Lacus Strikes
Athrun returns to the PLANTs on a shuttle to speak to his father, but he is arrested. Lacus and (the presumed killed in action) Andrew Waltfeld join forces, stealing the ZAFT support ship Eternal and rescuing Athrun. They join forces with the Archangel and the Kusanagi thus forming the Three Ships Alliance.
Aired 26/07/2003EP 42 - Lacus Strikes
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed
C.E. 71: In the midst of war between the Naturals (OMNI) and Coordinators (ZAFT), a unit from ZAFT is dispatched to hijack the Earth Alliance's newly developed mobile suits on the neutral colony of Heliopolis. Orb Civilian Coordinator Kira Yamato attends the technical college on Heliopolis. After ZAFT hijacks 4 of the 5 mobile suits, Kira stumbles upon the last one, Strike, forced to pilot it to save his and his friend's lives. During this confusion, Kira also reunites with his childhood Coordinator friend, Athrun Zala, who ironically turns out to be a ZAFT soldier and one of the hijackers at Heliopolis. Having control of Strike, Kira joins the Earth Alliance boarding the ship known as Archangel, to protect his friends while despairing over becoming the enemy of his childhood friend and people.
Note: An HD remaster was broadcasting starting on December 23, 2011 with two recap episodes cut, including new and updated animation, conversion to 16:9, and updated music.