Somnus Citadel
The Somnus Citadel was the headquarters of the Sisters of Silence during the Great Crusade. Based on Luna, it contained launch bays for Black Ships and was an impressive fortress armed with automated gun-drones. In addition, parts of the citadel could be separated and lowered underground in case of attack.[1]
History
During the early stages of the Horus Heresy, the survivors of the Eisenstein were interred within the Somnus Citadel on the orders of Rogal Dorn. Battle in the citadel took place when the terminally ill Eisenstein survivor Solun Decius gave himself over to Nurgle. Mutating into a Warp abomination, Decius slew numerous Sisters of Silence and loyalist Death Guard until he was killed by Nathaniel Garro. After the incident, the Somnus Citadel was used as the base of operations for Malcador's newly formed Knights-Errant.[1]
Shortly before the Siege of Terra, the Sisters of Silence abandoned the Somnus Citadel in order to fortify the Imperial Palace instead.[2] Following the fall of Luna to the Traitors in the Solar War, it was taken by the Sons of Horus and Selenar. During the Retaking of Luna in the Great Scouring, Ultramarines Chief Librarian Titus Prayto led the storming of the Citadel and personally killed Sons of Horus Chief Apothecary Vardesh Kraiya. Underneath the Citadel, the Imperials discovered large numbers of Black Ships ready for use.[5]
After the Heresy the Citadel was subsequently said to be ruined and abandoned, but apparently descendants of the Selenites known as the Fellowship remained.[3] The only part of the citadel that was properly maintained during this time were the orbital docking spikes for the Blackships.[4] At the dawn of the Indomitus Crusade on the orders of the recently resurrected Roboute Guilliman, the Somnus Citadel was restored.[3] Despite its renovations, many old cracks and unrepaired sections still remain.[4]
Sources
- 1: The Flight of the Eisenstein (Novel), Chapter 15
- 2: The Buried Dagger (Novel), Chapter 2
- 3: Watchers of the Throne: The Regent's Shadow, Chapter 6: Aleya, Chapter 18: Aleya
- 4: Hand of Abaddon (Novel), Chapter 7
- 5: Ashes of the Imperium (Novel), Chapter 38
