Citadel Council

The **Citadel Council** was a galactic government based out of the Citadel itself, an interspecies cooperative government that controlled swaths of space in the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Quadrants. The Council was comprised of a handful of sapient species, with numerous other species considered "associate members" -- allowed an embassy on the Citadel but not yet entitled to a vote.

## History

The Citadel Council was formed in 300 CE, a year marked as 0 by the Galactic Standard calendar that they would then create. It was founded by the asari and the salarians -- the first two species to reach the Citadel after the disappearance of the Protheans.

The Citadel Council spent the next 500 cycles expanding the galactic community. The first species they made first contact with was the volus. The volus established the need for a galactic currency -- the Council established the Unified Banking Act, settling on credits, and granted the volus an embassy on the Citadel. The batarians, elcor, hanar, and quarians were soon welcomed into the galactic community as well.

The first major conflict of the Citadel Council's reign began around 800 CE when they made first contact with the rachni. Negotiating with the rachni proved impossible, as their queens were in underground hives and could not be contacted. However, around 880 CE the world of Tuchanka was discovered and contact was made with the krogan.

The krogan were uplifted with the help of salarian technology, and then manipulated into acting as the Citadel Council's military. The krogan, adapted for a harsh, post-apocalyptic planet, were able to withstand the rachni worlds and eradicated the queens inside their nests. By 1100 CE, the rachni were declared extinct.

Nearly 400 cycles later, another conflict erupted -- the krogan, whose population had exploded since the rachni wars -- were beginning to encroach on territories belonging to other species. When they were asked to leave the asari colony of Lusia, the krogan refused. The Special Tactics and Reconnaissance division preemptively struck against the krogan infrastructure -- and the Krogan Rebellion commenced.

This conflict lasted a century, ending only after the turians joined the fray and unleashed a genophage developed by salarians against the enemy. This plague rendered virtually the whole species infertile -- the krogan ended the war if only to keep their numbers from dwindling. Following this conflict, the Citadel Conventions were formally created. Because of their aid during the rebellion, the turians became the third species granted full membership to the Council.

The galaxy was relatively quiet for the next thousand cycles, with the exception of some minor incidents and the Geth War -- which led the Council to revoke the embassy that had been given to the quarians, and to enact even stricter laws regarding artificial intelligence. A diplomatic failure when contacting the yahg led the planet of Parnack to be declared off-limits to species from the Citadel Council.

In 2957 CE, the Relay 314 Incident sparked a brief conflict between the turians and humans. This disastrous first contact was salvaged, and humans quickly rose to prominence in the galactic community. They were granted an embassy on the Citadel in 2965 CE. Despite their potential, the Council took steps to limit the growth of humans in the galaxy. Ultimately they were forced to permit a human into the Spectre program after it was learned that Saren Arterius was part of a treacherous plot -- this human was Commander Shepard. Shepard took the SSV Normandy into the Terminus Systems to stop Saren at the Council's request -- eventually learning of and stopping schemes by the Reaper Sovereign, though not before a devastating attack could be launched against the Citadel.

Although Shepard's actions earned humans considerably more respect in the galactic community, the Council refused to acknowledge the existence of Reapers until 2986 CE -- when the Reapers began their invasion in full. Though Shepard managed to unite various species of the galaxy against the destructive creatures, it was only by using the Crucible to control them that the species of the Citadel Council survived the war.

Unfortunately, Shepard's control over the Reapers could not last. In order to prevent the war from beginning anew, the Citadel Council was dissolved and the Citadel steered outside of the galaxy.

## Organization

### Administrative

* Departments
	+ Ministry of Finance
* Committees
	+ Committee on Disease Prevention
	+ Committee on Habitable Worlds
	+ Committee on Paleotechnology
* Agencies
	+ Citadel Emergency Services
	+ Citadel Security Services
	+ Citadel Travel Advisory

### Military

* Citadel Fleet
* Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission (CDEM)
* Special Tasks Group
* Spectre Program

## Membership

### Full Members

* Asari
* Salarians
* Turians
* Humans

### Associate Members

* Drell
* Elcor
* Hanar
* Volus

## Source

The Citadel Council is derived from *Mass Effect*. For canon information, please visit:

* Mass Effect Wiki