Citadel Council

The **Citadel Council** is the governing body of the Citadel space station and holds de facto power over all species within Citadel Space. It is a triumvrate of power divided into three seats between the Asari, Salarians and Turians that is responsible for making and enacting decisions throughout the region. Though no official power is held over the member species, most delegate to the Council's authority and the weight of their judgement.

Any species granted an embassy on the Citadel is considered an associate member, bound by the accords of the Citadel Conventions. Associate members may bring issues to the attention of the Council, though they have no impact on their final decision.

## History

### Formation

The Citadel Council was founded in 500 BCE by the asari and salarians, the first two races to independently discover the Citadel, believed to be a triumph of the lost Prothean civilization, at the hub of the mass relay network. It was the asari who suggested forming a governing body aboard the space station in partnership with the newcomer salarians. The founding of the Council marks the beginning of the Galactic Standard (GS) calendar, the year 0 GS.

Over the next 500 years, the Council rapidly expanded outward from the Citadel, encountering several new races and incorporating them into the growing galactic community. The volus were the earliest known race that the Council made first contact with; in 201 BCE, the Council granted the volus an embassy at the Citadel in recognition of their contributions to Citadel space, including the Unified Banking Act which established the credit as a standard currency. Along with the volus, the batarians, elcor, hanar, and quarians were also welcomed to the fold during this time.

### The Rachni Wars

The times of peaceful first contact ended abruptly for the Council with the accidental discovery of the rachni around 1 CE. The hive-minded, insect-like rachni reacted with extreme hostility and initiated a large-scale war with the races of Citadel space. Negotiation with the rachni queens was impossible; the queens could not be contacted in their underground nests on the rachni worlds.

A turning point in the war came when the salarians made first contact with the krogan in 80 CE, who had been living in the post-apocalyptic ruins of their homeworld Tuchanka for nearly two thousand years. The krogan were uplifted and manipulated into serving as soldiers for the Council. The resilient krogan succeeded where other Citadel races could not. Able to survive on the harsh rachni worlds, the krogan stormed rachni nests and exterminated queens one by one. By 300 CE, the rachni were declared extinct. As a reward for their service, the krogan were given a new, pristine homeworld. A lasting result of the Rachni Wars was the Council's establishment of new laws which prohibited the activation of uncharted mass relays.

### The Krogan Rebellions

Some 400 years after the end of the Rachni Wars, the Council once again found itself embroiled in a galaxy-wide conflict. The krogan, having exploded in numbers and encroaching on the territories of other races, were asked by the Council to withdraw from the asari colony of Lusia. Outraged, the krogan refused. The Council ordered the recently-formed Special Tactics and Reconnaissance division to make a preemptive strike against krogan infrastructures, and the Krogan Rebellions began.

This conflict persisted for a century, ending only after the Council made first contact with the turians, who agreed the krogan were a threat and declared war against them. The turians inflicted a lethal blow using the salarian-developed genophage; without the ability to quickly replenish their forces, the krogan dwindled. Following the Rebellions, the Citadel Conventions were drawn up. Since 900 CE, the turians have filled the military and peacekeeping niche in Citadel space vacated by the krogan. In recognition of their role during and after the Rebellions, the turians were inducted into the Citadel Council as the third race with full membership.

### Expansion, Conflict and Humanity

The next thousand years were relatively peaceful ones for the Council, interrupted only by some minor galactic incidents and the Morning War of 1895 CE. In that conflict, the quarians were driven from their worlds by the geth, machines created to serve the quarians that had achieved artificial intelligence and rebelled. With invasion by the geth an immediate threat, the Council refused the quarians' pleas for help and revoked their Citadel embassy, and also implemented restrictive laws on AI research and development.

During this time the Council continued to explore the galaxy, encountering new races with varied success. One diplomatic failure occurred with the yahg, a pre-spaceflight race discovered by Council surveyors in 2125 CE. A Council delegation was dispatched to the yahg homeworld Parnack, expecting to quickly establish diplomatic relations. Unfortunately, the predatory yahg misinterpreted the delegation's non-subservient behaviors as an attitude of contempt and promptly slaughtered the delegates. The Council responded by cutting off contact with the yahg and declaring Parnack off-limits to Citadel races; the Council asserted that the extremely aggressive yahg were poorly suited to integrate with the galactic community.

In 2157 CE, the Council intervened in the Relay 314 Incident. A brief conflict instigated by the turians against the newly-encountered humans for what the turians viewed as a breach of galactic law, the First Contact War, as humans referred to it, was brought to an end when both sides prepared to escalate their involvement. The Council revealed itself and the existence of the galactic community to humanity and brokered a peace agreement which forced the turians to pay significant reparations. Humanity quickly rose to prominence and was granted an embassy on the Citadel in 2165 CE.

## Departments

* Astronomical Charting Directorate
* Citadel Emergency Services
* Citadel Fleet
* Citadel Security Services
* Committee on Disease Prevention
* Ministry of Finance
* Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance
* Shared Intelligence Division

## Councilors

### Asari

An asari elected to the position of Councilor theoretically can serve until the end of her life, though in practice that is never the case. Most serve for a century or two at most before resigning.

 Iliana K'Moor | Unknown
 Messana Tevos | 15th of July, 2099

### Salarian

Salarian councilors are appointed by the Union on a rotational basis from different clans. Each appointment lasts four Sur'kesh years.

 Bensin Valern | 3rd of January, 2182

### Turian

The Turian councilor is appointed by the Council of Primarchs, each being allowed to both submit a candidate and vote upon which candidate they deem the most acceptable. Due to the meritorious nature of the Hierarchy the submission and selection of candidates is oftentimes unanimous, with one potential Councilor standing head and shoulders above the rest.

 Laiel Sparatus | 25th of March, 2178