Preparation for this plan began when a suspicious beam of light appeared near the city, at first it was thought that it was a Herald though the LDC were not convinced as the Elders were off world and could not be contacted, making it unlikely that the light was created by them. The Nine elected mentor Cêpans all visited their Garde in order to place a tracking band in their procession. Daxin, Number Nine's original Cêpan, used Sandor's transportation to reach Nine and brought Sandor with him.