By Ember Hadad, Senior Editor at the City Herald

Readers might be forgiven for imagining that, after having been captured by Shadow Legion forces, EDZ residents might consider relocating to the Last City.

I took a trip out to the famed settlement known as The Farm to talk to the civilians and FOTC officers still stubbornly posted at the edges of the world.

"We're not fighting for one city. We're fighting for humanity," says Baishan, one of the Farm's technicians. Baishan is charged with maintaining the Farm's few precious remaining generators—and, more recently, its Ether processors. "This is our world, and we're going to keep staking a claim."

Naomi, a pilot with Forces of the City, has been overseeing regular supply runs to the Farm in the wake of fierce bombardment by the Shadow Legion. She sees this as par for the course.

"Humans are good at adapting to just about anything," she observes.

For many, the true revelations have come as a result of continued cooperation with new Eliksni neighbors.

Long-time Farm resident Carol notes, "There's a lot about Fallen tech we couldn't have guessed at. With Skiris and Riksor helping out, we've cobbled together our own solar cell network. Our energy output is five times what it used to be. The first step toward long-term projects is getting out of starvation mode."

And the people here do think long-term. Few of the people I interviewed seemed to have much interest in returning to the safety of the city walls.

"The Witness tore down our cities, blighted our air and water, and sent raiders and monsters after us. We're still here, waiting for the first chance we get to take it all back. The way I see it, those of us here on the Farm are just getting a head start."