New Mombasa
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Summary
New Mombasa is a major port city and industrial center, located in the East African Protectorate on Earth. It is notable in that it was the only place on the planet the Covenant attacked during the First Battle of Earth[1]; the city was invaded, occupied, and destroyed in the course of the conflict. The focal point of the city is a Space Elevator, located near an artificial canal in the middle of the island-city.
History
Before Halo
Mombasa had always been an important part of the Indian Ocean trading network, so much so that it was captured and recaptured countless times by a variety of aggressors. This violent history led to its Swahili nickname "Kisiwa Cha Mvita", or "Island of War".
After periodic control under the Portuguese, Arabs, and British, the city became a part of the independent nation of Kenya in the 20th century. During this era, Mombasa was mostly known as a tourist destination, boasting numerous resorts and clean white beaches. It was also important as a port city, connecting East Africa to the Indian Ocean.
New Mombasa
Mombasa underwent dramatic change with the arrival of the interstellar era. In response to increasing demand for cheap orbital access, the government began construction on one of the wonders of the age: a space elevator. This structure served to lift heavy cargo into geosynchronous orbit without expensive booster rockets filled with fuel.
The elevator transformed the city; Mombasa was now one of the most important port cities on Earth. There was an immediate influx of trade, people, and jobs; as a result, the landscape of the city was completely reimagined. Within a century, the old apartment buildings and hotels on Mombasa Island had been torn down and replaced with the latest architecture: monolithic arcologies, vast industrial complexes, and gleaming office towers. The demand for expansion of the city's services was so great, in fact, that a large canal was cut through the old downtown sector of Sidiriya, to provide docking space for countless incoming cargo ships. It was during this period of tremendous growth that the city became known as "New Mombasa".
By the 26th century the city was a dynamic, cosmopolitan metropolis, boasting such amenities as a mile-long suspension bridge, a highly efficient maglev rail system, an automatic highway network, and large-scale recreational areas.
Old Mombasa
All this change and progress was largely confined to Mombasa Island. The area across Kilindini Harbor, on the mainland, was a different story.
The mainland districts were stifled, ironically, by their thrist for growth. During the 21st and 22nd centuries, sea levels worldwide began rising due to global warming. Port cities around the planet were faced with a choice: construct flood control measures, or drown. In Mombasa, it was decided that, rather than shore up the old docks on Mombasa Island, it would be easier to build brand new ports on the mainland, southwest of the city. So massive seawalls were built to hold back the rising waters, and new dock structures extended out into Kilindini Harbor.
For a time, these docks brought prosperity to the mainland. Shantytowns were demolished to make way for new office buildings, highways were constructed, and commerce thrived. But by the end of the 23rd century, global warming began to reverse as new technologies emerged and millions of people departed Earth for colonies in the rest of the Solar System. Sea levels began receding as temperatures dropped worldwide. In time, the port facilities on the mainland were left literally high and dry.
Unfortunately, interstellar travel was discovered just as the mainland's ports became useless. As a result, the space elevator and its attendent port system was constructed on Mombasa Island instead. Consequently, the island-city transformed into the hi-tech metropolis of New Mombasa, while the mainland area languished, closed off behind its useless seawall.
By 2552, Old Mombasa, as the mainland came to be called, had remained much the same. Its architecture is an odd hodgepodge of old and new: 16th-century Muslim arcades, aging 21st-century office buildings, looming 26th-century power couplings. Old concrete homes secured with computerized locks. Clotheslines strung next to power lines. Mechanical gates set into ancient brick walls. The culture also seems displaced; while New Mombasa is populated with industrial workers and ambitious cosmopolitans, Old Mombasa is considered to be more of a slum.[2]
In the Campaign
On October 20th, 2552, a small cluster of Covenant warships exited Slipspace just off of Earth's defensive network. During the ensuing battle, at least two ships breached the orbital fortifications and made their way to the surface. One of these ships, which carried the Covenant Hierarch known as the High Prophet of Regret, took position over New Mombasa, deploying troops and vehicles which began occupying the city. Presumably, the city's civilian population had either evacuated, or had taken shelter in various predetermined safe zones.
The Master Chief soon arrived in Old Mombasa to help the UNSC forces liberate the city from the Covenant. After fighting through the narrow, maze-like streets of the mainland, the Master Chief crossed the empty beach below the seawall and then entered the highway system, which eventually led to the bridge to New Mombasa. After a series of quick battles in a public park (the Amphitheater) and the city streets, the Chief boarded a Covenant Scarab as it passed through the city's artificial canals. Once he destroyed the Scarab, the course of the battle turned and the High Prophet of Regret fled from Earth in his flagship, with the Chief and the In Amber Clad pursuing. The Slipspace rift that the ship opened subsequently destroyed most of the city.
See also: Outskirts, Metropolis
In Multiplayer
Four of the game's multiplayer maps are set in the area:
Headlong, a construction site in New Mombasa;
Turf, which is set in the narrow warrens of Old Mombasa;
Terminal, which takes place near a maglev station in New Mombasa.
Zanzibar's Wind Power Station 07 (AKA Camp Froman) is located several miles south of the area.
Halo 3 Trailer
Bungie has confirmed that the Halo 3 trailer takes place just outside the ruins of New Mombasa; the massive Forerunner artifact (generally thought to be the Ark) is located here as well. The large rings seen in the background in the opening moments has been confirmed to be the detritus of the space elevator.
Miscellaneous
The New Mombasa area holds some interesting tidbits and easter eggs for observant players.
Swahili announcements
In Old Mombasa, periodic announcements can be heard being broadcast over a public address system. These bulletins are in fact in Swahili. A complete record of them (with sound files and translations) can be found here.
Various phrases
Sector 0-5: Liberty Street: the name of the Old Mombasa neighborhood that Outskirts takes place in. Seen in various places throughout the level.
Tterrab Industries: the name of a corporation located in downtown New Mombasa. "Tterrab" backwards spells "Barrett", which references Bungie level designer Chris Barrett.
Mtangulizi Kampuni: seen on a welcome mat at the entrance to the building that leads to the canals. Swahili for "Forerunner Company".[3]
Sources
- ^ Lord Hood: "This is the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land. That Prophet is going to tell us why." --Outskirts
- ^ Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa, Halo Graphic Novel
- ^ The Internet Living Swahili Dictionary
