Fort Apollo

Fort Apollo is a part military, part civilian complex located in the Sea of Tranquillity on the lunar surface. It was built by machines over the course of a decade and officially established as a United States Space Force military base in 2082. It has been operational ever since. For the first fifty years of its existence it was a crucial part of the Second Space Race between America and China, acting as a permanent lunar base from which to conduct missions out into the wider solar system. This included the Ares 15, the failed first attempt at a manned mission to Mars that ended with the deaths of a half-dozen Space Force personnel.
Following the repeal of the Outer Space Treaty in 2150, the modular construction of Fort Apollo allowed for the addition of several major civilian complexes. These spaces provide permanent habitation on the lunar surface, and are mostly home to Space Force personnel and their families, NASA scientists and engineers, and English-speaking employees of Antikythera. Significantly, it is also the location of the lunar headquarters of the Syracuse Institute. As of 2200, the population of Fort Apollo is around 3000 individuals.
The current commander of Fort Apollo is Colonel Kimberly Mohan, who has served in the position for just under a year. Space Force personnel report directly to Colonel Mohan, and any acts of disobedience could be grounds for a court martial, part of the punishment for which is immediate exile back to Earth. It is unclear, however, whether Colonel Mohan has such authority over Fort Apollo’s civilian inhabitants. Despite its majority civilian population and continual modular expansion over almost fifty years, Fort Apollo is still legally considered to be a military base, of which every area and inhabitant is under Colonel Mohan’s jurisdiction.
As of 2200, there has been no direct civilian opposition to a decision made by one of Fort Apollo’s commanders, and so no legal precedent has yet been established. However, tensions have begun to rise due to a new confidential initiative put into place by Colonel Mohan just after her promotion, which was recently the target of a major security leak. Codenamed Project Artemis, the initiative seeks to construct an on-site Antikythera Engine - the mechanism used by the Church of Antikythera to generate its extremely accurate astrological predictions. Under normal circumstances, predictions are provided to Fort Apollo by an external advisor who is accredited and endorsed by Antikythera. Project Artemis is intended to remove this dependence on Antikythera, which Colonel Mohan sees as a security threat and a tactical concern.
The construction of the new Antikythera Engine is being overseen by Dr Ishaq Khouri, NASA’s Administrator for Space Technology and the highest-ranking civilian official residing at Fort Apollo. Dr Khouri also happens to be a high-ranking member of the Syracuse Institute, sitting on the Astrological Council alongside Dr Nómos Christodouloti. Combined with the project’s initial secrecy, this relationship has created major concerns amongst the civilian population of Fort Apollo that Project Artemis, far from being an attempt to plug a potential security concern, is a direct attack on the Church of Antikythera itself. This belief, which has grown more prevalent with each passing day, has not been helped by comments made by Dr Khouri that suggest he holds sympathy for the afatic movement. This negative view of the project has also begun to develop amongst Space Force personnel. Their growing resentment is being fuelled by the vocal opposition of Antikythera’s currently assigned advisor, Dr Irene Smithing, who has worked Fort Apollo for much longer than Colonel Mohan, and commands a great deal of respect from the personnel stationed there.
Despite an investigation, the identity of the whistle-blower of Project Artemis has not discovered. In reality, it was the work of Captain Nthanda Okoro, a member of both Space Force and, secretly, the afatic movement. Captain Okoro orchestrated the leak in the hopes that Colonel Mohan would either resign or be removed from her position, believing she would be promoted to commander of Fort Apollo in Colonel Mohan’s place. When this did not happen, Captain Okoro’s new plan became to create as much tension as possible between supporters of Antikythera and supporters of the Syracuse Institute, hoping to use any resulting incident to both challenge Colonel Mohan’s authority, and pin the blame on agents of Antikythera in the aftermath. Should such a situation arise, the approximately thirty members of Fort Apollo’s Space Force personnel who are also afatic would be willing to support Captain Okoro, as well as the considerable number of afatic scientists and engineers living in the base’s civilian complexes.

Colonel Kimberley Mohan

Leo, 39, she/her
“It is apparent to me that Dr Smithing’s presence represents a major security concern. After all, she is not a member of the USSF. That said, Antikythera isn’t a branch of the US government, either, but that doesn’t seem to stop them dictating its policies.”

- Colonel Kimberley Mohan, Project Artemis Proposal (2199)

Colonel Kimberley Mohan hails from a military family and has been a proud member of the United States Space Force for her entire life. Her promotion to commander of Fort Apollo is a major advancement in her career, one she hopes to use as a stepping stone to become the commander of Fort Ares once construction of the Mars base is complete in the next decade. Unlike Dr Khouri, there is no ulterior motivation behind Colonel Mohan’s implementation of Project Artemis; her genuine desire is for Fort Apollo to be independent of Antikythera.
Colonel Mohan does have concerns over the level of influence that Antikythera has over United States policy, but dismisses any conspiracy that the Church controls the government in its entirety. She also has no particular love for the Syracuse Institute, which she sees as simply a mechanism to cause strife and disorder resulting from a petty family squabble between Nómos and Tomas Christodouloti. Ultimately, Colonel Mohan believes astrology is beyond the grasp of human corporations, and would much rather see both Antikythera and the Syracuse Institute disappear so she can do her job in peace.

Dr Ishaq Khouri

Virgo, 45, he/him
“There’s little reason to believe that this so-called ‘Church’ is receiving divine signals from the stars. Their ‘Antikythera Engine’, whatever it is, must have been made by human hands. And if they can build one, I can build one.”

- Dr Ishaq Khouri, Personal Log (2199)

As NASA’s Administrator for Space Technology, Dr Ishaq Khouri ranks just high enough within the organisation to know for a fact that Antikythera’s Board of Directors are really the ones in charge. He doesn’t, however, rank high enough to be able to prove it, and so keeps his knowledge a secret. His complete silence, as well as his exceptional work, prevent Antikythera from being able to remove him from his position at NASA, even as he sits on the Syracuse Institute’s Astrological Council alongside Dr Nómos Christodouloti, Antikythera’s most vocal opponent.
Dr Khouri’s motivations behind Project Artemis are quite different from Colonel Mohan’s. By recreating the mechanism by which Antikythera generates their extremely precise predictions - a completely unknown device simply called the ‘Antikythera Engine’ - Dr Khouri hopes to render the Church obsolete by releasing the specifications online, giving everyone access to the technology. He knows that it will likely be the end of his career - perhaps even the end of his life - but that’s a price he’s willing to pay to put astrology back in the hands of the people, rather than the corporations. So far, however, all of Dr Khouri’s attempts at constructing an Antikythera Engine of his own have been a failure.

Captain Nthanda Okoro

Leo (claimed), Sagittarius (actual), 28, she/her
“Mohan still being in charge is a hurdle, but the leak was only one part of the plan. Remember, this is the long con. There’s only two ways this ends: Either Antikythera dies, or we do.”

- Captain Nthanda Okoro, written letter (2200)

Those born under the sign of Sagittarius are considered to be too spontaneous and rule-breaking to rise very far in the US military. That is why Captain Nthanda Okoro doesn’t admit that she is a Sagittarius. Since birth, Nthanda and her family have perpetuated the lie that her star sign is Leo, the sign considered most appropriate for military service. This has allowed Nthanda to attain the Space Force rank of Captain - far higher than her father, a known Sagittarius, ever achieved. This familial discrimination, prevented for Captain Okoro only by continual lies, has resulted in a deep resentment for Antikythera and the astrological society in which she lives, and has ultimately driven her to join the afatic movement. Like her true sign, this is something Captain Okoro keeps a secret.
Since joining the afatic movement, Captain Okoro has decided - or been chosen, some would say - to begin the process of dismantling Antikythera. The leak of Project Artemis was part of a plan to make Captain Okoro into Fort Apollo’s commander, which would give her the access and power she needs to either expose Antikythera’s corruption, or to fake evidence of it. Due to that plan’s failure, the new aim is to create a violent incident and pin the blame on Antikythera agents. As an afatic, Captain Okoro also resents the Syracuse Institute and its astrological beliefs, and so she plans to have members of the Institute take the role of the victims caught in the crossfire.

Dr Irene Smithing

Scorpio, 44, she/her
“As far as I can tell, Dr Khouri is nowhere close to creating an Engine. But even the attempt is blasphemous. I have some ideas to discredit him, but in the case that he suddenly has a breakthrough, do I have the Board’s permission to ‘alter his fortunes’?”

- Dr Irene Smithing, missive to the Board (2200)

It is the policy of Antikythera to keep an eye on its enemies, and an even closer eye on its allies. In Fort Apollo, Dr Irene Smithing is that eye. Having worked at the base for close to five years, Dr Smithing maintains a number of close relationships in both the military and civilian complexes. Some of those relationships are willing moles, others not so much, but all of the intel that Dr Smithing gathers is sent right back to headquarters at Antikythera. Occasionally, instructions come back. Ideas to plant, resources to deliver, individuals to upraise or undermine. Irene isn’t just Antikythera’s eyes; she’s often its hands, too. Both NASA and Space Force operations have been altered on the advice and expert opinions of Dr Smithing.
Since the leak of Project Artemis, Dr Smithing has been waiting for Antikythera’s Board of Directors to give her the go-ahead to start the process of discrediting Colonel Mohan and Dr Khouri, but the Board has been unusually silent. Instead, they’ve been asking her to keep them updated on Dr Khouri’s progress on his own attempts at an Antikythera Engine. Dr Smithing suspects they don’t want any trouble prior to the upcoming conference marking 50 years since the repeal of the Outer Space Treaty. But hers is not to reason why; Dr Smithing’s loyalty to Antikythera is absolute. In the meantime, she’s made worst-case-scenario preparations for if Dr Khouri achieves his goal - preparations that mainly involve having the NASA scientist meet with an unfortunate accident. This includes the faking of the requisite astrological predictions to show that such an accident was due to happen. Given Dr Smithing’s reputation (and two decades spent perfecting her forgery skills), her word on the matter will likely be accepted.