I mean, if you are going to have an escape prologue where the people that you are rescuing are basically powerless to do anything other than follow along with their suddenly appearing Savior, then just write that out in the first post instead of making people sit through what will probably be a few days or a week of it before anything actually happens. It's like a later Wheel of Time novel right now.

Edit: And yes, this RP has a solid Xcom feel, and I'm Dr Shen, ok?