For us   on Vera............

<<<<  from air and ground

  The shuttles  came  down near the fighters.. Big Uglies  were there to unload   ammo , food  water  and med tech supplies.. Black bags were taken aboard to be sent to the shipsm they were marked for

 the troops began to   make their way to the  camp area..clerks handing out   cold bottles of water to them as the  marched to the  are.. Shadow  was off to one  side  talking to some one  on his COM.. Wendy was  by herself  at a  bonfire  eating like she never  ate before.

Abby was standing off from Shadow , waiting for him to finish talking

 fighters  Zipped  back  and forth.. smoke rose   near the horizons , all around them. testament to the burning cities  around the globe

  When Shadow was done, he started to walk towards chow lines...LC..I.... Shadow raised a Hand to  Abby to stop her...

 ..when you are in the cockpit.. you take orders.. you fly and you try not to die... There were no orders for your choice... it  doesn't matter why you stayed  down... it was your call to make. We don't get many of those, in our line of work. The others?.. some came up there for me.... some came up there to stop those  extra fighters from reaching the Field..some came up, because their  wingman came up... and some  came up because they are friends.. doesn't matter why they came up..they flew up there, and beat the  9 hells out of  the Novas...

 ..don't sweat it..gets  eats, drinks and rest..we'll be going back to work soon enough.


 He let some  10 trooper  who were eager to get  eats , get in line before him, then stepped in when there was a Lull.

Nikki waited with Lizzy to be joined by Billie and Harry before getting in line for food.  They saw the woman that was with Shadow go in.  She was a bit pale, but did seem hungry now.  She turned to Lizzy "Well... with the engine over heating and with smoke trailing...Guess I should tell Mitch I'm 'smokin' hot' now." she grinned "I'm hoping Morris says we got 10 each today...hoping, but realistically...meh.  But if we did...Blue Max I believe"

----> From Vera Ground

When the shuttle landed Zob promptly stepped off he was getting fairly tired between lugging around heavy armor and a minigun for hours and hours on end.

After putting some gear down by his assigned area he grabbed a bottle of water and drank it down quickly before joining the troops in line to get some food.

 When Shadow reached  the tables he held out his tray as the Mess techs  put a lsab of  steak,,and   ladles off vege stuff, and two fat  rolls.

 I'm going  over to  the far Camp fire?... send  some of those  4  empty  food bins over with your  bones , fat and 'throwaway cuts?  as well as bins with water  for Doc's  dog and the Largs...

 Already done  LC...

 leaving the Tent, Shadow stopped at a few of the places his  pilots gathered, as  well as some of the   troops who didn't want to stay in the tent..finally getting to the far  Camp fire  he sat down... He COMed Roy

 ..Hey SM.. send  Mila  and  the Lrgs over to the faar Campfire.. i have  eats and water  coming for them

  cutting into his  steak with  the utensils hge took a bite,  some  Mess techs  checked on the tea  and Coffee, and  double checked the coolers  by the  benches.

 The two Admirals arrived , waving off salutes  and got in line..Tucker  stepped aside to let them go ahead.. Hack just put  a Hand on his shoulder and put  him back into line....well get our   Food ,Tucker. You have your place in line..you earned it.. Admiral Hennings and I just watched Vids  all day!

 Troops   around them laughed, seeming more at ease with the Brass by them.  They asked where Shadow was and it was pointed out to them.. they stopped to chat  with those who sat at the long tables in the tent,  and hit   every one of the Bonfires, asking folks  how they were if they sported   field dressing... bringing up something they saw on the screens  that a trooper or  pilot did..surprising them.

 it  took a while, but they finally reached  the LC, who only had Flores   and Hemlsy sitting by him.

 ..so LC?  your  people got  Evert?

 they sat down to eat, nodding to  Flores and Hemsly ..Hemsly  was shocked at them just  sitting down by them.

   Rutledge , I think?  Captain Morris should be able to figure it out.. I think everyone , just about, got  2 or  3  kills, from what i saw...hard to tell.

 how many did you claim? Hennings  asked

 6?..  I'll be lucky to get  3? too many   aircraft..firing  at even more aircraft, ..

 Hemsly cleared his throat...

 the Two Admirals  looked  at him,..Pardon me..Sirs?..but..Admiral Hennings..you was on the Board   on Earth , in San Diego? Why'd  ya  come out  'ere

 Hennings   waited  until he swallowed some steak,well Hemsly?   GE-FI  was making it  hard on Admiral Hack to do things out here.. That's one of the reasons  we gave  Oliver the  Military Governorship...to set the Ground work, then I  came out, on the pretense of 'overwatch'..General Bale  came out on the provost flag ship as 'legal' council... but that gave us a chance to fill our the  Delta Board.

 pointing to Shadow.Oliver's  plan in making  Shade  the Ambassador, for what we thought was the Verian group, turned out wiser then  we thought..

 Hack shook his  head  as he  at some 'mashed potaoes',... the whole thing with the Udenese?... that was  just dumb luck... The Verians  surpressed any knowldge of them.. If it wasn't  for  Lilit being Shade's  grandmod?  this whole sector could be alot different.

In reply to Nicole Rutledge (msg # 3):

------>>>>> From Vera Air

 Lizzy walked with Nikki until Harry and Billie caught up to them. After the greetings Lizzy said,"Yes Nikki I always thought you where smoking hot actually, oh that would be great but with everyone shooting it will be hard to tell who got the kills, but getting Blue Max would be awesome. I just hope we got the same amount and stay tied in kills."

 To Harry and Billie when they showed up she said," Yeah well I am glad Billie had your back and your both safe back here, yeah there is one ground pounder I can't wait to see, lets get some food shall we ladies." Lizzy got in line for food and looked around for Izzy as some of their troops where showing up.

---->>>>> From Vera Ground

 Once the shuttle landed Meari would still help carry Rofle to the medical area, once he was safely inside and under the care of the medics and doctors, she checked her small wound and it was fine. She then would find Shade and ask about the Verian he brought back.

In reply to Zobaich (msg # 4):

At the command post Melia disembarked from the shuttle dropping her bag, and helmet but leaving her armor on and keeping her other equipment with her. She took a few deep breaths and went to find a place to clean her hands, before moving on the chow. She grabbed a water first and slammed it back draining the entire bottle in seconds, enjoying the refreshing feel of the water hitting her system perking her up.

She waited in line moving about slowly doing some ballistics stretching as her body and muscles cooled down, her stomach grumbling despite the chocolate she'd eaten.

<<<<<<<<< From Vera Ground

Finishing off the water bottle, Billie got in line for food. “Do they tell us how many we killed?” She asked, looking to Harry and the others. It was strange feeling like she was accepted by the others since at the Academy, it was harder to make friends…but then again, this was very different. They all depended on each other to survive the battle whereas at the Academy, though they trained for it...there was still that safety net.