Citadel (Mass Effect)
The Citadel is a large space station that features in Mass Effect.
Contents |
History
The Citadel was a large space station that inhabited the Milky Way Galaxy. Its creation dated back thousands of years ago where it was actually built by the Reapers alongside the Mass Relays. The purpose behind its creation was for any civilization to develop along the path the Reapers had envisioned by relying on the Mass Relays and eventually settling at the Citadel that became the capital of their respective empires. Such a chain of events was followed in the many cycles that formed when at a designated time an activation signal was sent that awoke the Reapers in dark space whereupon they proceeded with their mass harvest of the galaxy. The Citadel itself operated as a Mass Relay into dark space allowing the Reapers rapid entry into the galaxy whereupon they harvested he leading government that had settled on the space station before proceeding with the other advanced civilizations in the galaxy. Upon completion of their task, the Reapers scoured any trace of these civilizations before returning to dark space and leaving the Citadel intact for the next race to discover. Those races that next discovered the Citadel thus came to believe that the Citadel was a construction of their predecessors that had mysteriously disappeared and repeated the chain of events. Such a situation occurred 68,000 BCE during the rise of the Prothean civilization who formed an empire that ruled most of the Milky Way Galaxy. In 48,000 BCE, the time came for the Reapers harvest and a signal was activated leading to the arrival of the machines from darkspace once the message was received by the Keepers who activated the Citadel's true nature. Thus, the Citadel was conquered by the Reapers leading to the Prothean leaders falling under the mental domination of the massive machines. For many years afterwards, the galaxy was harvested of organic life as the Reapers intended to eliminate any trace of their existence before returning to darkspace. Around this time, Prothean scientists on Illos managed to evade capture where they intended to sabotage the Reapers efforts for the next galactic cycle. Thus, they created the Conduit that allowed them to arrive on the Citadel where they introduced a virus into the Keepers to disable them and prevent them from activating their hidden programming for the next cycle.
In the years afterwards, new species began to develop and achieve space flight whilst the Citadel remained abandoned. By 580 BCE, the Asari race achieved FTL technology allowing them interstellar flight through their study of Prothean technology. It was through exploration of the Mass Relay network leading to their eventual discovery of the Citadel as the hub of the system. Afterwards, in 520 BCE, the Salarians discovered the Citadel and opened diplomatic ties with the Asari. This culminated in the founding of the Citadel Council in 500 BCE leading to the two species making the Citadel as the capital of galactic community.
Overview
Although the Citadel was equipped with mass-effect-generating element-zero cores, most of the gravity on the station was generated by the centrifugal force of rotation.
The station was virtually indestructible and if attacked then the Citadel could close its arms to form a solid, impregnable shell.
For the galactic community, it served as the political, cultural, and financial capital. To represent their interests, most species maintain embassies on the Presidium that was the Citadel's inner ring.
In the center of the Presidium was the Citadel Tower that served as the home of the Citadel Council chambers. Around it were five arms that were referred to as the Wards that extended from the Presidium. The inner surface of these arms were numerous cities built into it that could hold populations of millions.
The 'undersides' of the Wards between the inhabited superstructures and impenetrable outer hull were known as the Foundations. These dangerous areas were filled with life support systems and power plants. Officially, only the keepers were allowed in the Foundations. In reality, the Foundations operated as the slums of the Citadel and served as the home to criminals, minorities, transients, and the occasional 'stateless' exiles. Some stayed in the Foundations of their own will whilst others ended up there when the opportunities they sought in the Citadel did not come to pass for them. The station's recycling systems were also located in the Foundations with these manufacturing a variety of artificial organic pastes that could be eaten for sustenance. They were free and nutritious but nearly tasteless and had an unpleasant texture to them. Poorer Citadel residents quickly become adept at dressing up this bland fare with sauces and spices whilst imported foodstuffs were a popular luxury of the wealthy.
The Ring was an enclosed loop of park-like space serving as the connection point for the Wards. The interior walls were lined with the embassies of influential species and private residences for the galaxy's elite.
Below the Wards was a place referred to as the Citadel Archives that was a massive complex that was restricted from public access with only staff, Council officials and Spectres being allowed into the site. It housed an vast collection of varying physical artifacts and recordings from across the galaxy with these being of either historical or cultural importance. In addition, official identification records and other critical pieces of data used by the bureaucracy of the Council was kept in the Archives. All physical items were stored within a system of large iridium vaults that were sealed with mass effect fields and moved throughout the complex for ease of access as well as organization with a large portion of the Citadel Archives consisted largely of these vaults Visual and audio recordings were capable of being ciewed from specific holographic chambers inside the Archive's central office with these capable of being filtering depending on the security clearance of the user. Furthermore, highly confidential records such as Spectre biometrics were located at this site and capable of being updated there. During times of emergency, the Citadel Archives went under lockdown mode in order to secure the items inside.
The Citadel was considered virtually indestructible with it capable of closing its arms to form a solid, impregnable shell.
Within the station were an enigmatic race known as the Keepers who were responsible for maintaining its functions.
Inhabitants
- Tevos :
- Irissa :
- Valern :
- Esheel :
- Sparatus :
- Quentius :
- David Anderson :
- Donnel Udina :
- Venari Pallin :
- Garrus Vakarian :
Notes
- The Citadel was created by BioWare where it featured in the setting of Mass Effect.
Appearances
- Mass Effect:
- Mass Effect 2:
- Mass Effect 3:
External Link
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
