| This is the article on the planet orbiting Hiigara. For the mission that takes place near the moon, see HW2 Campaign: Angel Moon. |
The Angel Moon
The Angel Moon is the single moon of Hiigara. Its exact size is just less than half the size of Hiigara itself, suggesting to some astronomers that the Hiigara-Angel Moon orbit is actually a rare binary planet. Of the two, however, only Hiigara has signs of liquid water. The Angel Moon has a rocky, barren surface pocked with craters and other marks of meteor impact.
Lore[]
To the Hiigaran people, the Angel Moon has long held ritual and cultural significance, beginning with its being featured in the crest of the Hiigaran Empire. Later on, as the Exile drew near, the moon played an even greater role. In defiance of the Galactic Council's surrender order and their defeat at the hands of the Bentusi, the Hiigarans crashed their flagship, the dreadnought Sajuuk's Wrath upon their moon's surface to keep control of the Second Core. In the month before the Exile, the Hiigarans carved the Guidestone from a piece of the moon's surface, as a starmap to remember their homeworld's location and as a promise to return one day. They later took the Guidestone and the Second Core aboard one of the transport ships that would take them to Kharak, the ship that would become Khar-Toba, the First City.
During the rule of the Taiidan over Hiigara, the Angel Moon was a military garrison of presumed great importance, due to its strategic location in orbit of the heart of the Empire. The Taiidani that lived in Hiigara, lacking any attachment to the moon, simply referred to it as a "garrison moon".
By the time of the Vaygr War, part of the Angel Moon was covered by a cityscape illuminated with orange lights, with lines extending throughout its surface. Soon after its launch, the Mothership Pride of Hiigara jumped into low orbit over the Angel Moon to rendezvous with the Bishop Crew Transports carrying the rest of her crew. Once the transports docked with the Mothership and the Vaygr assault fleet was fended off with the help of the Ferin Sha Fleet, Karan S'jet's fleet jumped to the Sarum System to rendezvous with Shipyard Naabal.
Trivia[]
The Angel Moon undergoes a most curious change of appearance throughout the series. Initial concept art show it overgrown with huge facilities, and indeed a corresponding model exists in the game files of Homeworld, but in-game a "clean" version with an almost white surface appears in the final mission. In the first mission of Cataclysm, which takes place over Hiigara as well, the moon is still completely rocky, but the craters are much darker than before, giving it an almost charred look. In Homeworld 2, the moon returns to its first concept, with straight lines and what looks like lights scattered across the surface, giving it the appearance of an inhabited stellar body. Alternatively, the patterns on the surface may be intended as the still visible wounds of the flagship Sajuuk's Wrath desperate crash landing in the last days before the exile.
There is no canon explanation given for these changes.
Sources[]
Angel Moon during Cataclysm Era
Hiigara and Angel Moon map