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The orbital Lunar Base satellite.

"Basically, this lunar base was built to keep Adel under surveillance. We sealed her and kept her here where the earth and the moon's gravitational forces are in equilibrium."

—Esthar Researcher

The Lunar Base (ルナサイドベース, Runasaidobēsu) is a location in Final Fantasy VIII. It is a base located in outer space, created to watch over Sorceress Adel, who is sealed inside a suspension seal.

Story

When Squall Leonhart and his friends arrive here, they are bringing along Rinoa Heartilly, who has fallen into a coma for reasons unknown. They meet up with the leader, Piet, who explains all about Adel's suspension seal. They talk to Ellone, and Squall tries to use her gift to go back into Rinoa's past to find out what happened to her. However, in the middle of the talk, Rinoa wakes up, although she does not act like herself. She puts on an astronaut suit and goes out into space, and breaks Adel's Seal.

Back on earth, Seifer performs the Lunar Cry, bringing monsters from the moon down to earth, together with Adel. Rinoa is left for dead after Ultimecia, who had possessed her all this time, leaves her body in favor of Adel's. The Lunar Base is drawn near the moon, and Squall, Ellone and Piet attempt to escape inside an escape pod. The Lunar Base is destroyed. While aboard the pod, Squall begs Ellone to go back into Rinoa's past, and she succeeds. The truth about Ultimecia's possession of Rinoa is finally revealed, and Squall goes out into space after Rinoa. He eventually rescues her, and they find the Ragnarok in order to go back to earth.

Layout

Control Room.

Control Room

Obviously, this room is the central hub of the station. It controls all actions, mechanics, etc., and has supervision over all areas.

Docking Bay.

Docking Bay

The docking bay is used to dock ships launched from Esthar and to leave the Lunar Base back to the planet or out to Adel. One must wear a spacesuit here, as it opens to space and there is no air.

Prep Room.

Prep Room

The prep room is a small antechamber used to suit up into a spacesuit in order to leave the base.

Ellone's Suite.

Ellone's Suite

A room in the recesses of the station where Ellone stays. Albeit small, it seems comfortable and adequate. It is the only living quarters shown, although there are most likely others.

Boarding Room.

Boarding Room

A smaller docking area this room is where boardees from the single-man pods fired from Lunar Gate emerge after their pods have docked.

Med Lab.

Med Lab

The med lab is also just as it seems. It is an on-board medical facility where Rinoa was kept until her trance brought her into space where she nearly died. It seems to have some of the best technology known.

Escape Pods.

Escape Pods

The escape pods are small chambers used in times of emergency. They can fit up to three people, and are jettisoned from the Lunar Base back toward the planet. They appear to have the ability to pass through the atmosphere mostly undamaged. It is here that Ellone sends Squall to find out what happened to Rinoa, and also here that Squall leaves in a spacesuit to save Rinoa.

Adel's Tomb

"A high-tech device intended for weakening and confining a sorceress' power. Shot into the moon's orbit after going through a special sealing process. Used to confine Sorceress Adel. It is the main cause of radio interference on the planet."

—FFVIII Info Corner

Adel's Tomb.

As the name states, this huge object houses Adel's "dead" form. It floats in space near the moon, frozen. Adel has stayed here petrified since the end of the Sorceress War, and is awakened by Rinoa, the successor of the Sorceress abilities.

Interestingly, the tomb is shaped similarly to Esthar City's presidential palace - perhaps a final nod of unwilling respect to Esthar's once-tyrannical ruler.

Musical Themes

When first boarding the satellite the track "Dance with the Balamb Fish" plays and continues on as Squall explores the station. When Rinoa awakens possessed, the event is accompanied by the "A Sacrifice" theme until the Lunar Cry occurs and the soundtrack is replaced by the theme "Movin".

People Associated with Lunar Base

• Man in Spacesuit/President, aboard the base to check on Adel. It is lead to believe that this is Laguna Loire. When he says he "has a feeling" soldiers would not be needed to escort Squall's party, Controller A assigns a security team to escort Squall's party anyway. He complains, saying "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Why do you always play me like that?" hinting that his hunches have either been debilitatingly unbalanced, or just flat out wrong. The casual demeanor in which the conversation plays out tells that their working relationship is more liberal-based.
• Piet, the overseer of the space station. Little is revealed about him, save for being the director of the Lunar Base. Whether his working relationship with the Man in the Spacesuit is the same as with the Controllers is not entirely revealed.
• Controller A, one of the operators in the control room. When the Man in the Spacesuit says he "has a feeling" a security detail would not be needed to escort Squall's party, Controller A sends them anyway by saying "Then we'd better station them all the more." indicating that the Man in the Spacesuit has had a history of inaccurate, possibly devastating, hunches.
• Controller B, the second operator in the control room and the one to recommend assigning a security detail to escort Squall's team aboard the Lunar Base.
• Ellone, the adopted daughter of Raine and Laguna Loire, and the older stepsister of Squall Leonhart. Hunted her entire life for her unusual ability to send a human's consciousness back in time, Ellone has nevertheless managed to maintain a childlike innocence about the world, even as a young adult. Her living quarters on the Lunar Base is small, but superbly comfortable with an adequate view of the cosmos. She has been under Laguna's wing ever since, constantly being moved around to keep out of the reach of the Sorceresses.