The year is UC 0096 - 16 years after the One Year War and 3 years after the Second Neo Zeon War. A new conflict breaks out between the Federation and the Neo Zeon remnants over the possession of the mysterious "Laplace's Box", an artefact from the dawn of the Universal Century rumored to have the power to destroy the Federation. The seemingly ordinary schoolboy Banagher Links finds himself thrown into the middle of this conflict when he's chosen to pilot the Unicorn Gundam, which is not only a powerful mobile suit but also the key to Laplace's Box.