First Referenced:
The New Exodus Vanguard (Part 1)
The New Exodus Vanguard is the name given to the advance parties of explorers searching for new sources of food to feed the survivors of The Crushing Fist. Members of the force are typically unattached, healthy and strong. The old, weak, unfit or infirm have been selectively eliminated.
The first phase of the Vanguard force numbers approximately one million individuals. Of that, only two to four tenths of a percent are expected to survive above the first month, due to the hostility of the multiverse. The mission is to locate a source of food to feed and maintain the remaining survivors while rebuilding efforts are underway.