunar factories of Anaheim Electronics to collect his new mobile suit, the mighty Nu Gundam. But even as he does so, Neo Zeon launches a sudden attack on the pursuing Londo Bell, forcing Amuro to hurry back to his comrades' rescue. In fact, the Neo Zeon assault is merely a decoy operation, intended to distract the pursuers while Char slips away aboard a camouflaged transport ship.

Battered by Neo Zeon's attack, the Londo Bell limp back to their headquarters at Side 1's Londenion colony. Along the way, they pick up the passengers of a stranded space shuttle, which was knocked off course by the hurtling 5th Luna. Aboard the shuttle are the high-ranking Federation minister Adenauer Paraya, his spoiled daughter Quess, and Bright's teenage son Hathaway.