Talk:Stonetown

Space tether

For those of you that have access to the MCC, could you take a look at the background scenery with the space elevator and whether there's a city in there (specifically if it looks like New Mombasa) or if the tether's there all by itself. This is pretty big as the lack of New Mombasa would establish the presence of another space elevator nearby, while having Mombasa be that close to Zanzibar would be an obvious geography fail. --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 02:08, 18 November 2014 (EST)

That space tether didn't look exactly finished from the few looks I've had at it. It's base structures resemble the port facilities that New Mombasa Uplift had in 2552 and the tether itself looks to be the same design as in ODST. I'm thinking that Stonetown is set sometime in the first half of the 24th century as the Uplift was still under construction and the major urban development to come was just underway. If you refer to the map descriptions, Last Resort obviously takes place following 2525 with the use of "Spartan," so Stonetown is set prior to that as it has noted to be long abandoned. The map description for Zanzibar notes it as being upgraded or in use in the latter half of the 2400's. It's likely that what we see in Stonetown is the most purest form of Wind Power Station 7 as it was originally designed. Those who recommissioned it for EAP nationalization and later for Spartan training would have removed the graffiti and refitted it for their own uses. Zanzibar's unrealistic proximity to the New Mombasa coastline could be due simply to artistic liberties. Helianthus — All right. Shoot!

That is solid theorizing, though what immediately sprang to my mind about a tether under construction was that the map could be set post-war with them building a new elevator to replace Mombasa Tether. As for why the power station is now abandoned, it could've become obsolete as a Spartan training facility after holographic sims like that on Infinity became more commonplace. Wonder if there are any other hints at the timeframe on the map or a more clear view of the surroundings of the tether (ie. do we see a more traditional style Mombasa). --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 03:07, 18 November 2014 (EST)

I'm not sure it's feasible to replace the Mombasa tether - with a giant Forerunner artefact, probably highly classified and with restricted access, and the resulting sensitivity to Covenant attack, I imagine the UNSC would discourage the kind of traffic a tether would service. Not to mention, with a large part of East Africa glassed by 'Vadum, there shouldn't be anywhere nearby to service. Unless it's a dedicated military tether? It could concievably be set post-Metropolis, pre-ODST, after the tether was damaged by Regret's slipspace jump. Otherwise, I'd go with an early phase of construction. -- Qura 'Morhek ^{The Autocrat of Morheka} 04:36, 18 November 2014 (EST)

Most interstellar transports in the Halo universe seem to rely entirely on high-capacity space elevators to get goods to and from orbit (as per Contact Harvest), so losing even one tether would probably be a heavy blow to a planet's economy, especially with the war probably creating a massive shortage of orbit-capable ships. Despite the risks it seems like space tethers be one of the first things humanity would seek to replace, particularly given their newfound confidence in their own security with the Infinity patrolling the skies and all. We know Earth was far from self-sufficient before it was bombarded and flooded with refugees (hence the need for ag-worlds, etc), so the amount of cargo that has to be coming in from off-world every day must be massive. As for a large portion of Africa getting glassed, we don't quite know how much of it truly was (aside from Hood's baseless hyperbole). Zanzibar is quite far from Voi and its immediate area could conceivably have survived. --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 11:54, 18 November 2014 (EST)

Pelicans can be seen flying supplies to the top of the tether on a regular basis, suggesting construction. Besides, there's no evidence of battle or its aftermath. Given the distance between Zanzibar and Mombasa, it's safe to say the city in question is not Mombasa.

I agree that it makes little sense to rebuild Mombasa given its proximity to the Excession, not to mention the Flood incursion. However, we know someone made plans to do it. I like to think the UEG and/or UNSC shut the project down before it could get underway. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 11:35, 18 November 2014 (EST)

Based on this map, the city in question could possibly be Dar es-Salaam, which is geographically much closer to Zanzibar than Mombasa is.--Spartacus ^{Talk • Contribs} 14:24, 18 November 2014 (EST)

The construction of a new orbital elevator would almost be a necessity if the UEG wanted to rebuild this devastated part of Africa. It doesn't mean ONI can't keep the Portal's area and its immediate surrounding as a restricted area. But there's no reason for them to shut down the whole country / neighbouring countries. That's just my view of the events. The UEG could rebuild an elevator in Tanzania and Mombasa could be rebuilt, just a few kilometers away from the Portal.Imrane-117 (talk) 14:46, 18 November 2014 (EST)

I agree with part of your statement, particularly regarding need to get things back to normal economically, except that it doesn't make much sense to me to build the new city where the old one used to be. The aforementioned access issues to the Portal Generator still stand, given ONIs profound security paranoia, not to mention the sheer expense of building a new city when I'm sure there are thousands of others across Earth that need rebuilding in the wake of the war. It would make more sense to make a memorial site to the dead, while nominating another city to be the host for the new tether, probably the next-largest port city or another island. -- Qura 'Morhek ^{The Autocrat of Morheka} 05:33, 19 November 2014 (EST)

If Stonetown adheres to real-world geography at all, the city and the space elevator we see are 200+ kilometers away from Mombasa. Looking at modern-day maps the city in Stonetown could either be Dar es Salaam or any number of smaller towns along the coastline, so they wouldn't have to build a new city from scratch. And the Tanzanian coast facing Zanzibar is far enough from Voi to have feasibly survived the glassing, and far enough to leave a sizable security zone around the Voi Excession. --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 08:15, 19 November 2014 (EST)