Fulcrum Base
Fulcrum Base is the main base and centre of operations for ORCHESTRA, its base designation HQ-000. The majority of the high-ranking members and administrators of the organisation are stationed at the base and most long-term planning and higher administration is done there, meaning lots of critical decisions affecting the organisation and the magical world are made within its walls. It is the permanent residence of the Conductor, as well as the station for the principle confidants of each member category. As well as this, the base is the location of the central servers and mainframes for lots of ORCHESTRA's major systems, including the GLOAM Network and the Paradigm Database.
Fulcrum Base is quite a large complex, owing to the scale of the organisation it is the headquarters of. It features many buildings, areas. and sub-complexes within it, each serving one of the major areas of the organisation. The major administration is located in the centre, and administration for other areas such as operatives, soldiers, research, engineering, projects, programs, and more, is located around the outside, along with many storage areas, power units, and server banks.
Fulcrum Base is located in an undisclosed area of Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean. The island was chosen due to it's central location between several major geographics areas, relatively little interest or involvement in global politics, lack of political or societal unrest, mountainous and stable terrain, and for the comparitive ease of obtaining land there thanks to connections with the Italian Inquisition.
Demographics
Only members of ORCHESTRA are allowed inside the base, or are even aware of it. Even then, only high-ranking members and a garrison are stationed there permanently or are there at all, with lower-ranking members not allowed in without good reason.
Defences
Due to the critical importance of Fulcrum Base, it has very high protection measures. Its location is hidden away from public view, only officially known as an Italian military base, and is classified to the organisation's recruits until they have become full confidants and proven themselves loyal. On top of this it has a large complement of defender operatives and soldiers stationed there, several inner defense layers of bunkers, gun emplacements and pillboxes, anti-aircraft and anti-drone emplacements, as well as lots of motion sensors around the area to detect any approaching movement from over a kilometre away. And as a extra defense measure, there are a couple of troop garrisons as well as an airbase stationed nearby from which operatives, soldiers, vehicles, helicopters and fighter craft can be launched to protect the base from attack.
Also, anything that might constitute a security risk is banned, whether an object or living, on penalty of expulsion from the organisation or even termination. In particular, no magic of any kind is ever allowed to enter or come near. No magical objects of any kind, nor any captured magic users or creatures are ever to be brought to Fulcrum Base. In addition, there are lots of anti-magic devices and anti-magic fields throughout the base and its surroundings, making the environment a 'total magical nullification zone', meaning that no active magic can exist there from the very high levels of anti-magic.
Furthermore, not just anyone can enter Fulcrum Base, even if they are part of ORCHESTRA. Lower ranking members must specifically request access with a good reason to go, or be invited. New recruits are not allowed there at all, the location kept secret from them until they have proven to be loyal and been promoted to full confidants. The base can only be accessed either by helicopter transport through protected fly areas, or one of two land routes guarded by defender operatives and soldiers disguised as Italian military.
Assets
All the higher administration is done at Fulcrum Base, such as planning and strategy on major and long-term goals and projects, resource allocation, policies, and general higher management. All the mainframes, major servers, and system admin for the GLOAM Network, The Paradigm Database, and other critical systems are kept at Fulcrum Base, with backups elsewhere around the globe. Critical, non-threatening assets are stored in the base, such as plans, blueprints, and personnel. The central operators for the GLOAM network are stationed at Fulcrum Base to manage detection and managment of high-level threats, and software enginneers are stationed there to maintain the organisation's most critical systems.
History
The area Fulcrum Base is built on was obtainable thanks to contacts within the remains of the Italian Inquisition. ORCHESTRA began its second wave around the same time of the Holy Inquisition's decline. After negotiations, and discussion of their shared goals, the Inquisition promised to urge the Vatican to pull strings in the Italian government so that ORCHESTRA could get the land, as well as help keep the base secret from the public. In return, ORCHESTRA helped the Inquisition relocate its resources and members before its inevitable shutdown. A large portion of these went to ORCHESTRA, but others went back to the Vatican or were simply dissolved.
Initially small, the base expanded over the years to encompass a larger area of land, with more buildings, resources, central systems, protection, and technology to manage the increasing scale of the management needed of the organisation. Even after the dissolution of the Inquisition, The Vatican continued to get the Italian government to help cover up the base's existence, in return for occasional favours, though as ORCHESTRA's influence increased over the years, it was able to get the Italian government to help them for less and less. The military protection of the base also grew over time, as the importance of the base to the organisation's efforts became clearer, and as their military strength increased as well.
Geography
The base is nestled in the mountains, and thus surrounded on all sides by cliffs, with some outposts and defence posts overlooking the valleys below.
