The Moon was the first celestial body to be reached by the humans and yet had been difficult to colonize because of its lack of atmosphere. Moon Base ALuCE (Advanced Lunar Chemical Engineering) began as one of several civilian stations established to manage native resources for early lunar colonization. During the height of the Second Robotech War, all of these bases were militarized by the Army of the Southern Cross. By the Third Robotech War, the moon gained critical importance as a staging ground for the Robotech Expeditionary Force while the Earth was under occupation by the Invid. Although ALuCE (later known as Advanced Lunar Civil Engineering) has grown into a major command center for the expedition, it is still referred to by its civilian name.
Most of the lunar bases such as ALuCE are located along the edge of the far side of the moon to facilitate movement of forces away from Invid detection while remaining close to observation posts that maintain constant reconnaissance of the Earth.