Selenite Dominions

*"Fly me to the moon*

*Let me play among the stars*

*Let me see what spring is like on*

*A-Jupiter and Mars*

*In other words, hold my hand*

*In other words, baby, kiss me"*

-  "Fly Me To The Moon", by Frank Sinatra
The Selenite Dominions are a major faction in Red Alert Null created by Cervantes99. The Dominions are a confederation of kingdoms and tribes of the Selenites, the diverse range of beings that live inside Earth's moon. The Selenites, under the great Barbidan Empire, had visited Earth in the past via the World Gun, a huge cannon used to send shells full of explorers to the surface of the planet. However, all travel & contact with Earth was lost during a great cataclysm whose cause has long since vanished from Selenite minds. Since then, the tribes of the moon have gradually been rebuilding the remains of their once proud race. In the 1960s, this rebuilding process received a catalyst from a peculiar source that reignited Selenite interest in the Earth and cause an expeditionary force to be sent from a refurbished World Gun not long after.

## At A Glance

 **Basic Look** | Pre-1950s depictions of aliens & lots of Mushroom structures & extraterrestrial plant-life

## Background

### Children of Selene

As many new species from beyond the stars make their appearance on earth, some people cannot help but wonder "Did the moon ever play host to a civilization of its own." There has been much speculation about the beings who inhabited that big grey ball in the night sky. While earth telescopes only show an empty crater-filled desert and Imiliki patrols have shown no signs of intelligent life, no body has thought to check beneath the surface. And if they did, they would be in for a shock. Since, beneath the endless ocean of gray dust, lies great caverns filled with wondrous sights. From great forests of gigantic mushrooms to mountains literally made of crystal, the only things more mind boggling the environment are the beings who call it home. Everything from stocky bug-eyed beings with disproportionately large heads & insect wings to beings that would look like a regular human save for a set of wings mounted on their back to just heads equipped with six spider-like likes and and a stumpy arm-like appendage superficially resembling a hand.

While an outsider might expect this diverse menagerie of a community to be rife with ethnic tension due to the differences between species being even greater than the Ecumeme & Merendi, nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, the Selenite peoples, who long ago abandoned the concept of race war, are united into a semi-feudal federation of tribes and kingdoms. Every ten years, the nobles and aristocrats who lead the Selenite states gather together at the city of Endymia to elect the Grand Lunar, the supreme monarch of the Selenite Dominion. Besides once case, twenty-five years ago, every Grand Lunar has peacefully stepped down when their term is up. Politics may be orderly but to many Selenites, their society seems to be lacking something. Many long for the days of the Barbidan Empire, an ancient Selenite kingdom dating back to before the first Egyptian dynasty. Under the Barbidans, the Selenites colonized the surface, wiping out a race of giants whose name has long been forgotten and even built enormous cannons into the moon's surface which able to shoot large shells to travel to earth. Soon, a Selenite colony with its own cannon enabling return travel was founded. However, a great cataclysm who cause is yet unknown caused Lunar society to collapse and turn into a prehistoric state. All contact with Lunar colonies on earth as well as all activities on the surface ceased. This time, dubbed the "Tears of Luna", lasted for several centuries until lunar society began to gradually rebuild itself. Isolated from the outside, the Selenites looked inward for over a millenia however, life in the moon was soon about to change.

### Voyage

Around the summer of what we call 1967, several Selenite outcasts, living in caverns near the surface saw something unseen for centuries: other people. A strange contraption with unrecognizable insignia on its side speeded through the lunar sky. Though these early sightings gained little credibility, reports of green reptilian men and blue skinned women appeared at an alarming rate. Still, these were ignored until one day, another alien craft crash landed near a cave where several Selenite soldiers were on patrol. Only one survivor was found and taken to the capitol where the wisest Selenite scholars were able to devise a method of communication via a mix of a form of sign language and morse code. The man, who had the strange ability to shed his chrome, metallic skin revealing a fleshy, pink endoskeleton, introduced himself as Premeir Anatoly Cherdenko of the "Soviet Union". The man spun tales of a planet covered in over twenty two different tribes. He told tales of the White Eagles who were engaged in a feud with the Red Bear people and how many smaller peoples had allied with either of the tribes or tried to holdout on their own. Intrigued, Grand Lunar Welverne ordered for an expedition to be mounted to make contact with these strange peoples. Over the course of several months the great cannon, which had lay dormant for millenia, was fixed, an expeditionary force led by burgaugh leader Chief Aydenbaulm was trained and new technology based on the wreckage of the ship was developed. Shells that could travel on their own through space without needing to be fired out of a cannon were made but were regrettably still in the planning stages. Soon enough though, Aydenbaulm's soldiers were ready and for the first time since before the birth of Christ, Selenite feet left the surface of the moon and as the shell rockets toward the coordinates of the long lost Selenite colony, the old story about the man in the moon is about to be proven true.

## Gameplay

### Tactical Aid

A unique resource only used by the Selenites. Tactical Aid is a special type of protocol that can be ordered by the Selenites that can easily turn the tide of battle. It is bought by spending tactical points that are gained by killing enemies, harvesting ore, special buildings, and building structures.

Commanders can request tactical aid and place it freely on the map with sight. As tactical aid is delivered by off-map support, it takes a significant time for the aid to arrive or take effect. Commanders have to consider this delay time and sync the expected time of delivery with the enemy's position.

All tactical aids can be placed up to three times at once, but of course, the more the Commander wants, the more they pay. Simply choose the double/triple strike by clicking on the small number next to the icon - the upper one for one strike, the one below it for two, and the lowest for three. Then the Commander can place the selected strikes up to three times. This is a useful feature to use the same tactical aid several times without having to wait for recharge.

### Build Mechanic

Unlike most factions. The Selenites MCV, the Mothership, doesn't need to deploy to build, is completely mobile, flies, significantly more armoured compared to a normal MCV, and is lightly armed to defend itself. In place of the ability to deploy the Mothership can call down Communication Towers, which produce a build radius like a normal Construction Yard that the Selenite other structures can be built, granting unparalleled expansion. But until a Control Tower is built the Communications Tower will shut down of the Mothership is too far from the Tower. And once the Armada Beacon is built the Mothership can gain additional add-on to transform into a flying fortress.

## Luna Expeditionary Forces

### Rover

Due to the earth’s atmosphere and higher concentration of oxygen and gravity being highly lethal to the moon people. The Selenites lacks a proper infantry unit of other factions. Instead, they have rovers, small one-man piloted vehicles, that acts as their infantry. The rovers are can be easily transported with larger Selenite vehicles and tougher compared to normal infantry but their extremely thin armour makes them just as vulnerable to bullets as other infantry.

## Behind the Scenes

* The Selenite Dominions were inspired by many depictions of moon-dwelling aliens in the media as well as the John Carter books by Edghar Rice Borroughs and classical mythology surrounding the moon and its inhabitants, combined with Star Trek with their infantries uniform and aircraft design, taking over the Star Trek references from the Atomic Kingdom of China (since they're now based off house Harkonnen from Dune).

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