Sigma
Inactive Member
Medical Bay, NSS Dauntless, 4th Fleet, in orbit over Mwigflukbajik
Twelve hours had passed since the end of the boarding actions. There were still another four before the funerals. Six hours before their next deployment. And that left one Laura Romero in charge of every single Cavalier. All thirteen of them, including herself. It was like dealing with Admiral Wazu and his motley crew all over again, except that now the squad was double in size.
The Admiral had just told them about his plans to split the Cavaliers into two squads. One would continue to be the Cavaliers, under Phaedra. The other would be Henry Morris' new gang to replace the loss of Hawkins' unit. And that would mean smaller squads, both needing a medic. Since Laura couldn't split herself into two (the Universe would explode from having TWO of the Most Brilliant Medics ever), that meant she would have to train up someone so that there were two medics for two squads. Didn't sound like Bernie was coming back anytime soon.
"Rakowski, get your butt over here!" Laura commanded. Her voice wasn't angry, nor was it annoyed. It was more like ... peeved off. That something in Laura's world hadn't gone exactly as she planned and she was bothered that she had to set the world right. Which was why Zyv Rakowski found himself as her assistant in the Medical Bay today.
Zyv, not knowing yet what awaited him, looked up in surprise at hearing his name called. The fact it was Romero's voice made him quickly go over the past hours, wondering whether he had done something to offend the self declared "Most brilliant Medic ever". Drawing a blank Zyv sighed and opted for a convential, - 'You want something, Romero?' - as he approached the clone.
The Cavaliers' medic was dressed with a loose tank top, her usual wear for offduty or light duty, and her khaki cargo pants. The Naval doctors often shot glances at her, either with disdain for her attire or with baser intents. Her white, sleeveless top, accentuated the fact that she was tan and very much a young woman. But seduction wasn't her purpose, especially considering her mood.
"Since it doesn't look like we're getting Bernie back and you're going to the new squad, they'll need a medic. All the other squads can't spare one since they only have one so I'm supposed to teach you. I hope, for your sake, you're as smart as your file makes you sound. Lives will depend on you. Any questions before I throw you into pool?"
Her icy-blue eyes glared at Zyv, waiting for an answer.
The marine stood in silence, arms folded behind his back as he listened. Except for his eyebrow sliding upwards there was no visible sign of any of his thoughts. Did he have any questions? Yes he did. The first was whether she dressed as she did to provoke others. The second was who the hell was "Bernie" and the last was the only question he opted to actually ask. - 'Why have I been chosen to fill in for this post?'.- The words came out slowly, the effect of Rakowski suddenly feeling uncomfortable with his situation.
As if breaking a barrier his next words came out much more quickly, - 'I don't know what my file says but my Instructors didn't think too highly of me.' - Even as he spoke his mind began to suggest answers, what with a war on everybody was holding on to their specialist staff fiercely and new recruits were probably swallowed up the moment they left boot. Even then, it left the question whether there really wasn't anybody better than him available.
Laura picked up a datajockey and waved it in his face before bringing her face close to Zyv. The Most Brilliant Medic in the Universe had always been provocative and without Bernhard Greer to temper her attitude, bad things happened. "This says you know how to do basic first aid and CPR. Is it lying?" Still the blue eyes glared, unblinking, even stronger now that they were closer, waiting for an answer.
If the man was smart enough to admit that he wasn't the brightest, that was a better start than most of the idiots around here, caught up in their fantasies of heroism. That meant he might, maybe, possibly, actually learn something from her. Of course, it might just bounce off him and roll invisibly around the floor like a spent cartridge. But orders were orders and if Zyv was the next best thing to Bernhard, God help the Imperium.
Zyv tilted his head back, first from the datajockey than from Laura's face, the uncomfortable look on his face shifting slightly into a frown as he formed an answer to the medics’ question. - 'All marines get a run down on first aid.- He paused before continuing with a sigh. - 'And yes, it had been suggested that I am somewhat competent in doing so.'-
Aware of the Naval staff nearby he released another sigh, stepped back to put some distance between him and Romero and spoke, - 'So you're ordered to get me fit to serve as something resembling a medic? Where do we start?'- The frown was still on his face and he looked, for all extent and purposes, like a man being led out to his execution.
Growing a pair of balls Laura thought venomously. But she had learned, begrudgingly from Bernie, that it would not help her if she kept knocking down what little pride others had. Like building blocks, they had to be built up to look impressive.
"No. It's even simpler than you. You're going to be a medic. And we start here," the young, grouchy clone led him to a table where numerous pieces of medical equipment were laid out. "First things first. As a medic, lives depend on you. Therefore, your life is more important than the average grunt's. You do NOT waste it by doing stupid things. Because if you die, it means I'm wasting my time right now. Got that? Good.
"And part of being a medic is being a judge. Triage. Before you can even begin to work, you need to decide who to treat first. Okay, here's a hypothetical. Rita, Sawyer and ... " Laura tried to think of one of the other newbies' names, "um... Stan are wounded. Sawyer is, surprise surprise, wounded in the legs, broken bones and a foul mouth. Rita has had her left arm blown off, like today, but conscious. And Stan is simply not responding but you can't see any signs of external injury. What order would you treat them in?"
Arms still folded behind him Zyv tilted his head slightly at the problem as he treid to pull the information drummed into his head out of the dark nooks of his mind. - 'Normally I'd say start with Stenton, ensure she doesn't bleed out from that stump her arm has become. But she is a full cyborg so I guess she can wait till I checked Brandt, make sure he can breathe and isn't going to peg it than get to Aubrey and his broken bones, get him set up for evac. Then check Stenton?' - Zyv's voice slowly faded and his sentence ended up sounding like a question.
"Correct order, wrong treatments." The young clone's pronouncement caused some of the doctors nearby to look at her and then back to their own work once they were satisfied that it was not a live treatment. "If Rita was flesh and blood, then she would have been first. So its good you put her last. I don't even know if she feels pain when a limb is destroyed. Evacuating someone is a last measure, when no other treatment or options avail themselves and there is no other way to save lives. But, of course you won't know what to use to help a broken leg since I haven't shown it to you yet.
She pulled out a large boxy kit from under a shelf. "This is a MED. It's a piece of gear from NAM and it's too heavy for you or me to carry. Hence why we use it with Power Armor. One of its functions is to pierce the armor and inject drugs into a wounded Marine. Amongst those drugs, you can find several things to either blunt the pain or cause some minor healing. I doubt they're strong enough to fix bone but they work in a pinch. It's pretty much obsolete thanks to the new medkit but it helps to know the old stuff in case that's all you have.
"Another thing to remember about evac. The chances of success drop exponentially after the first one. First run, maybe the squids don't see until the bird is on its way out. Second time, they'll probably see it. Third time, they're not blind. Never, ever use evacuation of casualties before the combat is over and never for just one person. That's what Bernie did wrong on 87I, he called it in just for me." Laura refused to acknowledge that Bernhard had saved her life and argued against his decisions even after the fact. Nor was she putting any of the blame on Phaedra, who had made the ultimate decision to call in a shuttle.
"You can use a bunch of things, Droksin, Fixit, HP, Big K, Brother Clem, to deal with Sawyer and getting him to walk again. May not be fast but that's what thrusters are for. Also, don't forget that the armor acts as a splint and keeps things relatively in line. The big problem is when both the tibia and fibula are broken cos that means the leg can bend at all the wrong angles. That may need an evacuation because that requires surgery more urgently than a single broken bone. Questions?"
Trying his best to remember the words heading his way Zyv's frown deepened as he leaned towards Laura as plenty of words had to be organised. - 'So for Sawyers theoretical broken bones drugs will do unless its really bad in which case you get him evaced. I understand there something to be done to make sure he gets under the scalpel.' - Zyv paused before continuing. - 'What about the unconscious casualty? What have you got for him?'
Laura grinned. It looked like a normal grin of pleasure. But if Zyv had had any real experience dealing with Laura Romero, he would have known he had just spelt his doom. "Let's say our dear boy Stan has a concussion, he's got internal bleeding and if you don't fix it fast, he's going to drown in his own blood. Don't care how he got as much as that he's got it. Any idea what tool to use if both of you aren't in power armor? Cos remember, you can't use the MED without a power armor on yourself."
Zyv straightened and removed his cap, swept his other hand over his bald skull before replacing the hat and sighing as if in hopes that the action would draw the correct answer out. - 'Check airway is clear, check patient is breathing and check blood pressure for sufficient circulation...' - He muttered more to himself than to anybody else to see if it would jump start his memory. If he remembered dealing with internal bleeding was like external, by stopping the blood flow which required surgery... And that was all he could come up with. - 'Search for discolored or bulged parts of the body after which it becomes a matter of surgery involving cutting and sewing. Probably a lot of transfusions as well.'- Zyv sighed in a defeated tone.
Laura sighed. Yes, that was what you did when identifying and thinking about treatment if you weren't trained to be a medic in the NSMC. But even though he was technically sound, Laura still hated the fact that he had yet to learn anything from what she had just said. NSMC medics didn't just do things the old fashioned way, no matter how much a certain Bernhard Greer preferred to. They used the best cutting edge tools that were unavailable on the civilian market! Laura whipped out a piece of equipment that looked like a machine pistol.
"This," she continued with the same condescension in her voice, "is a hypolathe. Contrary to popular belief, it's not as painful as it looks." With that, she activated the foot long scalpel and in seconds, it materialized from nothing. "Though I do enjoy causing pain to patients I dislike," she added impishly.
"This whole thing works on the basis as other nano-construction technology. It acts as scalpel, bone saw, syringe and spray. Since it can penetrate all the way into a power armor and inject a patient, it replaces the MED. The medical nano can be sprayed or injected," Laura deactivated the scalpel and brought up the secondary nozzle, "into the patient. Know anything about medical nano?"
- ''Bout as much as anybody.'- Zyv replied with a shrug. - 'In a nutshell they're really small machines. They're programmed break down ruined tissue, mend injuries, remove foreign objects or...'- His voice trailed off before starting again - 'Stop internal bleeding.'- He finished with a sour look on his face. Now his brain decided to find the information he needed! Sighing he looked back to Laura. - 'Thats what I know.'
"Eh," she shrugged, "Close enough. Far more useful than any singular drug because it's adaptable and doesn't have any side-effects. Saved my life once. Stupid mission before your time. Admiral Wazu's brilliant planning." The sarcasm and the spite when she emphasized the word "brilliant" made it clear that she was not having a happy memory. But her face softened when she thought about what happened afterwards, when that new medic had arrived and treated her.
"You've got the basics, we've got a few hours before the funerals. Any questions? Cos if not, I'm going to sleep some more."
Zyv thought, did he have any questions? As far as medical matters were concerned he had got the answers he wanted already, it was more a matter of remembering them. The temptation to ask a question about the "brilliant Wazu mission" rose and was squashed instantly, Rakowski had no desire to tempt fate (or a female clone with a tendency to violent and mean spirited behaviour). The question of whether this training meant he might expect being sent somewhere for the full medical course was both better given to someone else and most probably be answered without him asking in the form of orders. The only question he really thought worth asking was simple - 'Am I to expect another crash course like this one in the near future?'
"Maybe. Depends on how much the squids have waiting down there on the planet we're about to invade. Regardless, the next time you're in armor, you'll be learning on the job. Cos deployment's in six hours. Or five and a half. Which gives me five hours to sleep. Bye!" Laura turned, leaving the MED and hypolathe as they were. The naval medical personnel began looking at Zyv to see if he would clean up the equipment. They had learnt Laura never did.
Rakowski looked from the the leaving medic to the equipment lying where she had left them to the navy medics and back to the gear before looking up to where Laura had been. - 'Seriously!? - He expressed his disbelief, sighed heavily and ended up moving the kit to where they were meant to be.
Twelve hours had passed since the end of the boarding actions. There were still another four before the funerals. Six hours before their next deployment. And that left one Laura Romero in charge of every single Cavalier. All thirteen of them, including herself. It was like dealing with Admiral Wazu and his motley crew all over again, except that now the squad was double in size.
The Admiral had just told them about his plans to split the Cavaliers into two squads. One would continue to be the Cavaliers, under Phaedra. The other would be Henry Morris' new gang to replace the loss of Hawkins' unit. And that would mean smaller squads, both needing a medic. Since Laura couldn't split herself into two (the Universe would explode from having TWO of the Most Brilliant Medics ever), that meant she would have to train up someone so that there were two medics for two squads. Didn't sound like Bernie was coming back anytime soon.
"Rakowski, get your butt over here!" Laura commanded. Her voice wasn't angry, nor was it annoyed. It was more like ... peeved off. That something in Laura's world hadn't gone exactly as she planned and she was bothered that she had to set the world right. Which was why Zyv Rakowski found himself as her assistant in the Medical Bay today.
Zyv, not knowing yet what awaited him, looked up in surprise at hearing his name called. The fact it was Romero's voice made him quickly go over the past hours, wondering whether he had done something to offend the self declared "Most brilliant Medic ever". Drawing a blank Zyv sighed and opted for a convential, - 'You want something, Romero?' - as he approached the clone.
The Cavaliers' medic was dressed with a loose tank top, her usual wear for offduty or light duty, and her khaki cargo pants. The Naval doctors often shot glances at her, either with disdain for her attire or with baser intents. Her white, sleeveless top, accentuated the fact that she was tan and very much a young woman. But seduction wasn't her purpose, especially considering her mood.
"Since it doesn't look like we're getting Bernie back and you're going to the new squad, they'll need a medic. All the other squads can't spare one since they only have one so I'm supposed to teach you. I hope, for your sake, you're as smart as your file makes you sound. Lives will depend on you. Any questions before I throw you into pool?"
Her icy-blue eyes glared at Zyv, waiting for an answer.
The marine stood in silence, arms folded behind his back as he listened. Except for his eyebrow sliding upwards there was no visible sign of any of his thoughts. Did he have any questions? Yes he did. The first was whether she dressed as she did to provoke others. The second was who the hell was "Bernie" and the last was the only question he opted to actually ask. - 'Why have I been chosen to fill in for this post?'.- The words came out slowly, the effect of Rakowski suddenly feeling uncomfortable with his situation.
As if breaking a barrier his next words came out much more quickly, - 'I don't know what my file says but my Instructors didn't think too highly of me.' - Even as he spoke his mind began to suggest answers, what with a war on everybody was holding on to their specialist staff fiercely and new recruits were probably swallowed up the moment they left boot. Even then, it left the question whether there really wasn't anybody better than him available.
Laura picked up a datajockey and waved it in his face before bringing her face close to Zyv. The Most Brilliant Medic in the Universe had always been provocative and without Bernhard Greer to temper her attitude, bad things happened. "This says you know how to do basic first aid and CPR. Is it lying?" Still the blue eyes glared, unblinking, even stronger now that they were closer, waiting for an answer.
If the man was smart enough to admit that he wasn't the brightest, that was a better start than most of the idiots around here, caught up in their fantasies of heroism. That meant he might, maybe, possibly, actually learn something from her. Of course, it might just bounce off him and roll invisibly around the floor like a spent cartridge. But orders were orders and if Zyv was the next best thing to Bernhard, God help the Imperium.
Zyv tilted his head back, first from the datajockey than from Laura's face, the uncomfortable look on his face shifting slightly into a frown as he formed an answer to the medics’ question. - 'All marines get a run down on first aid.- He paused before continuing with a sigh. - 'And yes, it had been suggested that I am somewhat competent in doing so.'-
Aware of the Naval staff nearby he released another sigh, stepped back to put some distance between him and Romero and spoke, - 'So you're ordered to get me fit to serve as something resembling a medic? Where do we start?'- The frown was still on his face and he looked, for all extent and purposes, like a man being led out to his execution.
Growing a pair of balls Laura thought venomously. But she had learned, begrudgingly from Bernie, that it would not help her if she kept knocking down what little pride others had. Like building blocks, they had to be built up to look impressive.
"No. It's even simpler than you. You're going to be a medic. And we start here," the young, grouchy clone led him to a table where numerous pieces of medical equipment were laid out. "First things first. As a medic, lives depend on you. Therefore, your life is more important than the average grunt's. You do NOT waste it by doing stupid things. Because if you die, it means I'm wasting my time right now. Got that? Good.
"And part of being a medic is being a judge. Triage. Before you can even begin to work, you need to decide who to treat first. Okay, here's a hypothetical. Rita, Sawyer and ... " Laura tried to think of one of the other newbies' names, "um... Stan are wounded. Sawyer is, surprise surprise, wounded in the legs, broken bones and a foul mouth. Rita has had her left arm blown off, like today, but conscious. And Stan is simply not responding but you can't see any signs of external injury. What order would you treat them in?"
Arms still folded behind him Zyv tilted his head slightly at the problem as he treid to pull the information drummed into his head out of the dark nooks of his mind. - 'Normally I'd say start with Stenton, ensure she doesn't bleed out from that stump her arm has become. But she is a full cyborg so I guess she can wait till I checked Brandt, make sure he can breathe and isn't going to peg it than get to Aubrey and his broken bones, get him set up for evac. Then check Stenton?' - Zyv's voice slowly faded and his sentence ended up sounding like a question.
"Correct order, wrong treatments." The young clone's pronouncement caused some of the doctors nearby to look at her and then back to their own work once they were satisfied that it was not a live treatment. "If Rita was flesh and blood, then she would have been first. So its good you put her last. I don't even know if she feels pain when a limb is destroyed. Evacuating someone is a last measure, when no other treatment or options avail themselves and there is no other way to save lives. But, of course you won't know what to use to help a broken leg since I haven't shown it to you yet.
She pulled out a large boxy kit from under a shelf. "This is a MED. It's a piece of gear from NAM and it's too heavy for you or me to carry. Hence why we use it with Power Armor. One of its functions is to pierce the armor and inject drugs into a wounded Marine. Amongst those drugs, you can find several things to either blunt the pain or cause some minor healing. I doubt they're strong enough to fix bone but they work in a pinch. It's pretty much obsolete thanks to the new medkit but it helps to know the old stuff in case that's all you have.
"Another thing to remember about evac. The chances of success drop exponentially after the first one. First run, maybe the squids don't see until the bird is on its way out. Second time, they'll probably see it. Third time, they're not blind. Never, ever use evacuation of casualties before the combat is over and never for just one person. That's what Bernie did wrong on 87I, he called it in just for me." Laura refused to acknowledge that Bernhard had saved her life and argued against his decisions even after the fact. Nor was she putting any of the blame on Phaedra, who had made the ultimate decision to call in a shuttle.
"You can use a bunch of things, Droksin, Fixit, HP, Big K, Brother Clem, to deal with Sawyer and getting him to walk again. May not be fast but that's what thrusters are for. Also, don't forget that the armor acts as a splint and keeps things relatively in line. The big problem is when both the tibia and fibula are broken cos that means the leg can bend at all the wrong angles. That may need an evacuation because that requires surgery more urgently than a single broken bone. Questions?"
Trying his best to remember the words heading his way Zyv's frown deepened as he leaned towards Laura as plenty of words had to be organised. - 'So for Sawyers theoretical broken bones drugs will do unless its really bad in which case you get him evaced. I understand there something to be done to make sure he gets under the scalpel.' - Zyv paused before continuing. - 'What about the unconscious casualty? What have you got for him?'
Laura grinned. It looked like a normal grin of pleasure. But if Zyv had had any real experience dealing with Laura Romero, he would have known he had just spelt his doom. "Let's say our dear boy Stan has a concussion, he's got internal bleeding and if you don't fix it fast, he's going to drown in his own blood. Don't care how he got as much as that he's got it. Any idea what tool to use if both of you aren't in power armor? Cos remember, you can't use the MED without a power armor on yourself."
Zyv straightened and removed his cap, swept his other hand over his bald skull before replacing the hat and sighing as if in hopes that the action would draw the correct answer out. - 'Check airway is clear, check patient is breathing and check blood pressure for sufficient circulation...' - He muttered more to himself than to anybody else to see if it would jump start his memory. If he remembered dealing with internal bleeding was like external, by stopping the blood flow which required surgery... And that was all he could come up with. - 'Search for discolored or bulged parts of the body after which it becomes a matter of surgery involving cutting and sewing. Probably a lot of transfusions as well.'- Zyv sighed in a defeated tone.
Laura sighed. Yes, that was what you did when identifying and thinking about treatment if you weren't trained to be a medic in the NSMC. But even though he was technically sound, Laura still hated the fact that he had yet to learn anything from what she had just said. NSMC medics didn't just do things the old fashioned way, no matter how much a certain Bernhard Greer preferred to. They used the best cutting edge tools that were unavailable on the civilian market! Laura whipped out a piece of equipment that looked like a machine pistol.
"This," she continued with the same condescension in her voice, "is a hypolathe. Contrary to popular belief, it's not as painful as it looks." With that, she activated the foot long scalpel and in seconds, it materialized from nothing. "Though I do enjoy causing pain to patients I dislike," she added impishly.
"This whole thing works on the basis as other nano-construction technology. It acts as scalpel, bone saw, syringe and spray. Since it can penetrate all the way into a power armor and inject a patient, it replaces the MED. The medical nano can be sprayed or injected," Laura deactivated the scalpel and brought up the secondary nozzle, "into the patient. Know anything about medical nano?"
- ''Bout as much as anybody.'- Zyv replied with a shrug. - 'In a nutshell they're really small machines. They're programmed break down ruined tissue, mend injuries, remove foreign objects or...'- His voice trailed off before starting again - 'Stop internal bleeding.'- He finished with a sour look on his face. Now his brain decided to find the information he needed! Sighing he looked back to Laura. - 'Thats what I know.'
"Eh," she shrugged, "Close enough. Far more useful than any singular drug because it's adaptable and doesn't have any side-effects. Saved my life once. Stupid mission before your time. Admiral Wazu's brilliant planning." The sarcasm and the spite when she emphasized the word "brilliant" made it clear that she was not having a happy memory. But her face softened when she thought about what happened afterwards, when that new medic had arrived and treated her.
"You've got the basics, we've got a few hours before the funerals. Any questions? Cos if not, I'm going to sleep some more."
Zyv thought, did he have any questions? As far as medical matters were concerned he had got the answers he wanted already, it was more a matter of remembering them. The temptation to ask a question about the "brilliant Wazu mission" rose and was squashed instantly, Rakowski had no desire to tempt fate (or a female clone with a tendency to violent and mean spirited behaviour). The question of whether this training meant he might expect being sent somewhere for the full medical course was both better given to someone else and most probably be answered without him asking in the form of orders. The only question he really thought worth asking was simple - 'Am I to expect another crash course like this one in the near future?'
"Maybe. Depends on how much the squids have waiting down there on the planet we're about to invade. Regardless, the next time you're in armor, you'll be learning on the job. Cos deployment's in six hours. Or five and a half. Which gives me five hours to sleep. Bye!" Laura turned, leaving the MED and hypolathe as they were. The naval medical personnel began looking at Zyv to see if he would clean up the equipment. They had learnt Laura never did.
Rakowski looked from the the leaving medic to the equipment lying where she had left them to the navy medics and back to the gear before looking up to where Laura had been. - 'Seriously!? - He expressed his disbelief, sighed heavily and ended up moving the kit to where they were meant to be.