Wards

The Wards were the five great arms of the Citadel, the station's residential centers. Each was essentially a self-contained city, home to millions, with a population density to rival the dense cities of old Earth. Their skyscrapers were sealed against the vacuum, the keepers periodically rearranged them, and in times of need the Wards could be closed to fold the Citadel into an impenetrable cylinder. Commander Shepard walked their markets and back alleys across several visits to the station.

The five arms#

The five arms of the Citadel were known as the Wards, the residential centers of the station, each essentially a self-contained city home to millions and as densely settled as the Earth cities of Singapore or Hong Kong. Because the atmosphere was maintained only to a certain height, the skyscrapers of the Wards were sealed against the vacuum above. The inhabitants generally rebuilt and arranged their buildings to suit themselves, but the keepers were known to descend on areas of the Wards and rearrange them without explanation. In times of need the Wards could be closed, turning the Citadel into an impenetrable cylinder that protected the people sheltering within. The arms have been compared to an O'Neill cylinder, a proposed form of space habitat.

The named wards#

Several of the Wards were known by name. Zakera Ward was a busy district and the part of the station most directly visited by Commander Shepard in 2185. Kithoi Ward held the Council Central Archives along with the Taralos Amphitheater, Edroki Plaza, the Larathos Institution, and Kithoi Point. Tayseri Ward was home to the Dilinaga Concert Hall and suffered massive damage when Sovereign was destroyed during the Battle of the Citadel; even two years later some areas remained without power, with repairs expected to take years. Bachjret Ward was a residential district recorded as the one-time home of certain notable figures. The station's fifth ward was given two conflicting names: it was called Shalta Ward by the medical researcher Karin Chakwas, while a C-Sec announcement during a later attack referred to it as Aroch Ward, listing it alongside Zakera, Tayseri, Bachjret, and Kithoi as a district gripped by unrest.

Markets and districts#

The Wards held a mix of districts of varying character. The upper levels offered spectacular views of the surrounding space, with windows looking out on the Serpent Nebula and, on occasion, the passing asari dreadnought Destiny Ascension. The Markets ran across two levels, the upper stalls reputable and the lower ones of far less savory repute, where non-standard armor, upgrades, and general supplies could be had. Lower still lay the Lower Wards, whose most notorious fixture was Chora's Den, a club run by a crime boss named Fist. The Wards also housed a Sensory Gallery where visitors could experience the senses of other species, smelling as an elcor would or feeling rain as a turian does. The Citadel Security Services maintained its academy in the Lower Wards, since most of the force was assigned to the residential arms; the academy held a traffic control station, a requisitions office, and access to private docking. A later commercial and recreation district, the Silversun Strip, offered the Armax Arsenal Arena combat simulator, luxury towers, an arcade, and a casino.

The Citadel Archives#

Beneath the Wards lay the Citadel Archives, a vast complex restricted to staff, Council officials, and Spectres. It housed an enormous collection of physical artifacts and recordings of historical or cultural importance, along with official identification records and other data used by the Council bureaucracy. Physical items were stored in large iridium vaults sealed by mass effect fields, which could be moved throughout the complex for easy access, with whole sections of the Archives consisting of nothing but stacked vaults. Visual and audio recordings could be viewed in dedicated holographic chambers, filtered according to the viewer's security clearance, and highly confidential records such as Spectre biometrics could be updated there. In an emergency, the Archives could be placed into lockdown.