Read this: People Are Adding "And Then The Murders Began" To Opening Lines Of Books And It's Hilarious. And this: People Are Adding “And Then The Murders Began” To Famous Book Openings, And It’s Impossible Not To Laugh. This has been called #LaidlawsRule, and I think it’s a cool way to think of opening sentences.
I’m intrigued by the idea. I’m in the process of a major rewrite. (In addition to finishing a second edition of some non-fiction.)
I think that each chapter's first sentence (or so) should be a journalistic lede that leaves room for an “and then the murders began” coda. The idea is to set up a situation which could go anywhere, and devolving immediately into bloody chaos seems like a good setup for #SFF writing.
As part of personifying the protagonists problems, I’ve rewritten and rewritten the “departure” aspects several times. What had originally been systemic and organizational issues are being morphed into personal issues with specific antagonists.