Cairo Station (Platform): Difference between revisions

'''''Cairo Station''''', [[Hull Classification Symbol]] '''ODA-142''', is an [[Orbital Defense Platform]] in [[wikipedia:Geosynchronous orbit|geosynchronous orbit]] about 35,900 kilometers above [[Earth]], over the Egyptian city of [[wikipedia:Cairo|Cairo]], hence the station's name (although if one looks out the Cairo's windows, the station is over southern Africa, instead of northern Africa, where Cairo, Egypt is, though this is possibly due only to perspective). It is in the same battle cluster as ''[[Athens Station]]'' and ''[[Malta Station]]'' so it seems to be mainly guarding the area above the Mediterranean. It is commanded by [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Sir Terrence Hood]].  

The Cairo Station was assembled and put in to orbit at some point before 2552. In [[2552]], [[John-117]] received the [[MJOLNIR Armor|MJOLNIR Mk. VI armor]] in the ''Cairo'' armory prior to attending an awards ceremony on the station's command center. The ceremony was interrupted by the [[Battle of Earth]] when thirteen Covenant [[CCS-class Battlecruiser]] and two [[Assault Carriers]] assaulted [[Earth]]. They tried to break through the ''Cairo'''s battle cluster by sending boarding craft to plant bombs on the stations to destroy them. [[Lord Terrence Hood|Fleet Admiral Hood]] commanded the UNSC forces from the station during the attack. Unlike the ''[[Athens Station|Athens]]'' and ''[[Malta Station|the Malta]]'', ''Cairo'' survived the [[Covenant]] attempt to detonate a [[Covenant Bomb]] on board. In an ironic twist, the bomb was located and used by [[John-117]] to destroy a Covenant assault carrier. When SPARTAN-117 returned later to [[Earth]], ''Cairo'' was still intact, but appeared damaged from the battle. Lord Hood was still on board and in command of the escalating [[Battle of Earth]].<ref>''[[Halo 2]]'', [[The Great Journey (Level)#Fourth_Cinematic|The Great Journey]]</ref> The ''Cairo'', the other MAC platforms, and three [[UNSC]] [[fleets]] held firm against [[Battle of Earth|the onslaught of the Covenant Loyalist forces]]. It was last seen in the end of Halo 2 where Lord Terrence Hood says "You mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?" ''Cairo'' could have survived the Battle of Earth and could have fired on certain areas where the Covenant had a foothold on the planet, assuming the fusion generator powering it had not been destroyed in the battle.  

Cairo Station's main purpose is as a defense station for Earth. Its main armament is a Mark V "Super" [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon|MAC]] gun, capable of causing severe damage to even a shielded [[Covenant]] Capital Ship with a single hit.<ref>''[[Halo 2]]'', [[The Armory (Level)]], cutscene</ref> However, it does not seem to have any kind of point defense [[weapons]], as enemy boarding craft were able to attack the station unhindered. But it could have been originally planned that some of the docked and/or space-borne ships were to defend it from boarding craft. While there is an apparent lack of point-defense systems, an AI such as [[Cortana]] can operate the station's MAC gun. It runs on power transmitted from a [[Orbital Defense Generator|planetside generator]], much like the [[MJOLNIR|Type III prototype exoskeleton's]].