As the political transition is underway and inauguration day approaches, a PLANAF Shaanxi Y-8 antisubmarine warfare aircraft goes down in the waters southeast of Taiwan (implied to be an act of surreptitious internal sabotage as part of a false flag operation),[8] with the plane's sole surviving injured crewman being rescued and picked up by a nearby ROCN warship.

Under the guise of conducting a search and rescue operation for the missing plane, China implements a naval blockade surrounding Taiwan, leading to the complete halt of international shipping to the island, and a subsequent stock market crash and bank run.

As Chinese infiltrators and their local collaborators release convicts from prisons en masse, armed groups of fifth columnists and gangsters begin blocking roads.

[10] Preparation for the series began in December 2022, inspired by the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War and the Chinese military exercises around Taiwan conducted in protest of Nancy Pelosi's 2022 Taiwanese state visit.

[10] The director made the decision to weaken Taiwan's government and society in their portrayal, setting a worst case scenario which they hope to empower to audience to avoid.