Citadel

The **Citadel** was a massive space station constructed by the Reapers as the central hub of the mass relay network. It was normally located in the Widow system of the Serpent Nebula in the Alpha Quadrant, though it briefly spent time in the Sol system during the Reaper Invasion of 2986.

## Description

It has gravity created through "spin". In the Wards, the gravity is equivalent to 1.02 standard G's, and the equivalent of 0.3 standard G's on the Presidium Ring.

The central ring has a diameter of 7.2 kilometers. The central ring are where the dozens of spaceports are located. Five massive arms protrude, creating a pentagram shape. The arms are we 43.6 kilometers long and 330 meters thick. The station is capable of closing the arms, turning it into a cylinder that is virtually impenetrable.

There is an interior superstructure of tunnels, which is somewhat of a maze. The Keepers and the Duct Rats manuever throughout these tunnels to get around the station.

During the time of the Citadel Council, the Presidium was home to a park, many shops and businesses, as well as a myriad of embassies and government offices. At the center of the Presidium was the Citadel Tower, which housed the Council Chambers and the main traffic control for the station. In the Presidium, there is an artificial day/night cycle of 20 hours, with the lights dimmed for six hours.

Each arm of the station, known as the Wards, were residential and commercial zones of the station. There was no day/night cycle in the Wards, as such activity rarely ceased and all residents work and rest according to their own personal needs and schedules. They were densely populated areas, with skyscrapers going as high as seven meters -- the height of the breathable atmosphere in each Ward. Citadel Security Services monitored the Wards.

## History

The Citadel was built by the Reapers, and discovered by numerous species throughout history. It was the center of the mass relay network, but was also secretly a trap -- a mass relay through which the Reapers could enter the Milky Way from dark space.

The Protheans discovered the Citadel at about the year 68,000 BCE. Like so many civilizations before them, they made it the center of their galactic government. The Reapers came through the Citadel in 48,000 BCE -- and spent the next two hundred years eradicating the Protheans.

After the fall of the Protheans, the asari were the next race to discover the Citadel. Shortly afterwards, it was also discovered by the salarians and the volus. As other species encountered these species, or discovered the Citadel independently, they eventually formed a growing organization calling itself the Citadel Council. The Citadel itself grew to be the center of the Citadel Council galactic government, both politically and culturally.

Many years later, the Reapers invaded again -- though this time they were unable to access the Milky Way through the Citadel thanks to the machinations of the Protheans and, later, Commander Shepard. The Citadel Council rose up to fight them -- though it seemed no use. Ultimately they, with the guidance of Shepard, constructed the Crucible.

They discovered that the Catalyst, the necessary component that the Protheans had been unable to get in their efforts to fight the Reapers, was within the Citadel itself. During the final battle against the Reapers, the Citadel had been relocated to be near Earth. Shepard boarded the Citadel to activate the Crucible, and in doing so erased the Catalyst and destroyed the Reapers.

The Citadel Council continued to operate out of the Citadel for several years. However, without the Catalyst, the Keepers who maintained the station began to malfunction and cease to operate. Similarly, the mass relay network ceased to function. Ultimately, the Citadel fell into disrepair and was abandoned. The Citadel Council was forced to disband, though most of its members ultimately joined the Coalition of Planets and then the United Federation of Planets.

## Source

The Citadel is derived from *Mass Effect*.