While the Minerva crew praises Shinn for his incredible fight, Orb joins the Earth Alliance much to Cagalli's abhorrence. Meanwhile, Kira and his friends are attacked by Coordinators who attempt to assassinate Lacus using the new UMF/SSO-3 ASH mobile suits. Kira reactivates the Freedom to protect the woman he loves. Although he only disables the enemy mobile suits, the assassins activate self-destruct mechanisms for their mobile suits.