Living alone is easier—nature will readily feed a small settlement. But the catastrophe brought the Earth people to the worst possible place: the main enemy here isn’t nature, and a tiny army is far from enough. Villages burn; lines of prisoners vanish without a trace across the lands of Haytana, and the enemy fleet shows all its power. The question of uniting becomes a question of survival—but solving it is no easier than defeating the Hayts’ army.