Universal Century 0096. The mercenary organization Argent Keil, aligned with neither the Federation nor Zeon, accepts a contract to assassinate the Federation official Azami Meginneh — a commission from within the Federation itself, which cannot publicly acknowledge that Azami has been cooperating with Zeon. Moments before the operation launches, the Argent Keil fleet is attacked by Federation Jegans. In the chaos of the ambush, a silver Gundam that Argent Keil has been keeping secret deploys into space.