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Mombasa

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 There is more information available on this subject at Mombasa on the English Wikipedia.
Mombasa
Nmomb general 03.png
Overview

Location:

Kenya, East African Protectorate, Earth

Notable structure(s):

 

Mombasa[1] is a city in the Kenyan portion of the East African Protectorate on Earth. The heart of the city was the prosperous New Mombasa on Mombasa Island. The nearby mainland was the site of Old Mombasa, a comparatively run-down district.[2]

Mombasa was the site of Earth's first Space elevator[2] and centuries later, was a battlefield in the climactic year of the Human-Covenant War.[3][4]

History

Interstellar Era

 
The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator.

Mombasa underwent dramatic change with the arrival of the interstellar era. In response to increasing demand for cheap orbital access, due to its economic stability and prominent location, Mombasa was chosen to be Earth's first Space Elevator city.[5] The government began construction on one of the wonders of the age: a space elevator (Mombasa's proximity to the equator made it an ideal location) in 2302.[2] This structure served to lift heavy cargo into geosynchronous orbit without expensive booster rockets filled with fuel.

Over the next eleven years the city experienced explosive growth, but nothing compared to what followed. The city grew out as well as up, its urban sprawl unequaled throughout the continent.[2]

Mombasa would change dramatically within the centuries that followed. By 2430, New Mombasa had absorbed the entire island and many of the surrounding towns, which became overrun by residents of Mombasa. The switch of name was never official, and though many of the neighborhoods within direct line of sight to the Mombasa Tether still distributed newspapers and Chatter directories under their previous names, all municipalities within a 74 km radius of the island became referred to as "Old Mombasa."[2]

On December 19, 2512, the Superintendent was activated to manage the city's infrastructure.[6]

Covenant Invasion

 
Some of the affects the Covenant had on the Mombasa area.
Main article: Battle of Mombasa

On October 20, 2552, a small group of Covenant capital ships arrived at Earth. Uninformed of the Human presence on Earth, Regret was outnumbered and outgunned against the UNSC Home Fleet. During the orbital battle, the Prophet of Regret's Flagship broke through Earth's defenses and descended to the atmosphere, and anchored itself above New Mombasa.[3] The Covenant started deploying their ground forces to the city, in search of a Forerunner relic, the Ark Portal, buried under the city.[7]

However, due to a strong UNSC counterattack and the inferior numbers of the Covenant, Regret ordered all of his forces to be evacuated back aboard the Carrier. After this, the ship jumped into slipspace just above the city, releasing a shock wave and pulling multiple city blocks from the mainland with it.[4] This event became known as the "New Mombasa Slipspace Event."[8] In the hours after Regret's retreat, a larger Covenant fleet arrived at Earth. After sending in ground forces and crushing the remaining UNSC resistance in the city, they glassed the area in order to uncover the Portal.[9] In the final days of the Battle in Africa, only smoldering ruins of Mombasa remained.[10]

Post-war

Following the end of the war, the Unified Earth Government began Project Rebirth to rehabilitate war torn areas on Earth.[11] At some point, the Project started work in Mombasa. The old city hall thoroughfare for Mombasa was to be transformed into the UNSC Memorial Park.[12]

Geography

Mombasa Island, where the metropolis of New Mombasa lies, is separated from the mainland by two creeks: Tudor Creek to the north and Kilindini Harbour to the south. Northwest of the island and between the inlets, there used to be a large peninsula, connected to the Mombasa island by the Makupa Causeway.[note 1]

Old Mombasa

 
The skyline of Old Mombasa.
Main article: Old Mombasa

Much of the mainland was known as Old Mombasa. This includes parts of Likoni, south and southwest of Kilindini Harbour.[3][13]

The moniker of Old Mombasa was applied to all municipalities in a 74 km radius of Mombasa,[2] which would include some towns in the 21st-century era Kwale County and Kilifi County.

Locations

Major Locations
Sectors

New Mombasa

 
The skyline of New Mombasa in 2552.
Main article: New Mombasa

New Mombasa encompasses the entirety of Mombasa Island,[2] as well as some mainland territories.[13]

The City Center spans much of the Southeast portion of the island, being divided in multiple walled sectors.[note 2]

While the majority of New Mombasa has been divided to numbered sectors, some districts such as Mbaraki, Kizingo or Kikowani still retain their original names. The original names are often seen in the names of streets or train stations, for example. Some of the districts' names have changed, albeit slightly; areas originally referred to as Tangana and Liwatoni are now referred to as Tanaga and Liwitoni, respectively. The locations of some districts have changed as well. This is the case with most of the districts on the southern side of the island, where the sea has claimed large areas of land.[9]

On the outskirts of New Mombasa existed an industrial wasteland where a UNSC munitions testing complex existed.[14]

Locations

Government

 
The Superintendent's most seen avatar.

Leadership and management

New Mombasa has a mayor.[12] The Superintendent, a second generation "dumb-AI,"[6] managed many of the municipal functions in New Mombasa[15] and in Old Mombasa.[16]

Departments

Numerous departments existed in Mombasa including; the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Recreation, the Department of Streets and Sanitation, and the Department of Utilities and Transportation.[17] The city also maintained a public works department.[18]

Organizations

The transit of Mombasa is run by the New Mombasa Transit Authority. They are known to operate the extensive Maglev train network within the city.[15][19]

The New Mombasa Police Department is the police force of the city. They have stations in Old Mombasa[16] and their headquarters is located in New Mombasa.[20]

The waste management of the city is handled by the New Mombasa Waste Management. They operate all sorts of garbage cans throughout New Mombasa and Old Mombasa. They also operate the Olifant.[9]

The parks and greenspace of Mombasa are handled by the New Mombasa Parks and Recreation. They managed the Uplift Nature Reserve,[9] and most likely the Kilindini Park Cultural Center.

Mail in New Mombasa was handled by the NMPost.[15]

Economy

The economy of Mombasa is vast, ranging from interstellar/multi-planetary corporations of varying sectors to smaller local Earth businesses.

Corporations in city

Interstellar/Multi-planetary

Local/Earth

Unknown

Culture

 
Some of Mombasa's newspapers.[16]

Media

Multiple media organizations exist within Mombasa. The city has two newspapers, the Daily Bulletin and The Mombasa Times.[16]

Architecture

The architecture of the city is different depending on the location. Old Mombasa's architecture was 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, and mechanical gates set into ancient brick walls.[3][16] In some areas, newer skyscrapers had found their home.[9][21]

 
The variety of architecture in Mombasa.[16]

New Mombasa is composed differently. In some areas there is more use of a commercial focused arcology,[15] while in another, it is more focused on industrial design.[4]

People

The culture also seems displaced between the different parts of the city; while New Mombasa was populated with industrial workers and ambitious cosmopolitans, Old Mombasa was considered to be more of an old rundown slum that deteriorates by the day. The denizens of the old city were largely isolated from the residents of New Mombasa; even their dialect was completely different from the standard language.[7]

Other

Mombasa also had its own circus called the Mombasa Circus. As well, rock concerts were held in the city by bands such as Fluke of the Narwal.[16]

Known residents

Gameplay

Mombasa and surrounding areas appear numerous times in Halo games.

Halo 2

Main article: Halo 2

Mombasa is one of the locations visited in Halo 2's campaign. It is featured in two campaign levels; Outskirts which takes place in Old Mombasa and Metropolis which mostly takes place in the industrial zone of New Mombasa. Several multiplayer maps take place in the Mombasa area as well. Terminal, Ivory Tower, Tombstone, District, and Turf are all in various locations and various points in the city's history.

Halo 3

Main article: Halo 3

Mombasa is not a playable space in Halo 3's campaign. However its ruins can be seen in Tsavo Highway and The Storm across the other side of The Portal. The Mombasa area, specifically the Mombasa Quays, is playable in the map Longshore from the Mythic II Map Pack.

Halo 3: ODST

Main article: Halo 3: ODST
 
The playable area of Mombasa in Mombasa Streets.

Save for the very final cutscene, every level of Halo 3: ODST's campaign and every map in Firefight take place in Mombasa. Most prominently, the levels and maps are set in the New Mombasa city center. Mombasa Streets allow players to explore several sectors of the city center. The placement of some landmarks, like the Orbital elevator is different than what is seen in Halo 2.

Halo: Reach

Main article: Halo: Reach

A mainland portion of Mombasa is playable in the map Breakneck as part of the Anniversary Map Pack. Numerous landmarks can be seen outside the boundaries of the playable space. This version appears to be very similar to ODST's design of the city, though some elements of the city geography do not line up with any known depiction of Mombasa.

Halo: Spartan Strike

Main article: Halo: Spartan Strike

The city is seen in the first operation of Spartan Strike; Operation A: Orphic Spear, and in the first half of the last operation, Operation E: Brother's Keeper. All the missions on the first operation and first half of the last one take place in New Mombasa and takes elements from Halo 2 and ODST.

Production notes

 
Unused concept art of "Mombasa Heights" produced for Halo 4 multiplayer.

The Mombasa area was first seen during the Halo 2 E3 demo where it was significantly different than designs of the city seen in released media. In the demo, the city was a large tree like structure stretching into the sky. This structure was removed for the final game where the designers wanted the city to feel more real. They then based it more on the actual city using photographs to help imagine what it would look like 500 years into the future.[22]

During the production of Halo 4, concept art by Michael Pedro was produced for a potential multiplayer map set in "Mombasa Heights".[23]

Gallery

  Browse more images in this article's gallery page.

Concept Art

  • Concept art of a street in Old Mombasa.

  • Concept art of the Orbital Elevator.

  • Concept art of the battle on the suspension bridge.

  • Concept of the Mombasa skyline.

Old Mombasa

  • A street in Old Mombasa.

  • The skyline of Old Mombasa.

  • A view of the suspension bridge from Old Mombasa.

  • An overview of a part of Old Mombasa.

New Mombasa

  • The skyline of New Mombasa.

  • Uplift Nature Preserve.

  • The city center of New Mombasa.

  • Mombasa area after the Battle of Mombasa.

  • Northwestern New Mombasa.

  • A simulated version of the battle in New Mombasa.

Maps and Overviews

  • The Mombasa megalopolitan area seen from space.

  • Mombasa today.png

    A satellite view of Mombasa during the 21st century.

  • An approximate map of Mombasa by the 26th century.

Other

  • 1225615107 Mombasabridge.JPG

    The Mombasa Suspension bridge, shown to scale on Google Earth.

List of appearances

Notes

  1. ^ This landmass was shown to be covered by water in Halo 3: ODST. This could be explained by the dramatic climbing of sea levels due to global warming, whose results are evident throughout Mombasa. Or by the creation of an artificial seaway that reaches further inland. It's also possible that this simply wasn't created for the in-game area as the only way to see that far west is in Panoramic Camera Mode
  2. ^ In Sadie's Story, multiple areas seen in the ODST campaign are referred to as the city center. This includes Kikowani Station (Audio log 1, Circle 1, Arc 1), ONI Alpha Site and the New Mombasa Data Center (Audio log 8, Circle 3, Arc 2), the NMPD headquarters (Audio log 24, Circle 8, Arc 3), and the area in which the Solemn Penance arrived at (Audio log 3, Circle 1, Arc 3).

Sources

  1. ^ Halo: Mortal Dictata, Chapter 3
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bungie.net: Field Guide entry: New Mombasa
  3. ^ a b c d Halo 2, campaign level Outskirts
  4. ^ a b c Halo 2, campaign level Metropolis
  5. ^ Halo Waypoint: "Space Elevator" article (Archived on Archive.org)
  6. ^ a b Halo Waypoint: Superintendent
  7. ^ a b Halo Graphic Novel, Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa
  8. ^ Halo 3, multiplayer map High Ground
  9. ^ a b c d e Halo 3: ODST, campaign level Coastal Highway
  10. ^ Halo 3, campaign level Tsavo Highway
  11. ^ Halo: Legacy of Onyx, Chapter 2
  12. ^ a b McFarlane Toys/Halo Point Prizes, Master Chief Statue Press Release
  13. ^ a b Halo Waypoint: New Mombasa
  14. ^ Bungie.net: An Affinity for Art
  15. ^ a b c d Halo 3: ODST, campaign level Mombasa Streets
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Halo 2: Anniversary, campaign level Outskirts
  17. ^ Bungie.net: Intel - Superintendent
  18. ^ Halo 3: ODST, Field Operations Guide FM 90-10-140
  19. ^ Halo 2, multiplayer map Terminal
  20. ^ Halo 3: ODST, campaign level NMPD HQ
  21. ^ Halo: Reach, multiplayer map Breakneck
  22. ^ Youtube - First Look Halo 2
  23. ^ Artstation - Halo 4, Michael Pedro
Locations in Mombasa

New Mombasa
Areas
Structures
Roads and streets

Navigation

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