Chapter 7 - First Impressions
Kade was mesmerized watching the melee: how could one wounded alien take down two guardsmen so quickly? The mechanics of her weapon were appalling but the grace with which she moved was incredible, especially considering the wound on her leg. In regards to the wound, it was amazing she even reacted so quickly to the advances of his teammates. Humans who lost so much blood would surely have been in a daze. Even having her wrist snapped by Bellaire didn't interrupt her progress in battle! Kade concluded he would have to pray to the Emperor for the next month as he found himself admiring the Xeno's skill in battle. No, not admiring- that would be heresy. Respecting the Xeno's skills. But still, he felt a mixture of disappointment and relief when the Commissar abruptly concluded the alien's bloody performance.
"Guardsman!" a harsh shout from Commissar Bellaire snapped Kade out of his thoughts, "You are trained in first aid, correct?"
When Kade nodded a confirmation, the Commissar requested he patch up the alien's leg so it wouldn't die of blood loss before they got back to the city. Kade looked over to where the Xeno was laying on the ground, her hands being roughly tied together by two of the surviving troopers. Kade was halted in his advance towards the alien when the men flipped her back over. Somehow Kade didn't notice before the image that was portrayed on her mask. He grimaced at the illusion - the face of a little girl whose eyes were bleeding after being gouged out.
"We've got to get that mask off," Kade murmured to nobody in particular.
Behind him, Uriel chortled, "I know! Here's a decent body, but then you see the face of a fucking cat. Where do the Xenos come up with this shit?"
Both men jumped as the alien snorted. Kade couldn't tell if the noise was a laugh or if the Eldar's medical situation was giving her breathing issues. Slowly approaching her, Kade knelt over to inspect the wound on the alien's leg. His friend crouched down as well, but Kade didn't waste the time to notice what about the alien Uriel was "inspecting."
Slipping into his medical mentality, Kade explained "this is probably going to hurt, but I'm going to clean the wound and try to stop the bleeding. It shouldn't take long." He caught Uriel throwing him a weird glance and then he realized he had been unthinkingly reassuring a Xeno. Heresy again. Damn. Quickly changing the topic, Kade made a request, "Hey Uriel, how about you take off that mask? I need to see her face to make sure she stays conscious when I apply the synthetic skin."
Uriel shrugged and moved closer to the Eldar's head. When he reached out to touch the mask, the alien responded with what Kade thought to be a loud and angry meow. The alien snorted again as Uriel stumbled backwards, which helped Kade conclude the snorting noise, now followed by happy coughs, must have been the Eldar's laughter.
He watched as a flustered Uriel tore the mask off the Xeno and threw it into the sand. The face behind the mask was surprisingly humanoid, just more slender and with pointed ears. Shortly, the face contorted as the alien stifled a scream when Kade applied antibiotic ointment to the gash on her leg. He quickly followed up with a layer of synthetic skin to temporarily close the wound and stop the bleeding. The Xeno sharply exhaled and flopped her head to the ground as Kade wrapped her leg tight in a bandage; he wanted to make sure she would be able to walk on it so she wouldn't slow their progress back to the city.
"Do you think I should take care of her wrist too?" Kade asked Uriel who was still staring at the alien unblinkingly.
"Nah. You'd have to untie her to get to it. She doesn't need her wrist to walk."
Hesitating to leave a patient not fully mended, Kade forcibly reminded himself that this alien was the enemy and therefore not truly a patient that he was duty-bound to heal. He limped over to Sergeant Limanowitz on his sore ankle to report that the alien should be ready to move within minutes. The Sergeant seemed relieved to hear the news as it meant this hellacious patrol would finally be coming to an end.