Everyone who appeared somewhere in the Pan-Galaxies after the Maelstrom Rescue was asked, when they reported back in to their duties, to fill out a short questionnaire as to their whereabouts upon arrival. It was unclear whether these locations were all now known to the people who had sent them there, or how useful that knowledge would be to them. A small team had been assigned to the sole task of digesting these reports and spotting patterns or consequences.

The size of the personnel group from the five largest fleet bases of the Pan-Galactic Imperium meant that there were thousands and thousands of accounts, which would continue to trickle in. They had saved most. General Alisandre, Draig Claymore was himself still reeling with survivor’s euphoria, multiplied by the number of people who’d made it out. That feeling still eclipsed trepidations as to what history might say about this massive blow to Imperium forces despite the costly and difficult safeguarding. He probably would still not have time to worry about that as they continued to wage defensive war.

Lieutenant Daguerre-Asahi stood before Claymore’s office desk, delivering a handpicked assortment of reappearance questionnaires with widely varied locations. “So far, the strongest pattern we’ve found is that the places in question are of great personal significance, with markers that belong only to the person relocated. Another thing – everyone reflects on themselves in their accounts a little more than we normally expect in military reports, while that is consistent with mindstates of near-death survival.”