The Citadel

Origins and Purpose

The Citadel is the main stronghold of the Citadel Council and the most stable district in New Vance City. It grew out of pre-Collapse corporate towers in the area now called the Glass Ring. When the Collapse hit in 2069, those towers already had hardened cores, backup power, and private security. While much of the city fell into chaos, these structures stayed upright and sealed. Former executives, senior engineers, and security chiefs used them as a base to survive the first months.

When the Accord formed, the Citadel Council took charge of rationing, records, and surveillance. Solar Guardians focused on power. Hydro Hegemony secured water. The Perimeter Watch held the walls. The Council’s role was to make sure food, power, and shelter were tracked and assigned. To do this, they fortified the Glass Ring towers, linked them with armored corridors, and installed a dense network of drones and sensors. Over time this cluster of towers, domes, and enclosed plazas became known simply as “the Citadel.”

The Citadel’s public purpose is clear. It is meant to preserve a working model of pre-Collapse life. Elevators work. Lights rarely go out. People have assigned homes and jobs. Children attend schools. Clinics have refrigeration and trained staff. The Council presents this as proof that order and planning can still hold back the wasteland. In exchange for this stability, residents accept strict oversight and limited personal freedom.

To most citizens outside, the Citadel is a symbol of both hope and resentment. It shows that the city can still maintain clean streets and safe housing. It also shows how uneven that safety is. Many believe the Citadel exists to protect the Council first and everyone else second.

Physical Layout and Infrastructure

The Citadel stands on a cluster of reinforced skyscrapers linked by sealed bridges, transit tubes, and structural braces. At street level, the bases of these towers are sealed behind armored gates, blast doors, and security checkpoints. Outer walls and controlled access zones create a clear perimeter. Inside that perimeter, surface streets are limited. Most movement happens through enclosed walkways, transit pods, and monitored elevator banks.

Above, several towers are capped with domes that simulate a controlled sky. These domes filter light, control weather effects, and maintain stable air quality. Within these domes sit rooftop gardens, recreation decks, and open plazas. The Council uses them for public events, speeches, and ceremonies. The message is simple: inside the Citadel, life can still feel orderly and predictable.

Neon walkways run between towers, lighting the main pedestrian routes. Holographic banners project regulations, public reminders, and motivational slogans. Many of these slogans echo old corporate and pre-Collapse government messaging such as ORDER, UNITY, and HOPE. Surveillance drones move along preset paths above these routes. Fixed cameras and sensor nodes cover blind spots.

Inside each tower, floors are divided into clear zones. Residential tiers hold compact apartments with shared facilities. Administrative levels host data centers, monitoring stations, and Council offices. Industrial decks house water treatment modules, food processing units, fabrication lines, and storage. Dedicated security levels link directly to drone bays, armories, and rapid response shafts.

Infrastructure is layered and redundant. Power comes from a mix of Solar Guardian lines, localized storage, and internal generators. Water runs through Hydro Hegemony-approved lines and internal recycling loops. Network nodes are physically separated from external grids and heavily guarded. The Citadel can, in theory, disconnect from the rest of New Vance and still function for a time. This redundancy is one reason it remains the most stable district.

Systems of Control and Daily Life

Life inside the Citadel is built around monitoring and ranking. Every resident carries an identity tied to retinal scans, voiceprint, and biometric data. Checkpoints at gates, transit points, and building entries scan these markers. Movement logs feed into central systems. The Council tracks where people go, who they meet in official spaces, and how often they cross certain thresholds.

Resources are tied to a social score. This score reflects work performance, recorded behavior, and compliance with rules. Food, water, and energy rations are linked to this profile. Ration machines unlock only after a scan and confirm the current allowance. Better scores give access to more varied food, extra water, and higher-quality housing tiers. Lower scores can result in reduced rations, forced relocation to denser housing blocks, or reassignment to unpopular work details.

Communication inside the Citadel is also tracked. Public forums, message channels, and official social networks are monitored. Direct criticism of the Council, organizing efforts outside sanctioned channels, or repeated contact with flagged individuals can lower a resident’s score. Most citizens learn to speak carefully and keep sensitive topics to private spaces, if they dare discuss them at all.

Daily life, on the surface, looks calm. Elevators work on schedule. Work shifts follow clear blocks. Schools teach basic skills, technical knowledge, and civic doctrine that praises the Accord and the Council’s role. Public announcements remind residents of safety rules and report summary statistics. Music and ambient soundtracks play in plazas and transit hubs to keep a steady mood.

Health care within the Citadel is better than anywhere else in New Vance. Clinics have stable power and sterilized tools. Vaccines and basic drugs are more common. Z-Virus screening is frequent and mandatory. Those who show signs of infection are isolated fast. Officially, they are treated and either cleared or moved to specialized long-term care. Unofficially, rumors suggest that many disappear into sealed quarantine levels and are never seen again.

For most residents, the trade feels clear. They accept constant observation, limited speech, and strict rules in exchange for safety, regular supplies, and predictable routines. Some are grateful. Some are resigned. Some resist in quiet ways, manipulating their scores, spoofing data, or maintaining hidden connections to the world outside.

Council, Administration, and Security Forces

The Citadel Council is run by a rotating group of Directors. Most were high-level managers, analysts, or security heads before the Collapse. They think in terms of projects, risk reports, and performance metrics. They see New Vance City as a fragile system that must be managed like a complex operation. Their main goal is stability, measured in survival rates, production output, and incident counts.

The Council divides its work into departments. A Ration Bureau oversees food, water, and housing assignments. A Metrics Directorate handles social scores, data analysis, and predictive policing models. A Public Harmony Office manages messaging, education, and citizen feedback. A Security Commission commands drone fleets, human enforcement teams, and network defense.

Security inside the Citadel has two faces. The visible face is the network of drones, uniformed officers, and guard posts that residents see every day. Drones patrol the air and monitor crowds. Officers man checkpoints, handle arrests, and respond to visible threats. Their presence is constant but usually restrained, as long as people follow rules.

The hidden face is digital and procedural. The Metrics Directorate flags unusual patterns in movement, communication, and spending. The Council can quietly downgrade scores, block access, or reorder assignments without public trials. Suspected dissidents may find their network access limited, their housing moved, or their relatives questioned. In serious cases, security teams perform “protective extractions,” bringing people to interrogation or reeducation centers.

The Council maintains formal ties with other factions. They rely on Solar Guardians for large-scale power and on Hydro Hegemony for major water lines. They fund and direct parts of the Perimeter Watch. At the same time, they guard their own core systems and refuse outside inspection of key facilities. Many Directors see the other factions as necessary partners but also as potential threats.

External Relations

To outsiders, the Citadel is the safest part of New Vance City and also the most controlled. People from the slums, Rust Belt, or outlying zones see its domes and towers as distant symbols of privilege. They know the Citadel has working clinics, reliable power, and stocked stores. They also know that entry is restricted and that most visitors from low-status zones are watched closely, if they are allowed in at all.

The Citadel Council works hard to manage this balance. They operate outreach clinics in nearby districts, sponsor limited relief projects, and invite selected outsiders to controlled forums. These actions keep public anger from boiling over and help recruit skilled workers. At the same time, border security remains strict. Unauthorized crossings can lead to arrest, forced labor assignments, or permanent exclusion from all Council services.

Criminal networks and factions such as the Shadow Syndicate maintain covert routes into and out of the Citadel. These routes may use service tunnels, maintenance shafts, or forged credentials. Smugglers move restricted medicine, contraband tech, and sensitive data through these lines. The Council knows such leaks exist and invests heavily in detection, but cannot seal every gap without crippling daily operations.