Filip Wiltgren’s second Black Library story, A Firstborn Exile is a direct sequel to The Firstborn Daughter and sees Lieutenant Ekaterina Idra of the 86th Firstborn continuing to battle against not just the Tovogan rebels but the ingrained prejudices of her own people. Joining up with more Vostroyans under the command of a famously rigid Colonel with rather different values to her own, Idra and her men are soon caught up in brutal city fighting against a dug-in enemy. Before long, any bureaucratic differences of opinion are outweighed by the need to survive against overwhelming odds.
After Wiltgren’s first story, Idra now feels more comfortable with herself and her place in the Firstborn, and this time it’s less about the disappointment of meeting a hero than the complex art of managing upwards within a military hierarchy. Eschewing flashbacks in favour of a straightforward linear narrative this time, it’s a brutal meat-grinder of a story which positions the intransigent Colonel Gurlov as the antagonist and his staunch adherence to regulation as much as the rebels as the obstacle for Idra to overcome. There’s more to it than railing against an inept superior, however, and alongside some evocative Vostroyan detail it feels like Wiltgren is nicely setting up Idra and the 86th for yet more stories to come.
Click this link to buy Inferno! Volume 4, which features this short story.