Category: People and Civilizations

The Apollonian Catholic Church

The Apollonian Catholic Church is the dominant Christian offshoot of the Roman Catholic Church that appeared some two hundred years after humanity established its first interstellar colony. At the time its creation was seen as a means for Roman Christianity to grapple with the philosophical realities of human colonization of the galaxy. Eight hundred years later, in the Pax Imperium year 300, the Apollonian church had become the dominant sect of Roman Catholicism.  The Church is best known for its black robes, red sashes, and the revival of celibacy among its priests.

The Apollonian Catholic Church is the favored denomination of the House of Athena.

Brody Gillian-Porter

Brody Gillian-Porter is the son of Roger Gillian and Helena Porter. He is the only child known to have been born during an interstellar gate construction mission. He was born on Athenian Gate Construction Mission D102, in the thirteenth month of travel.

Olympia

Olympia is the capital city of the House of Athena, located on the planet Athena. The king’s palace sits on the high hills above the city, looking down on it. The climate is tropical and humid.

Reeducation

Unity citizens are all members of the Unity Corporation. Each of them is assigned their work, salary and rank in service to the corporation. Reeducation is supposed to serve as a means by which a citizen can change their qualifications and enter a different job for the company. However, in reality reeducation camps are work camps that serve as indoctrination centers for those who have run afoul of the authorities in some way. Harsh in every way, residents of reeducation camps often die from overwork, outright murder, or starvation before they are reassigned to new work. Even if they survive, the gap in their work history is a sure sign that they served time in a reeducation camp and makes them unemployable by almost all corporate divisions. Sentencing to reeducation is at the least the end of any material comfort and more often than not a death sentence.

Vox

Vox was the onboard AI for MoD Gate Placement Mission D102. Vox exhibited a growing sense of independence in its behaviors during the unusual mission, perhaps due to the continual upgrades it received from Dr. Helena Porter professor of Computer Science at Olympia City University.

Helena Porter

Helena Porter was a Professor of Computer Science and AI specialist at the Olympia College of Engineering and Math in the capital city on Athena. She argued very early on that the Unity Corporation was preparing for war. At the time she was considered a fear monger among the bureaucrats of the kingdom of Athena. She became a minor celebrity and sought after pundit when her fears proved correct.

When her husband Roger Gillian was ordered into reeducation during the occupation, Porter used her influence at the MoD to get herself placed on a gate construction mission to the Arcadia system. The mission launched on August 3, 328. It was no secret that the MoD was happy to let her go, as her presence was a continued thorn in its side during the occupation.

Porter is the only woman ever to give birth on an interstellar gate construction mission.

Roger Gillian

Roger Gillian was one of thirty-nine survivors of the Athenian troop carrier Calliope, destroyed in the battle for Apollos.

He was also one of two pilots on the Athenian Gate Placement Mission D102 and the father of Brody Porter-Gillian, the only child ever to be born on a gate placement mission.

Gate Construction Mission D102

The interstellar gate construction mission to the Acadia system, launched August 3, 328 and scheduled to go active on April 1, 375. The mission was piloted by Roger Gillian and Helena Porter who would spend five years ship time before arrival, a time debt of forty-two years.

 

Ministry of Defense (MoD)

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) is ministry in charge of defending the Kingdom of Athena from its enemies.

The MoD is comprised of the Admiralty and the Army. The Admiralty has primary responsibility for the non-atmospheric spaces in the kingdom, as well as the myriad of asteroids and stations that use an artificial atmosphere. The Army has primary responsibility for protecting all spaces that have a naturally generated atmosphere. This includes natural atmospheres not breathable by humans.