Plato Base - Cover

Plato Base

Copyright© 2022 by Benjin

Chapter 3: Berlin again

Major Clarke was sitting in the office of Centurion Guido Marek, commander of the lunar base Plato. “Is it really three months that you have been here, Major?” Guido asked.

“Three and a half, to be precise,” the major replied. “They haven’t shortened the rotation for us Marines.” Major Clarke sipped on his tea. “Splendid blend as always. I always wanted to ask you for the replicator template of this tea.”

Guido grinned broadly. “Sorry Major, but this is the real thing. I have this contact in Xihu, China. He provides me with tea. I tried to feed it to the replicators but the quality is not the same. It’s not as bad as with alcohol but it’s noticeable.”

“Looks like I have to visit you more often,” Major Clarke sighed. “However, back to business. I wanted to tell you that Vandergast is currently building one of those really huge Valhalla Class ships.”

Guido’s eyes grew wide. “You mean a Cube Ship? They can take a quarter million people in a single lift?”

“Yes, exactly. L’ielit is currently working on the plans for a really huge extraction. I heard rumors that she wants to take a whole U.S. town of the proper size.”

“But that’s insane. I doubt there is any town this size without an Earth First Cell. In fact, there are more Earth Firsters and sympathizers in mid-sized towns than in the big metropolises. There will be hundreds of casualties.”

“That’s what I heard,” the major replied. “I figure the centurion is working on exactly that problem. In the past, her extraction strategies have been successful, even with heavily armed forces approaching. She tends to take down incoming armed idiots instead of letting a riot build with many more casualties.”

“You are probably right. But a quarter million people,” Guido failed to imagine the problems that just the big number of frightened people might cause. Guido for sure preferred extractions of less than four hundred people, even if that meant he had to do lots of them to fill Plato Base.

Major Clarke changed the subject. “There is also another Tarawa Class Assault ship under construction. You’ll get more support within five months.”

“That’s good news. Currently I have four hundred mobile test centers in operation. I have the capacity to create more and the personnel for two times more extractions. The shuttles are definitely the bottleneck in my project.”

“Why don’t you just use transporter discs?” the major asked. “I had that idea on the way home. Set up a pod as test center here on Plato Base. Drop a disc at a location. That can be done by a drone. Then invite the people to a CAP test.”

“I already thought this over. The initial psychological effect would be much smaller and therefore we would have more problems with armed people. An assault shuttle is something they can see and even the most stupid ones can imagine that it holds several heavily armed soldiers.”

The major thought for a few seconds. “You are probably right. The transporter disc is still too much of science fiction technology for most people on Earth.”

<Centurion Marek, I would like to remind you about your meeting at Earth Command at thirteen hundred,> the AI interrupted the conversation.

“Sorry Major, I have to shorten our meeting a little,” Guido said. When the major was gone, Guido once again went through his arguments. Today’s meeting at Earth Command would be vital for his plans to increase the building speed on his base once again. With the new Valhalla class transport ship class, the base’s capacity was no longer adequate. His new goal was three hundred thousand people at any time ready to go on board a transport ship. Unfortunately he was not the only lunar base commander who asked for more colony builder machines to expand his base.


It was early in the morning and Guido enjoyed the company of Karyn and Marina, two of his concubines. They were still sleeping, loosely hugging their sponsor and tickling him with their breath. Guido was living for those moments of silence and peace.

Suddenly the AI called through his implant, <Centurion Guido Marek, the Confederacy has received an invitation for an extraction that you might be interested in. It’s from the KitKatClub in Berlin.>

Guido’s interest was instantly awaked since he knew that club. The owners were a group of fetish fans and they owned more than just that club. Guido had never been part of the fetish scene but as a son of a brothel owner he had heard a lot of them. “Tell me more,” he demanded.

<We got an email that reveals some details. They offer fifty sponsors with pre-packs or partly pre-packs. They suggest the Schliemann mansion that’s located just west of the club, since all the sponsors and their pre-packs are living there. The writer of the email mentions that ‘the bunker is full’, so I figured they have some type of resort there, similar to your old brothel,> the AI continued. <The Schliemann mansion is not really big enough to house at minimum one-hundred and fifty people, so we did a closer scan of the building using military drones. The scan revealed an old World War Two bunker under the building that is five times bigger than the mansion itself.>

“Any signs of trouble?” Guido asked. He knew that in the past Earth First had tried to set several traps at Berlin, inviting the Confederacy to prepared locations. An isolated house with a large bunker underneath would be a nearly perfect location.

<There are no signs of Earth First activities in a five-hundred meter radius around the mansion,> the AI negated the question. <We have a few police reports about protesters trying to close down the club. In one of those incidents the owners of the club defended their club with shotguns loaded with rock salt against a violent mob. However, with the Sa’arm getting closer these incidents died down. There are lightly armed guards around the mansion and the club. We have no hints that there are any heavy weapons in the buildings.>

“Sounds like a good and safe enough opportunity for us. I’d like to visit them personally before we extract them. Is there enough free time for today in my calendar?” Guido asked.

<After your daily eight o’clock meeting you have three hours. Four if you skip lunch. The evening is busy with meetings with the Engineering Corps and Earth Command.>

“Okay then, I’ll take Private Marvin and Sergeant O’Donnell with me, so please brief them. We need a transporter disk nearby. We’ll start at nine o’clock”

<Confirmed.>


Guido and the two Marines emerged from a transporter disk that a drone had located behind a huge bush in the garden of the Schliemann mansion. All three of them were wearing light body armor under civilian clothing. The Marines looked extremely bulky. It took the guards of the building only seconds to spot them. One of them approached them and politely asked, “Excuse me, Sirs, this is private land. Do you have an invitation?”

Guido showed his Confederacy ID. “My name is Centurion Marek. We were invited by one of the owners.”

The guard observed the ID card carefully before he answered, “We are pleased. Please follow me.” When he turned around, Guido noticed that he mumbled something in a tiny microphone that was attached to the collar of his blazer.

Guido and the two Marines followed the guard to the main entrance of the mansion. A butler opened the door for them and led them through an impressive entrance hall with a wide staircase to the library. He also offered refreshments.

Only seconds later, an old man in his late sixties entered the room. He had gray hair, a well trimmed beard and he was wearing a custom-made black suit. “Good morning, Sirs. I was informed that you are from the Confederacy? I’m a little surprised that the house isn’t surrounded by an interdiction field,” he said with a wink. “I am Hermann von Hagen, the owner of this little cottage.

“Well, this is an informal visit,” Guido replied. He quickly introduced himself and the Marines. “We were a little surprised to find a large bunker under your mansion. Now I’d like to see what you have. Somehow I got the impression that you might be able to fill the bunker again, once we cleared it.”

“You want a tour?” von Hagen asked. “I really like to show people round.”

“Well, we have an hour or two,” Guido replied.

“We won’t need that long. However, I like to show you a few things that words can’t really explain as well,” von Hagen said.

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