Editing Mombasa Tether

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Base infobox

|image=[[File:Orbital_Elevator.jpg|300px]]<br/>The orbital elevator's base.

|location=[[Mombasa]], [[Kenya]]

{{Quote|Taking your packages to new heights.|Slogan of [[New Mombasa Uplift]]{{Ref/Reuse|streets}}}}

The '''Mombasa Tether''',{{Ref/Anthology|Evo|Palace Hotel}}{{Ref/Site|URL=http://halo.bungie.net/projects/odst/guide.aspx|Site=Bungie.net|Page=Halo 3 ODST : Field Guide - New Mombasa|D=25|M=05|Y=2013|LocalArchive=Archive:Bungie.net/Halo 3: ODST: Field Guide#Intel}} also known as the '''Mombasa Space Tether'''<ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/new-mombasa ''Halo Waypoint'': New Mombasa]</ref> or the '''New Mombasa Orbital Elevator''',{{Ref/Book|Enc11|Page=296}} was a [[space elevator]] located at the heart of the [[East African Protectorate]] city of [[New Mombasa]] on [[Earth]]. It was used for lifting heavy ordnance from the surrounding port facilities into a station in [[geosynchronous orbit]] at the top of the elevator structure, a transport method much cheaper and more efficient than booster rockets filled with expensive fuel. The company in charge of the management of the space elevator was called [[New Mombasa Uplift]].{{Ref/Level|Id=streets|H3ODST|Mombasa Streets}}

{{Quote|The Mombasa space elevator!"<br>"It collapsed when the city got glassed."<br>"But the tether was thousands of kilometers high..."<br>"Yeah? Well now it's scattered all over the Savannah."<br>"Oh crap...|Two [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] discussing the fate of the space elevator.{{Ref/Reuse|tsavo}}}}

In [[2302]], Mombasa was chosen to be the Earth's first tether city.{{Ref/Book|Id=evg|EVG|Page=129}} As a cheap gateway to space, the elevator is the key to New Mombasa's economic and strategic importance. The presence of the elevator radically changed the structure of the city. The elevator's base resides on an artificial island with service roads and a [[Maglev train]] line radiate out from it.{{Ref/Level|H3ODST|Prepare to Drop}}

During the [[Battle of Mombasa]], the Mombasa Tether was shut down.<ref name="story">''Halo 3: ODST'', [[Sadie's Story]] - Audio log 14, Circle 5, Arc 2</ref> When the [[Prophet of Regret]] retreated, his flagship, ''[[Solemn Penance]]'', initiated [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] transition over the city, right beside the orbital elevator. The resulting shockwave swept through the structure, weakening it considerably.{{Ref/Level|H2|Metropolis}}

Under an hour later on the same day, the damage from the Slipspace rupture was too much for the support structure to handle. It exploded at multiple points, and the tether snapped at some two kilometers above the surface. The upper portion of the tether was instantly pulled upward by its orbital counterweight, now severed from the groundside anchor point. The lower section collapsed, leaving only a small portion of the lower support structure intact, even though heavily damaged. Several pieces of debris crashed around the city and the surrounding area, while more fallout presumably caused considerable damage to buildings near the tether.{{Ref/Level|H3ODST|Uplift Reserve}}

A large portion of the tower's debris was left scattered around Earth's surface, while most of the tether was pulled into space. Debris such as support rings and cables rained down to the surface far as the town of [[Voi]] and its surrounding regions, leaving large areas littered with debris and damaging infrastructure, such as the [[Tsavo highway (location)|Tsavo Highway]].{{Ref/Level|Id=tsavo|H3|Tsavo Highway}}

 

After the end of the [[Human-Covenant War]], in [[2553|March, 2553]], some debris from the elevator still remained in the area near Voi.{{Ref/Level|H3|Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo}} Eventually, the [[East African Protectorate]] would decide to rebuild the tether along with much of Mombasa as part of [[Project Rebirth]], a plan to restore areas damaged in the war.{{Ref/YouTube|Id=IGN|loVzmkTojNo|IGN|Halo Infinite: ‘Streets’ Multiplayer Map Revealed - IGN First}}{{Ref/Site|Id=CFShowcase|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/showcase-sensitive|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Showcase Sensitive|D=25|M=11|Y=2021}} Circa [[2560]], the tether's base had been rebuilt to a height far surpassing any nearby skyscrapers, with a large scaffolding erected to one side seemingly for reinforcement during the building process.{{Ref/Map|Id=Bazaar|HINF|Bazaar}}{{Ref/Map|Id=Streets|HINF|Streets}}

 

The elevator is seen in the background of two Mombasa multiplayer maps; [[Turf]] and [[District]].

File:SpaceElevator.jpg|The Mombasa Tether as seen during the Halo 2 campaign, with the ''[[Solemn Penance]]'' holding position nearby.

File:Mombasa.jpg|[[D77-TC Pelican]]s approaching Mombasa with the tether in the rear.

The elevator did make an appearance in the final game, with the player fighting through its ruins throughout the level [[Tsavo Highway]] and even hearing some dialogue concerning its fate from [[UNSC Marine Corps/Gameplay|Marine allies]].

File:H3 - MOEWreckage.jpg|The wreckage of the Mombasa Tether in Tsavo Highway.

While it was originally thought that the elevator collapsed instantly when the slipspace rupture shook it apart, it was first revealed in the [[Keep It Clean (Trailer)|"Keep it Clean" teaser]] that the elevator did not in fact collapse instantly. In the game, the player is able to witness the actual failure and collapse of the elevator during the level [[Uplift Reserve]], played from the perspective of Corporal [[Taylor H. Miles|Taylor "Dutch" Miles]]. The wreckage of the elevator can be seen throughout the levels of the game, with its debris scattered around the city and the ocean.

 

 

 

In ''[[Halo Infinite]]'', the partially-rebuilt Mombasa Tether can be seen on the multiplayer maps [[Bazaar]] and [[Streets]]. While it is difficult to tell due to the structure's incompleteness, the rebuilt tether seems to be of a similar design to that in ''Halo 3: ODST''.{{Ref/Reuse|Bazaar}}{{Ref/Reuse|Streets}}

 

[[File:H3ODST_Mombasa_Destroyed.jpg|thumb|The space elevator island after the tether's collapse.]]

*When the elevator snaps, the upper half is sucked into space, while the lower half, as well as some debris from the upper half, is scattered across the landscape. Some original concepts show that the tether was supposed to simply fall to the ground in its entirety. This was likely changed for realism, as if a space elevator was to be cut at its anchor point on Earth's surface, the outward force exerted by the counterweight would cause the entire elevator to rise upward into an unstable orbit.<ref name="spaceflight">[http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/space-flight/a-hoist-to-the-heavens ''IEEE Spectrum'': A Hoist to the Heavens]</ref> It is, however apparent, that this was taken into account already in ''Halo 3'', as the main tether itself is not seen among the debris, which mainly includes support rings and cables, indicating that the support structures around the tether fell to the ground as the majority of the tower was pulled upward.

*Several maps of New Mombasa seen during the [[Audio log (Halo 3: ODST)|Audio log]]s in ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' show the Mag-Lev lines from the space elevator's base leading to the Mombasa island. However, as seen in-game as well as several other maps, the train lines lead only to the mainland north of the elevator.{{Ref/Reuse|story}}

*During the level [[Tsavo Highway]] in ''[[Halo 3]]'', when two marines have a brief dialogue about the fate of the elevator, they erroneously refer to it having collapsed when the city was glassed. As seen in ''Halo 3: ODST'', it collapsed well before the glassing of the city, due to its structure weakening from the Slipspace rupture. This may be a mistake on Bungie's part, the marines may have been misinformed of the cause of the destruction, or it may be being used in a colloquial manner to refer to the extensive damage caused by Regret's slipspace jump.

 

===Screenshots===

File:H3_TsavoDebris.jpg|One of the tower's stabilizer rings lays damaged near [[Tsavo highway (location)|Tsavo Highway]].  

File:H3ODST_TetherCollapse.png|After being cut, the elevator's cable is pulled into space, while scattering its stabilizer rings across the landscape.

File:H3ODST - TetherWreckage.jpg|One of the supporting rings for the Tether in [[Mombasa Streets]].

**''[[Palace Hotel]]''

*''[[Halo Mythos]]''

*''[[Halo Infinite]]''

{{Ref/Sources}}