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ASARI
The
asari are often considered the most powerful and respected
sentient species in the known galaxy. This is partly due to the fact
the asari were the first race after the Protheans to achieve
interstellar flight, and to discover and inhabit the Citadel.
A
mono-gender race —distinctly feminine
in appearance— the asari are known for
their elegance, diplomacy, and biotic talent. Their millennia-long lifespan
and unique physiology —allowing them to reproduce
with a partner of any gender or species— give them a
conservative but convivial attitude toward other races. The asari
were instrumental in proposing and founding the Citadel Council, and
have been at the heart of galactic society ever since.
Asari
pass through three climacteric life stages, marked by biochemical
and physiological changes:
The Maiden
stage begins at birth and is marked by the drive to explore
and experience. Most young asari are curious and restless. The
Matron stage of life begins around the age of 350, though it
can be triggered earlier if the individual melds frequently.
This period is marked by a desire to settle in one area and
raise children.
The Matriarch stage begins around 700
years of age, or later if the individual melds rarely.
Matriarchs become active in their community as sages and
councilors, dispensing wisdom from centuries of experience.
Their knowledge and guidance may be one reason why Matriarchs
are rarely seen outside asari space.
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JUSTICARS
A justicar is an asari who has forsworn
having children and family, and given up all worldly possessions
aside from weapons and armor. After swearing themselves to the
Code of the justicars, they wander asari space righting wrongs, as defined by
their unwavering code of justice. There are very few asari
justicars due to the high mortality rates in training, and the fact
that the life of a justicar is seldom easy.
The Justicar Code
is the central force in every justicar's life. The Code is composed
of more than five thousand sutras that describe every possible
situation a justicar may encounter. Every justicar is required to
know the entire Code by heart. In compliance with the Justicar Code,
there are no morally grey actions: every deed done falls clearly
into right or wrong categories. Thus a justicar will defend a
village of just farmers to her dying breath if they are being
attacked by bandits, but she will kill every person in that village
if they are found to be running a smuggling cartel. Samara herself
admits that, due to the harsh nature of the Code, curiosity is a
liability for a justicar: if she is required to kill a murderer, she
does not wish to know anything that could potentially redeem him in
her eyes.
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BATARIANS
A race
of four-eyed bipeds, the batarians are a disreputable species that chose to isolate itself
from the rest of the galaxy in protest, and largely
due to a grudge against humans. The Terminus Systems are infested with
batarian pirate gangs and slaving rings, fueling the stereotype of
the batarian thug. It should be noted that these criminals do not
represent average citizens, who are forbidden to leave batarian
space by their omnipresent and paranoid government.
Despite
several disagreements with the Citadel and simmering hostility
toward humans, most batarians prefer profitable pursuits such as
drug running and slave grabs to out-and-out warfare. They have a
reputation for being shrewd businessmen and merchants, though in
more lawless regions of the galaxy like Omega, negotiations with a
batarian are likely to be conducted at
gunpoint.
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THE COLLECTORS
The Collectors are
an enigmatic race that live beyond the Omega 4 Relay. They are
rarely seen in Terminus itself, let alone Citadel space, and are
generally regarded as a myth by Citadel citizens. Definite sightings
of Collectors have been made on Omega every few centuries.
They
are most well known for their odd trade requests for which they
offer new technologies, often of a startling level of advancement.
There requests usually involve the trade of living beings in odd
numbers and varieties, such as two dozen left-handed salarians,
sixteen sets of batarian twins, a krogan born of parents from
feuding clans, or two dozen "pure" quarians — quarians that have
never left the Migrant Fleet due to illness, importance to the
fleet, or disability. One of their current interests is in healthy
human biotics. No one knows what happens to the individuals
concerned after the exchange is completed.
DISTURBING
DATA
Aside from the bombshell that the Collectors are
re-purposed, genetically modified, indoctrinated Protheans who now
bare no resemblance in appearance, behaviour or mentality to their
origin species, there are many more secrets which Shepard uncovered
aboard the apparently derelict Collector Ship, or later on at The
Collector's base. The Collectors were re-purposed solely to work for
the Reapers and represent them throughout the galaxy. They abduct
various organic samples (usually live species, most recently humans)
and experiment on their DNA in an attempt to either create a new
Reaper, or add to the Reaper army. It was also clear that the
Collectors needed much more data to accomplish this, and the ammount
of pods which Shepard saw on the ship suggested that they were going
to hit Earth, soon.
When
taking down the Collectors base, Shepard also learned that the
Collectors were processing humans into a paste and sending it down
tubes to a human-Reaper. It was speculated by Shepard that many
Reapers differ in appearance, taking their form and attributes from
previously harvested races, and that this harvest is the reason for
the cycle, to produce newer, more advanced
Reapers.
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DRELL
The drell are a reptile-like race
that were rescued from their dying homeworld by the hanar following
first contact between the two. Since then, the drell have remained
loyal to the hanar for their camaraderie and have fit comfortably
into galactic civilization.
The drell ancestors emerged from dry, rocky deserts on the
barren world of Rakhana. Eight centuries ago, the already-arid
drell homeworld began its swift descent into lifelessness due
to disastrous industrial expansion. At the time, the drell
lacked interstellar flight capacity, and with their population bursting at
11 billion they faced certain doom. It was around this time that the
hanar made first contact with the drell race. In the following ten
years, the hanar transported hundreds of thousands of drell to the
hanar world, Kahje. The remaining billions left on Rakhana perished on
their dying planet, warring against each other for diminishing
resources. The drell now thrive co-existing with the hanar and have
been a part of the galactic civilization for roughly two centuries.
The debt of gratitude that the drell owe the hanar is referred to as
The Compact, which the drell fulfill by taking on tasks that the
hanar find difficult, such as combat. Any drell may refuse to serve,
but as being requested to serve is a great honor, few turn down the
offer.
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KROGAN
The krogan are a species of large
reptilian bipeds native to the planet Tuchanka, a world known for
its harsh environments, scarce resources, and overabundance of
vicious predators. The krogan managed to not only survive on their
unforgiving homeworld, but actually thrived in the extreme
conditions. Unfortunately, as krogan society became more
technologically advanced so did their weaponry.
Four thousand
years ago, at the dawn of the krogan nuclear age, battles to claim
the small pockets of territory capable of sustaining life escalated
into full scale global war. Weapons of mass destruction were
unleashed, transforming Tuchanka into a radioactive wasteland. The
krogan were reduced to primitive warring clans struggling to survive
a nuclear winter of their own creation, a state that continued until
they were discovered by the salarians two thousand years
later.
With the help of the salarians, the
krogan were 'uplifted' into galactic society, and lent their
numbers and military prowess to bring an end to the Rachni Wars.
Ironically, after the rachni were eradicated, the rapidly-expanding
krogan became a threat to the galaxy in turn, starting
the Krogan Rebellions and forcing the turians to unleash the genophage.
This genetic 'infection' dramatically reduced fertility in krogan females, causing a severe drop
in births and, ultimately, population, eliminating the krogan numerical advantage.
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THE GENOPHAGE
The
genophage was a biological weapon deployed against the krogan by the
turians during the Krogan Rebellions. It was designed to severely
reduce krogan numbers by "infecting" the species with a genetic
mutation. The genophage's modus operandi is not to reduce the
fertility of krogan females, but rather the probability of viable
pregnancies: many krogan die in stillbirth, with most foetuses never
even reaching this stage of development. Moreover, every cell in
each krogan is infected, to prevent the use of gene therapy to
counteract it. Though the genophage was not designed as a "sterility
plague", the combination of a low frequency of viable pregnancies
with the krogan proclivity to violence and indifference about
focused breeding leaves the krogan a dying race, and soon to be
extinct.
After several hundred years of living with the
genophage, the knowledge their species will soon be extinct has
created a kind of fatalism amongst the krogan that makes them
dangerous opponents—they are indifferent to who they attack or kill,
or what risks they take, as their species is doomed. A few
individuals, such as Wrex, have attempted to rebuild the species, or
at least curtail its decline, by focusing on breeding, but the
inherent belligerence of the krogan usually frustrates their
efforts.
There is no known
cure for the genophage. Some krogan groups have invested in
companies such as Binary Helix to try to discover one; however,
efforts have so far been thwarted by a lack of krogan scientists and
a disinterest of other species in a revived krogan population.
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THE
PROTHEANS
The Protheans are an extinct
alien race which mysteriously vanished over 50,000 years ago. The
only known space-faring species of their time, the Protheans arose
from a single planet and developed an immense galaxy-wide empire.
Not much is known about them, not even by the asari, but many of
their artifacts, ruins and technology have apparently survived the
ages.
It was widely believed that the Protheans created the
Citadel and the mass relays, feats of engineering that have never
been equalled and whose core mass effect field technology forms the
basis of contemporary civilization. It was however, the Reapers who
created these marvels in an attempt to assure civilisation evolved
along the paths it desired.
While all evidence points to the
Protheans being completely wiped out by the Reapers, this was not
the case. The Reapers are believed to have attempted harnessing the
genetic material from millions of Protheans to create a new Reaper.
It is speculated that this attempt failed and so the Reapers decided
to re purpose this substantial number of captive Protheans to suit
the needs of the Reapers. Over millions of years of cybernetic
modifications to compensate for their growing lack of ability, which
was a side effect of indoctrination, the Protheans captives were
transformed into an entirely new race which cooperated with the
Reapers and would eventually be known to the citizens of the galaxy
as the Collectors.
THE CIPHER
The Cipher is
used by both Saren and Shepard to interpret the vision held in
the Prothean beacons. It is the cultural context, knowledge and
experience of the Prothean race. This unique racial perspective
allows a mind to comprehend information as a Prothean could, though
it takes time for a non-Prothean mind to become accustomed to it.
Without the Cipher, the images in the beacon's vision don't make
sense to non-Protheans who lack the necessary attitudes, mindset,
and cultural experience to correctly interpret them. Describing the
Cipher is impossible; it would be like trying to explain colour to a
creature without eyes.
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QUARIANS
The quarians are a nomadic
species of humanoid aliens known for their skills with technology
and synthetic intelligence. Since their homeworld Rannoch was
conquered, the quarians live aboard the Migrant Fleet, a huge
collection of starships that travel as a single
fleet.
Approximately three hundred
years ago the quarians created the geth, a species of
rudimentary artificial intelligences, to serve as an efficient source of
manual labor. However, when the geth gradually became sentient, the quarians
became terrified of possible consequences and tried to destroy their creations. The latter
won the resulting war and forced their creators into exile. Now
the quarians wander the galaxy in a flotilla of salvaged ships, secondhand
vessels, and recycled technology.
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THE MIGRANT
FLEET
There are roughly 17 million quarians on the
Migrant Fleet (also called the Flotilla). It is technically still
under martial law but is now governed by bodies such as the
Admiralty Board and the democratically-elected Conclave, though ship
captains and onboard civilian councils tend to address most issues
'in-house' before it gets that far. Quarians are divided into
several clans that can be spread across several ships, or restricted
to one. Their clan name is after the apostrophe in their first name
(e.g. Tali's clan name is Zorah). A quarian's 'surname' refers to
which ship they were born on, or, after their Pilgrimage, which ship
they chose to join.
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RACHNI
The rachni are an extinct
insect-like species that threatened to defeat and overthrow the
Citadel Council roughly two thousand years ago. They are the only
sapient arthropods known to exist in the galaxy (the keepers not
being known to be sapient).
Intelligent but highly aggressive,
the spacefaring rachni were driven to expand and defend their
territory. They were eventually defeated and completely eradicated
by the krogan, who had been groomed by the salarians to effectively
do the Council's dirty work during the Rachni Wars. The accidental
discovery of the rachni led to the Citadel races to curb their rapid
expansion, in fear of being plunged into another galactic war.
Shepard's controversial decision to spare and
free a rachni Queen found in the labs of Peak 15 was an act of great
compassion, tempered with some contemplation. While speaking with
Shepard, the rachni queen revealed that rachni are born with the
collective knowledge of their ancestors and that they are a mostly
peaceful race who communicate through telepathic song. When Shepard
questioned her about the aggressive invasion of the rachni wars the
queen revealed that her ancestors were influenced by “a 'sour yellow
note', a tone from space [that] hushed one voice after another",
implying they were not fully responsible for the Rachni Wars, and
giving Shepard the impression that they had been controlled or
influenced by the Reapers to attack the galactic community for
unfathomable reasons. Kaiden Alenko, who was travelling with the
Commander, admitted that while he was not sure if the decision was
the right one, he would not have been able to kill the queen in
Shepard's place and be responsible for the genocide of an entire
species.
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THE REAPERS
The Reapers, known by the
geth as the Old Machines, are a highly advanced machine race.
Although rumoured to have existed fifty thousand years ago, and
perhaps much longer than that, no archaeological evidence supports
such claims. The first mention of them was found in a data file,
recovered from a geth's memory core by Tali'Zorah nar Rayya.
The
Reapers were worshiped as gods by the geth heretics, a faction of
geth who believed that Saren Arterius was the prophet for the
Reapers' return and that the mysterious Conduit was somehow the key
to bring them back.
In fact, the Reapers
are an extremely advanced race of synthetic/organic warships. They
reside in the unexplored region referred to as dark space, the
empty, starless space between galaxies. They hibernate there,
dormant for thousands of years, before they are given the signal to
return. Their origins are completely unknown. The first Reaper known
to have communicated with organic life, referred to by Saren as
Sovereign, claimed that the Reapers have neither beginning nor end.
Even their true name is a mystery; 'Reapers' was a name bestowed by
the Protheans, and Sovereign claimed that whatever the Protheans
chose to call them is irrelevant: "we simply...
are."
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SALARIANS
The second species to join the
Citadel, the salarians are warm-blooded amphibians with a
hyperactive metabolism; salarians think fast, talk fast, and move
fast. To salarians, other species seem sluggish and dull-witted,
especially the elcor. Unfortunately, their metabolic speed leaves
them with a relatively short lifespan; salarians over the age of 40
are a rarity.
Salarians are
known for their observational capability and non-linear thinking. This manifests as
an aptitude for research and espionage. They are constantly experimenting and
inventing, and it is generally accepted that they always
know more than they are letting
on.
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SPECIAL TASKS GROUP
Special Tasks
Groups (STG) are salarian espionage units, usually deployed by the
Citadel Council. STG operators work in independent cells, performing
dangerous missions such as counterterrorism, infiltration,
reconnaissance, assassination, and sabotage. They are currently very
active in the Terminus Systems.
The STG form a large part of the
salarian military due to their heavy focus on gathering intelligence
before making a move. They are used to monitor 'developing
situations' because they tend to attract less attention than more
prominent figures, such as Spectres. This also allows them to
quietly 'handle' troublesome individuals. STG operators are brutally
practical, devoted to accomplishing their mission regardless of the
cost involved--to others or themselves.
Commander Shepard claims the SSV Normandy's
stealth systems could make the frigate even more effective than the
STG, because the salarians are currently limited by the fact their
ships show up on enemy sensors. Regardless, STG operators are highly
flexible, accustomed to carrying out their missions on shoestring
resources and changing their tactics when
necessary.
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THE THORIAN
The Thorian, also called Species 37, is
an ancient sentient plant at least fifty thousand years old -
its ability to hibernate for thousands of years makes its
real age impossible to guess. The Thorian is
a unique creature with mind-controlling and telepathic abilities, and a massive sensory
network. It releases spores into the air that allow the
Thorian to control those who inhale them, using pain to control
their behaviour. These 'thralls' then tend the Thorian and
obey its will. The Thorian also produces creatures called
Thorian Creepers. The Thorian can even 'absorb' sentient creatures, creating
clones of them which can speak for the Thorian when necessary.
Unfortunately, the effects of the Thorian spores still affect its victims
even after Shepard destroyed it and broke it's hold. The
colonists began having headaches or muscle spasms, similar to what they
experience while under the Thorian's control.
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TURIANS
Known for their militaristic and
disciplined culture, the turians are the most recent of the Citadel
races invited to join the Council. They gained their Council seat
after defeating the hostile krogan for the Council during the
'Krogan Rebellions'. The turians deployed a salarian-created
biological weapon called the genophage, which effectively sterilised
the krogan and sent them into a decline. The turians then filled the
peacekeeping niche left by the once-cooperative krogan, and
eventually gained a Council seat in recognition of their
efforts.
Originally from the planet Palaven, turians are
best known for their military role, particularly their contributions
of soldiers and starships to the Citadel Fleet. They are respected
for their 'public service' ethic—it was the turians who first
proposed creating C-Sec—but are sometimes seen as imperialist or
rigid by other races. There is some animosity between turians and
humans, largely due to the turian role in the First Contact War.
This bitterness is slowly beginning to heal—as shown by the
cooperation of the two races on the construction of the SSV
Normandy—but many turians still hate humans, and vice
versa.
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CAPTAIN KIRRAHE
Captain Kirrahe is an officer in
the salarian military. He is a member of the 3rd Infiltration
Regiment STG (special task group), a covert operations team that was
sent to investigate Virmire, where he discovered Saren's base of
operations. Kirrahe is a brave, intelligent salarian with a good
strategic mind; he is able to inspire his men, and is also prepared
to make sacrifices if necessary. He loves making
speeches.
"We are trained for espionage; we would be legends,
but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way.
Think of our heroes;
the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single
shot.
Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden
facts.
These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they
are not all that we are.
Before the network, there was the fleet.
Before diplomacy, there were soldiers!
Our influence stopped the
rachni, but before that we held the line!
Our influence stopped
the krogan, but before that, we held the line!
Our influence will
stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the
line!"
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EDI
EDI (pronounced 'Eee-Dee'), which
stands for Enhanced Defense Intelligence, is the AI of the Normandy
SR-2.
EDI is a Quantum Blue Box type AI and functions
as the electronic warfare defense for the Normandy. Because of the
potential danger of a rogue AI, she was given behavioral blocks
and couldn't interface with the ship's systems. During the Collector's attack on the Normandy Joker was forced to give
EDI direct control of the ship. She is now free
of the blocks, and since the death of the crew is responsible
for every piloting and technical job other than Joker's. EDI also served as the
Illusive Man's eyes and ears on the Normandy, monitoring the many
listening devices on board and sending regular reports to
him.
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NIHLUS KRYIK
Nihlus was a turian and a skilled
soldier who was elevated to SPECTRE status after the recommendation
of his mentor Saren Arterius. The rank suited him perfectly as he had
never been good at blindly following orders and sticking to the
letter of the law in his pursuit of justice. Nihlus didn't share his
mentor's anti-human views, which was why he recommended Shepard for
the SPECTREs and volunteered to accompany her on missions, to assess
her candidacy.
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BENEZIA "Your insolence is a poor mask for your
fear."
Matriarch Benezia was a very powerful asari biotic and
spiritual leader among her people. She was also Liara T'Soni's
mother, though the two had not spoken in years. When the evidence
that proved Saren Arterius was responsible for the Eden Prime attack
also proved Benezia was working alongside him, it surprised those
who knew her, as Benezia's actions seemed to be completely out of
character.
Somehow Benezia
discovered Saren's plan to aid the Reapers, and decided to
try and guide him down a less destructive path. Benezia gave her
followers a choice - only those who were willing had to accompany
her. Many refused because they thought her plan was too dangerous,
but others believed in her. With their help Benezia tried
to dissuade Saren from his insanity, but was slowly indoctrinated by
Soverign.
On
Noveria Benezia, who had used her incredible mental strength to keep a part
of her mind free of indoctrination, managed to break from Saren's
control very briefly. She described the horrors of indoctrination,
how it feels to be trapped in your own mind: "beating upon the glass
as your hands torture and murder..." She gave Shepard the
coordinates for the Mu Relay, though she couldn't tell the commander
any more of Saren's plan, and warned of Sovereign's incredible power
before the indoctrination began to overcome her.
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GETH
The geth are a humanoid race of networked
A.I.s. They were created by the quarians 300 years ago as tools of
labor and war. When the geth showed signs of self-evolution, the
quarians attempted to exterminate them. The geth won the resulting
war. This example has led to legal, systematic repression of
artificial intelligences in galactic society.
The geth possess a
unique distributed intelligence. An individual has rudimentary
animal instincts, but as their numbers and proximity increase, the
apparent intelligence of each individual improves. In groups, they
can reason, analyze situations, and use tactics as well as any
organic race.
Geth space is located at the trailing end of the
Perseus Arm, beyond the lawless Terminus Systems. The Perseus Veil,
an obscuring "dark nebula" of opaque gas and dust, lies between
their space and the Terminus Systems.
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SAREN
ARTERIUS “Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard.”
Saren Arterius, born 2139, is the longest serving turian member
of the Spectres, the elite operatives answering directly to the
Citadel Council. For 24 years, he has been an agent of the Council's
will, a zealous defender of galactic stability in the unsettled
border region of the Skyllian Verge.
After stumbling across, and
interacting with Soverign, he learned the fate of the many
civilizations of eons past. Saren made it his goal to save the races
of the galaxy by aiding the Reapers, proving the worth of organics
to the Reapers so that they might be spared. He believed that
servitude was the logical answer, instead of instinctively fighting
to the finish.
However,
the more time Saren spent in service to Sovereign, the more
indoctrinated he became. His free will was quickly sapped and
his values were twisted so gradually that Saren remained certain
he was right. Slowly, Saren became Sovereign's most powerful, and visible,
agent. Saren acted as Sovereign's agent on the forefront, never revealing
the true enemy. The geth were sought out from behind the
Perseus Veil to serve Sovereign, looking upon the massive ship as
their new machine-god and Saren as their 'prophet'. Shepard hunted Saren
across the galaxy as he searched for the means of bringing
the Reapers back, and ruthlessly tore aside anyone in his
way. Their final confrontation took place during the battle of the citadel,
where Commander Shepard defeated him along with Urdnot Wrex and Kaiden
Alenko.
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SOVEREIGN
“We are legion. The time of our
return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every
world.”
Sovereign, also known as Nazara, was the flagship of
the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius. An enormous dreadnought larger than
any other ship in any known fleet, Sovereign was
crewed with both geth and krogan.
The prevailing opinion is that
Sovereign was a geth construct, while others believe it was a
Prothean relic. The attack on Eden Prime demonstrated Sovereign's
ability to generate mass effect fields powerful enough to land on a
planetary surface. This implies it had a massive element zero core,
and the ability to generate staggering amounts of power.
It is revealed, however,
that Sovereign
was a Reaper sent on a scouting mission to discover why the
Reaper's usual meathod of travel into the galaxy failed. After
melenia of study, Soverign figured out that the Prothean's had
blocked the Reaper's signal, and that the key to un-blocking it lay
in a Prothean message sent through beacons all over the galaxy. In
aid of it's quest Soverign recruited Saren, to act as it's eyes,
ears and arms within the glalxy without giving itself away and
uniting the galaxy against it before it was ready.
Commander
Shepard, however, defeated it before it had the chance to undo the
Prothean's work, buying the galaxy invaluable time to prepare for
the return of the Reaper horde, which is not stopped by her actions,
only delayed.
“We impose order on the chaos of organic
evolution. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because
we demand it.”
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INDOCTRINATION
'Indoctrination' is the
term used for the brainwashing effect the Reaper Sovereign has on
organic beings. A signal or an energy field surrounds Sovereign,
which influences people's minds. It was first reported to Commander
Shepard by farmers on Eden Prime, who claimed there was a horrible
noise coming from Sovereign as it descended. Matriarch Benezia said
that even Sovereign's interior serves indoctrination: the strange
angles of the rooms are confusing and make you uncertain of
yourself. Through research on the effects of indoctrination Saren
was able to conclude that the longer someone has been indoctrinated,
the less physically and mentally capable they become until they
wither away to mindless husks.
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THE ALLIANCE
The Systems Alliance is the
representative body of Earth and all human colonies in Citadel
space. Backed by Earth's most powerful nations, the Alliance has
become humanity's military, exploratory and economic spearhead.
The Alliance uses a modified version of the
ranking system that has been used for hundreds of years. Soldiers
are classified into rank-and-file enlisted personal, experienced
non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and specially trained officers.
Enlisted ranks are (in ascending order): Serviceman 3rd
Class/Private 2nd Class; Serviceman 2nd Class/Private 1st Class; and Serviceman 1st Class/Corporal. NCO ranks are (in ascending order):
Service Chief; Gunnery Chief; and Operations Chief. Officer ranks are (in
ascending order): 2nd Lieutenant; 1st Lieutenant; Staff Lieutenant;
Lieutenant Commander; Staff Commander; Captain/Major; Rear Admiral/General; Admiral; and Fleet
Admiral.
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SSV NORMANDY SR1
The Normandy is a prototype
starship, developed by the human Systems Alliance with the
assistance of the Citadel Council. It is optimised for scouting and
reconnaissance missions in unstable regions, using state-of-the-art
stealth technology.
For most ships, the heat generated through
standard operations is easily detectable against the absolute-zero
background of space. The Normandy, however, is able to temporarily
sink this heat within the hull. Combined with refrigeration of the
exterior hull, the ship can travel undetected for hours, or drift
passively for days of covert observation. This is not without risk.
The stored heat must eventually be radiated, or it will build to
levels capable of cooking the crew alive.
Another component of
the stealth system is the Normandy's revolutionary Tantalus drive, a
mass effect core twice the standard size. The Tantalus drive
generates mass concentrations that the Normandy "falls into",
allowing it to move without the use of heat-emitting
thrusters.
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C-SEC
Citadel Security Services (C-Sec) handles
law enforcement on the Citadel. It is a volunteer police service
answering to the Citadel Council, and is headed by an Executor who
often liases between C-Sec and the Council.
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CERBERUS
Cerberus is the codename for a black
ops organization that was formerly part of the Alliance military,
but which has now gone rogue. They have also been described as a
pro-humanity terrorist or paramilitary group, due to their
activities.
Their core belief is that humans deserve a greater role in
the galactic community, and that the Alliance is too hamstrung by law and
public opinion to stand up effectively to the Citadel races. Any
methods of advancing humanity's ascension are justified, including illegal or dangerous experimentation,
terrorist activities, sabotage and assassination. Cerberus operatives accept that these methods
are brutal, but believe history will vindicate
them.
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LAZARUS PROJECT
The Lazarus Project
was a Cerberus project, the sole purpose of which was to bring
Commander Shepard back from the dead.
After Commander
Shepard was killed in a Collector attack that resulted in the destruction of
the SSV Normandy SR1, Cerberus was able to recover Shepard's corpse
with the help of Liara T'Soni. The Illusive Man created and funded
the Lazarus Project in the belief that only Shepard could stop
the Reaper threat to humanity, as the council chose
to deny the threat. The exorbitant project took 2 years, and
at least 4 billion credits. Undertaken by the Lazarus Cell which was
headed by Miranda Lawson and her assistant Wilson, it involved attaching
cybernetic implants to reconstruct the Commander's skeleton, reconstruction of the skin, and fluids
to restart the blood flow and internal organs. However, the one
thing that the Illusive Man refused to do was implant a control
chip in the Commander's brain, fearing that it may affect Shepard's
personality and abilities, which he wanted in
tact.
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THE
ILLUSIVE MAN “Salvation comes with a cost. Judge us not by our
methods, but what we seek to accomplish.”
The Illusive Man
is the elusive, secretive, and well informed leader of Cerberus. The
Illusive Man's real name and his life before Cerberus are both long
forgotten. For years, the Illusive Man has been using Cerberus and
his immense network of contacts to achieve his goal - that of making
humanity ascendant above all other races. He will do almost anything
to advance his cause, and cannot be trusted on any level. Shepard
most definitely was not able to relax while working temporarily with
him, and surrounded herself with people she
trusted.
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THE
COUNCIL
The Council is an executive committee composed of representatives
from the Asari Republics, the Turian Hierarchy, and the
Salarian Union. Though they have no official power over the independent
governments of other species, the Council's decisions carry
great weight throughout the galaxy. No single Council race is strong
enough to defy the other two, and they have a vested interest in
compromise and cooperation.
Each of the council species has
general characteristics associated with the various aspects of
governing the galaxy. The asari are typically seen as diplomats and
mediators. The salarians gather intelligence and information. The
turians provide the bulk of the military and peacekeeping
forces.
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, through they have no input on the decision. The human
Systems Alliance became an associate member of the Citadel in
2165.
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SPECTRES
Spectres are agents from the Office of Special
Tactics and Reconnaissance branch and answer only to the Citadel
Council. They are elite military operatives, granted the authority
to deal with threats to peace and stability in whatever way they
deem necessary.
They operate independently or in groups of two or
three. Some are empathetic peacekeepers, resolving disputes through
diplomacy. Others are cold-blooded assassins, ruthlessly dispatching
problem individuals. All get the job done, one way or another, often
operating outside of the bounds of galactic law.
The Spectres
were founded after the salarians joined the Council. For many years,
they operated in secrecy, as back-room "problem solvers". Only after
the Krogan Rebellions did their activities become publicized.
Assignment of a Spectre is less contentious than military
deployment, but makes it clear that the Council is concerned about a
situation.
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THE
SKYLLIAN BLITZ
In the early 2160s, humans began to colonize the
Skyllian Verge, a region the batarians were already actively
settling. The batarians asked the Citadel Council to intervene and
declare the Verge an area of "batarian interest". When the Council
refused, the batarians closed their Citadel embassy and severed
diplomatic and economic relations, becoming an inward-looking rogue
state.
Money and weapons funneled from the batarian government to
criminal organizations led to many brutal raids on human colonies in
the Verge, culminating in the Skyllian Blitz of 2176, an attack on
the human capital of Elysium by batarian-funded pirates and slavers.
In 2178, the Alliance retaliated with a crushing assault on the moon
of Torfan, long used as a staging base by batarian-backed criminals.
In the aftermath, the batarians retreated into their own systems,
and are now rarely seen in Citadel space.
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THE
CITADEL
The Citadel is an ancient deep-space station, presumably
constructed by the Protheans. Since the Prothean extinction,
numerous species have come to call the Citadel home. It serves as
the political, cultural, and financial capital of the galactic
community. To represent their interests, most species maintain
embassies on the Presidium, the Citadel's inner ring.
The Citadel
Tower, in the center of the Presidium, holds the Citadel Council
chambers. Council affairs often have far-reaching effects on the
rest of the galactic community. Five arms, known as wards, extend
from the Presidium. Their inner surfaces have been built into
cities, populated by millions of inhabitants from across the
galaxy.
The Citadel is virtually indestructible. If attacked, the
station can close its arms to form a solid, impregnable shell. For
as long as the station has existed, an enigmatic race called the
keepers has maintained it.
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MASS RELAYS
Mass relays are feats of engineering advanced far beyond the
technology of any living species. They are enormous structures
scattered throughout the stars, and can create corridors of
virtually mass-free space allowing instantaneous transit between
location separated by years or even centuries of travel using
conventional FTL drives.
Primary mass relays can propel ships
thousands of light years, often from one spiral arm of the galaxy to
another. However, they have fixed one-to-one connections: a primary
relay connects to one other primary relay, and nowhere else.
Secondary relays can only propel ships a few hundred light years,
however they are omnidirectional: a secondary relay can send a ship
to any other relay within its limited range.
There are many
dormant primary relays whose corresponding twins have not yet been
located. These are left inactive until their partner is charted, as
established civilizations are unwilling to blindly open a passage
that might connect them to a hostile species.
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THE
GALACTIC CORE
The galactic core is the centre of the galaxy, an
inhabitable mass of black-holes, stars, and space debri. It was
recently discovered that due to advanced Reaper technology the
Collector's base was a space station situated deep within the
galactic core. Strong kenetic barriers protect the base from
radiation, and debri.
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THE TERMINUS
SYSTEMS
The Terminus Systems are
located on the far side of the Attican Traverse, beyond the space
administered by the Citadel Council or claimed by the human Systems
Alliance. It is populated by a loose affiliation of minor species,
united only in their refusal to acknowledge the political authority
of the Council or adhere to the Citadel Conventions.
Their
independence comes at a price; the Terminus is fraught with
conflict. War among the various species is common, as governments
and dictators constantly rise and fall. The region is a haven for
illegal activities, particularly piracy and the slave trade.
At least once a
year, a fleet from Terminus invades the nearby Attican Traverse.
These attacks are typically small raids against poorly-defended
colonies. The Council rarely retaliates, as sending patrols into the
Terminus Systems could unify the disparate species against their
common foe, triggering a long and costly
war.
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