Due to the high risk nature of their work, all members of the New Exodus Vanguard are required to keep detailed journals of everything they do and anything they encounter. These journals serve as a form of black-box should the author be killed, and allow any others who recover the journals to know of the dangers they faced.
It is later revealed that the true purpose of The New Exodus Vanguard is to go forward and find a safe place for themselves to live and have their own children to keep the human race alive. Due to food shortage, the survivors of The Crushing Fist will all die within a few months from starvation. The strongest and most intelligent survivors without any familial bonds are chosen as part of the Vanguard to be sent away and possibly avoid starvation.