It happened to me a couple times that when previewing the result of a battle, the time machine shows me the opponent's specialists fleeing their Base right before the takeover. It doesn't make any sense, how can the time machine predict such a thing? Here is an example:

I can't tell from your screen, but does the enemy have a diplomat specialist within range?
If so, the Diplomat will recall any captured specialists to the nearest friendly outpost, allowing your time machine to calculate that.

You are absolutely right, there was a diplomat! I never hire him so I did not consider his mechanics ^.^"