- "The Mombasa space elevator!"
"It collapsed when the city got glassed."
"But the tower was thousands of kilometers high..."
"Yeah, but now it's scattered all over the savannah." - — Two Marines discussing the fate of the Space Elevator.
The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator was a Space Elevator located at the heart of the East African Protectorate city of New Mombasa on Earth. It is used for lifting heavy ordnance from the surrounding port facilities into an orbital station at the top of the elevator structure, a transport method much cheaper and more efficient than booster rockets filled with expensive fuel.
History
In the dawn of the 23rd century, Mombasa was chosen to be the Earth's first tether city. 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 - service roads and a Mag-lev line radiate out from its base, connecting it to nearby warehouses and factories, while a large artificial canal has been dug through the city center to provide more docking space for incoming cargo vessels. And it was this influx of business and trade brought in by the elevator that made New Mombasa the metropolis it was by the time of the Covenant invasion.
During the First Battle of Mombasa, the Prophet of Regret's Flaghip initiated Slispace transition over the city, right beside the Orbital Elevator. The resulting shockwave shook the tether apart, and only a small portion of the lower support structure remained intact, even though heavily damaged. A large part of the tower's debris was scattered around Earth's surface.
Halo Games
Halo 2
In Halo 2, the space elevator is visible throughout all the Earth levels, first as a thin line on the horizon in Outskirts, then later as a ringed tower in the skyline of Metropolis. Only at the end of that level is the player offered an unobstructed view of the structure from across the artificial canal.
At the end of the campaign level Metropolis, the flagship of the Prophet of Regret flees into slipspace with the In Amber Clad in hot pursuit. This in-atmosphere jump unleashes a wave of energy that scours the area, collapsing the tower.
Halo 3: ODST
In Halo 3: ODST, the Space Elevator's base is located on a small island instead of the center of the city in Halo 2. Its general appearance has also been changed, with a less massive base structure and an additional support structure in the lower part of the tether.
Speculation
The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator is also seen in the Halo 3: ODST Teaser Trailer. After the slipspace jump by Regret, the tower can still clearly be seen but its ring supports are tilted and it is clearly the result of severe damage during the First Battle of Mombasa. It has been speculated that the tether may possibly fall during the course of the game. Another clue is in the reference in Halo 3 in which it was stated that the Elevator fell when the city was "glassed", the glassing of the city may be explained further in Halo 3: ODST.
Due to recent concept art released by Bungie, it may be possible that the remains of the elevator may be a location the player may visit in-game. Visiting it may be hard as, due to concept and released screenshots, it may be located in the water, only accessible by Mag-Lev lines, which may have been destroyed by the EMP blast and the fact that the Mag-Lev train has been destroyed by the Covenant during their initial attack.
However, as seen in the actual game, the elevator is already a burning wreckage during the day, two hours after the slipspace event. Also, in the opening cinematic the tether can clearly be seen bending uncontrollably as the shockwave from the slipspace rupture hits it. Therefore it's unlikely it will be seen intact in-game.
Halo 3
The elevator was not seen again until the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer, in which several of its stabilizer rings lay shattered in the background hills. Concept art from the Halo 3 Zune confirmed that the wreckage of the space elevator would play an important part in the design of the Earth levels.
The elevator did make an appearance in the final game, with the player fighting through its ruins throughout Tsavo Highway and even hearing some dialogs concerning its fate from Marine allies. The detritus of the elevator is presumably cleaned up by the end of the game, as its rings are not seen in the background of the final Earth-based cutscenes.
Gallery
The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator, as seen in a 3D model viewer.
- H3 Outskirts 1.jpg
The elevator's stabilizer rings lie shattered on the savannah in this concept art for Tsavo Highway.
Sources
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