Cairo Station

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Cairo Station, hull classification symbol ODA-142, is an Orbital Defense Platform in geosynchronous orbit about 35,900 kilometers above Earth. Named after the Egyptian city of Cairo, it is in the same battle cluster as Athens and Malta stations and seems to be mainly guarding the area above the Mediterranean. It is commanded by Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood.

History

The Cairo Station was assembled and put into Earth's orbit at some point before 2552. On October 20, 2552, John-117 received the MJOLNIR Mark 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 battlecruisers and two CAS-class assault carriers attacked Earth. They tried to break through the Cairo's battle cluster by sending boarding craft to plant bombs on the stations to destroy them. Fleet Admiral Hood commanded the UNSC forces from the station during the attack. Unlike the Athens and the Malta, Cairo survived the Covenant attempt to detonate an antimatter charge 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 UNSC forces participating in the Battle of Earth.^[1] The Cairo, the other MAC platforms, and three UNSC fleets held firm against the onslaught of the Prophet of Truth's Covenant forces. Cairo ultimately survived the Battle of Earth.

Design

"When I shipped out for Basic, the orbital defense grid was all theory and politics. Now look! The Cairo is just one of three hundred geosync platforms. That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship."

— Sergeant Johnson

Cairo Station's main purpose is as a defensive station for Earth. Its main armament is a Mark V "Super" MAC gun, capable of causing severe damage to even a shielded Covenant capital ship with a single hit.^[2] While there is an apparent lack of point-defense systems, as enemy boarding craft were able to attack the station unhindered, an AI such as Cortana can operate the station's MAC gun. Presumably, like Reach's orbital weapon platforms, it runs on power transmitted from a planetside generator.

Internally, it is very similar to UNSC ships with set out decks and specialized rooms. Like all United Nations Space Command space constructs it featured regular bulkheads for protection against hull breaches but seemed especially adept for fending off boarding parties. It had large stockpiles of combat barriers, large supplies of M247 GPMGs, security booths providing defense points and regular weapons lockers in the walls containing Battle Rifles and SMGs. It is possible that these weapons are a substitute for point defenses. These extra defenses against boarding parties are an obvious precaution, as the ODPs like the Cairo would be large targets for Covenant forces.

Trivia

If the player walks into the loading arm of the MAC gun in the Firing Control Center in the level "Cairo Station", they will be crushed and sometimes fall down into the cutscene hangar, where the Chief jumps out with the Covenant bomb. However, if the player does this too many times, they may be sent back to the previous checkpoint.
Despite being called Cairo Station, the platform is located more towards central Africa than Cairo, much like the misplacement of Athens and Malta. If this was an intentional reference or merely a coincidence is not known.
Athens, Malta and Cairo were all cities involved in the 1985 hijacking of EgyptAir Flight 648, which was en route to Cairo from Athens and forced to land in Malta.
Cairo Station's serial number ODA-142 contains a possible 7 reference (1 + 4 + 2 = 7).