Civilian
Seabook Arno
Rees Arno
Dwight Camury
Drosie Mua
Bertuo Rodriguez
Leslie and Monica Arno
Theo and Nadia Fairchild
Cosmo Eigesse
Minmi Editoh
Roy Jung

Earth Federation
Leahlee Edaberry
Berghito Pirieau
Bardo

Crossbone Vanguard
Cecily Fairchild
Meitzer Ronah
Karozo Ronah
Dorel Ronah
Zabine Chareux
Annamarie Brougia
Gilais Kreuger

At the same time, a new force is preparing to challenge the Federation. Recruited, equipped and trained in secret, the Crossbone Vanguard are an elite private army in the employ of the aristocratic Ronah family. They are dedicated to the Ronah family's "cosmo nobility principle," which holds that humanity should be led by the best, the wisest, the most courageous - not by petty bureaucrats and corrupt politicians. Now they plan to establish a perfect society based on these ideals, and they've chosen the Frontier Side to become their "Cosmo Babylonia." In UC 0123, the Crossbone Vanguard make their move.

Frontier IV

The Crossbone Vanguard enter the colony of Frontier IV without warning. Sweeping through the colony, they efficiently wipe out the Federal Forces garrison, while taking care to minimize property damage and civilian casualties - they want the colony and its population intact. As the battle rages, Seabook Arno, Cecily Fairchild and their schoolmates scramble through the colony, seeking first shelter, then escape. Seabook's father Leslie helps them reach the colony's last remaining space boat.

As they pile into the space boat, Cecily is accosted by her stepfather. She is revealed to be a member of the Ronah family, stolen from the family by her rebellious mother. Her treacherous stepfather plans to return her to the Ronah family, and he shoots Seabook when he tries to intervene. Cecily is collected by her long-lost brother Dorel, an officer of the Crossbone Vanguard.

The surviving Federal Forces flee Frontier IV, leaving it in the hands of the Crossbone Vanguard. So do thousands of civilians, including the wounded Seabook and his friends. The Federal Forces and resistance-minded civilians regroup at Frontier I, an industrial colony with a large asteroid attached to one end for mining purposes. This impromptu resistance army includes the Federal Forces training ship Space Ark, which recovers the space boat in which Seabook and friends are packed.

Cosmo Babylonia

At the occupied Frontier IV, now the capital of Cosmo Babylonia, Cecily is reintroduced to family patriarch Meitzer Ronah and her sinister iron-masked father Karozo. Agreeing to serve as their figurehead, Cecily resumes her original identity as Berah Ronah and begins training as a mobile suit pilot. With dapper Crossbone Vanguard ace Zabine Chareux and his elite Black Vanguard squadron to protect her, she will lead their forces into battle in a manner befitting a true noble.

The Federation government initially dismisses the events at Frontier IV as a local dispute between mere spacenoids. Meanwhile, the Crossbone Vanguard consolidate their hold on the Frontier Side, conquering Frontier II and III. They then negotiate a pact with the Jupiter Energy Fleet, allowing them to stave off further Federation interference with the threat of an energy embargo (though this important plot point didn't make it into the final version of the movie). Now, all the Crossbone Vanguard need do to gain complete control of the Frontier Side is to eliminate the resistance forces at Frontier I.

Frontier I

Dorel Ronah leads an attack on Frontier I. Though he is supposed to merely gain a foothold, he impulsively decides to invade the colony interior. The Space Ark crew send the unfinished prototype F91 Gundam into battle, selecting Seabook as the pilot on the strength of his credentials as an engineering student. To everyone's shock, the F91 performs perfectly, sending three Crossbone Vanguard mobile suits down in flames. Dorel withdraws in panic.

Head swelled by this victory, Seabook undertakes an unauthorized mission. Sneaking into Frontier IV, he finds Cecily but is immediately chased out by her guards. Though he and his father Leslie escape the colony, Leslie is mortally wounded, and dies as they return to Frontier I.

Escape from Frontier I

The Crossbone Vanguard gather for an all-out assault on the besieged Frontier I. Anticipating that the invaders will exterminate all the resistance fighters, the Space Ark crew plan to flee the colony as soon as the fighting starts.

Dorel begins an attack on the Federal Forces fleet outside the colony, while Zabine leads his Black Vanguard squadron inside, only to see them wiped out by Seabook and his fellow defenders. Seabook and Cecily cross swords, then realize who they're fighting and decide to join forces. They return to the Space Ark, which has made it as far as the colony's airlock and is poised to complete its escape as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Here they are joined by Seabook's estranged mother Monica, the designer of the F91 Gundam's advanced biocomputer.

Bugs

With the Crossbone Vanguard's invasion foiled, Karozo decides to employ his secret weapons. Unknown to the other Crossbone Vanguard leaders, he has developed automated killing machines called "bugs." Once introduced into a closed environment - a colony, say, or the moon, or Earth - the bugs will efficiently wipe out all undesirables, without forcing their masters to even witness the carnage. Karozo dispatches his bugs into Frontier I, while he himself uses the mobile armor Lafressia to ravage the Federal Forces outside the colony.

Escaping the slaughterhouse that Frontier I has become, Seabook and Cecily confront Cecily's mad father. Karozo dismembers Cecily's mobile suit and tosses her out into space, but by employing every trick in the F91 Gundam's considerable arsenal, Seabook finally gets the better of the iron-masked sociopath.

Conclusion

The resistance forces at Frontier I have been wiped out, and only the Space Ark survives. Spotting the Space Ark, Zabine decides to leave the refugee-packed ship alone, then joins Dorel and the remainder of the Crossbone Vanguard in their triumphant return to Cosmo Babylonia. Protected against further Federation interference by their pact with the Jupiter Energy Fleet, they have succeeded in establishing their empire.

And what of Seabook? He searches desperately for Cecily, cast into space by her father. Monica helps him coordinate the F91 Gundam's sensors and his own newtype powers to track down his drifting friend, and as Seabook and Cecily embrace, the words "This is only the beginning" appear on the screen...

Mobile Suit Gundam, Z Gundam, Gundam ZZ, Char's Counterattack, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Gundam F91, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Gundam 0083: Last Blitz of Zeon, Gundam: The 08th MS Team, and Gundam W: Endless Waltz are copyright Sotsu Agency and Sunrise. V Gundam, G Gundam, Gundam W, and Gundam X are copyright Sotsu Agency, Sunrise and TV Asahi.