Sudden Change 5

Under Siegel Clyne's leadership, they had intended to oppose the Zala Faction in a gentler, more rational way.

They planned to use a complex network of safe houses to shake off their pursuers while secretly speaking to PLANT's residents and soldiers through covert channels, telling them that there was another path beyond a hard-line war—one of peaceful coexistence.

To that end, they had made extensive preparations. They had established multiple secret hideouts and supply caches across PLANT's twelve colonial satellites; quietly built a confidential communications line independent of the official network that the Zala Faction could not detect; and even prepared to hijack PLANT's internal television broadcast system at a critical moment to deliver a public address to the entire nation.

Siegel Clyne believed that as long as the public could hear a different voice, as long as those whose reason had been clouded by war fever could be awakened, the nation's course could be changed.

However, all those plans had been dealt a devastating blow by Siegel's assassination.

The leaderless Klein Faction instantly descended into chaos.

Some of its followers were arrested, some were killed, and the rest could only hide throughout PLANT, completely stripped of the initiative and helpless to act.

They had been moving between several backup safe houses that Orphee had failed to fully uncover, hastily established by Andy afterward, struggling to preserve the last spark as they waited for a chance to strike back.

But now, it seemed that they were nearing their limit. The Zala Faction's dragnet was tightening by the day.

Worse still was the state of public opinion within PLANT.

Under the daily propaganda of Zala Faction-controlled media, distrust toward the Klein Faction continued to rise.

Siegel Clyne had been portrayed as a traitor who intended to sell out the nation's interests