We dock at a flying city, the Citadel. It’s the hub of galactic civilization, the home of the Council. (The Galaxy Council? The Universe Council? Three races represent the three Council seats and humans aren’t one of them.)
We’re here to complain about Saren and ask that the Council revoke his Spectre status. Instead, Saren deflects any blame and makes us look like whiny babies. We’ll need more proof to convince the Council.
Mostly we’re here to introduce ourselves to the world-building. All the races have ambassadors here, so we meet Elcor (the elephantine creatures who tell you their feelings aloud with no passion), the Volus (small, round creatures who breathe through a mask apparatus and work back-end finance deals), the Hanar (pink jelly tentacle creatures who speak in the third person), and, of course, the powerful Asari (blue-skinned women who live a long time), and the lizard-like and super-brainy Salarians. Turian, Asari, and Salarian are the Council members.
We have the opportunity to load up on side missions that basically deliver flavor and immersion. It works, but the fighting is at a minimum, which can get boring.