May I throw out a suggestion. Someone contacted your character and hired him to look for the escapees. Why not simply start with that. Jermayan's character was also hired to look for the nagas. The top officials of The Chimera Project are pulling out all the stops. Money is no object. So you two could work together to a point during the start. My thinking, when the nagas escape with the soldiers chasing them, the villages need to fear what the Chimera Project will do to them if they help them. The Colonel will need "good" soldiers to obey him without question but nothing says they have to agree with what hes doing or fully believes in capturing the nagas. Hope that helps some.