Chapter 20 – Celebration Cake

"Charlie, we got someone from NLO that says he might be able to help you."

Upchuck didn't bother to turn to the private, instead opting to yell over his soldier; "Send him up, then!"

He was still busy, trying to sort out requests between songs he had and songs he didn't, when the help arrived.

"Corporal Ruttheimer? I'm Corporal Morris from NLO White Team. We've had a project running for the last few years, trying to collect music and movies for safe storage."

Upchuck turned to face the newcomer, stunned at the information that had just been given to him. Finally, he managed to reply.

"You have to be fucking kidding me. I can't be that lucky."

"I suppose I could always take it back."

"God no," Charles replied, staring intently at the computer the other Corporal was carrying. "Find a convenient plug and let's get that thing going. I've got over a hundred requests here."

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Grey Team stood by the door, as Daria gave one last overview of the plan.

"Room by room, floor by floor. It's a train station, so there's bound to be big open spaces and grand staircases and all that fun classic architectural bullshit. Be constantly on the alert around balconies. If we find a staircase, we're going straight to the top and working our way back down. If you have any questions, feel free not to ask them."

Jane and Watts, having only MP7's for interior work, took up position on the sides of the door, making them the last to go in. DeMartino stood in front of Jane, shotgun out and ready. With everyone in position, Daria kicked in the door and spun around to the right, avoiding any possible gunfire. When there was none, DeMartino rushed through the door, shotgun pointing forward.

He had stepped into an empty hallway, with only one open door leading to a stairwell. As he started upwards, Daria came up on his left. The formation was simple – DeMartino would have the shotgun forward, taking down anyone who entered the stairway ahead of them. Daria would be on the left, near the railing, to keep an eye above them and engage anyone who might try to shoot down the stairwell. In the rear, Watts would be cutting down anyone who tried to pursue them. Finally, in the center, Jane would be checking in every direction and providing extra firepower to everyone.

They reached the top without incident, and stepped out onto the roof. A quick sweep showed no enemies waiting for them, and only one other stairwell. Daria ordered Jane and Watts to check the train yard, while she and DeMartino covered the two entrances. Trying to find a safe spot to cover the door, she eventually settled for standing on top of the slanted section of roof. Across the building, she saw DeMartino had the same idea.

After several cracks from Jane's rifle and presumably several shots from Watts, the two snipers returned.

"I don't think we'll find much of a fight inside," Jane said. "Judging by how disorganized they've been it seems like the normal station guards got unexpectedly called into sentry duty before we killed them."

"Alright," Daria replied, "we'll still need to go room by room. Let's move out."

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Upchuck shuffled his sorted requests. He wouldn't need to figure out which ones he did and did not have anymore.

"Ladies and gentlemen of City 17, this is the one and only DJ Charlie, and do I have some good news for you! Thanks to a very generous contribution from Corporal Paul Morris, I've got more music than I or any of you know what to do with! And so it's time to get to work on these requests I've had piling up all day. This first one goes out to Sergeant Aron, Red Team says thanks for kicking Combine ass!"

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Grey Team swept the building, floor by floor. Thankfully, the main hall took up nearly half of the building's space, and reached from floor to ceiling. Along with the open ticket offices, train terminals and cafeteria, very little of the building was actually taken up by cramped offices and hallways. They met no resistance until they entered the main hall.

Unfortunately for the remaining Combine soldiers, Grey Team had reascended to the upper floors before entering the hall. A grenade and several bursts of fire from their MP7's were enough to end that problem.

"This seems far too easy," Daria finally remarked as the rest of her team procured ammunition and weapons from the bodies. "But I'm not going to complain. Watts, Jane, go grab any ammo you find on the bodies outside. DeMartino, barricade the entrances."

The three soldiers nodded their confirmation and headed off to carry out their tasks. Grabbing her long-range radio, Daria began to ascend the main hall's central staircase. It was a standard affair found in any building that wanted to look stately – a wide central section that split off at two right angles. Stopping on the landing halfway up, she called in her mission's success.

"Shorepoint Red, This is NLO Grey. Mission success."

"Hey Daria," Upchuck's voice replied. "Good to hear. Anything further?"

"Yeah, there was suspiciously little resistance. Do you know anything about that?"

"We're getting reports like that from around the city. By best appearances it looks like they're retreating to set up better defenses around the Citadel. Even the big targets outside of a two mile radius only have minimal defenses."

"Well, I definitely can't complain about that. Can you get an ETA on when our engineers are arriving?"

"Sure thing."

There was no reply for several minutes, during which the rest of Grey Team regrouped, having finished their assignments. Daria sent Jane and Watts back to the roof for spotter duty.

Soon, Upchuck's voice came back on the radio. "Cubbage says they'll be there within the hour. All rail traffic has stopped, so they're driving straight down the tracks."

"Thanks Charlie."

"No problem, Daria. Got any requests for the radio? Maybe an insult for old time's sake?"

Daria allowed herself a Mona Lisa smile. "I'll get back to you on that."

Outside, she could hear the speakers playing.

When you tried to kiss me/I only bit your tongue.

When you tried to get me together/I only came undone.

Daria switched the radio back on and pushed the talk button. "Very funny, Upchuck."

"Hey, it was actually requested by someone else. You're not the only Daria in the world, you know."