New Mombasa
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
- "This is the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land. That Prophet is going to tell us why."
- — Admiral Terrence Hood
New Mombasa was a major port city and industrial center on Mombasa Island in the East African Protectorate on Earth. It was the main target of the initial Covenant attack in the Battle of Earth.[1] The city was invaded, occupied, and destroyed in the course of the conflict. On the mouth of the river north of the island is the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator, a dominant feature of the city skyline. Old Mombasa is located nearby. Like Earth's other tether cities, New Mombasa's infrastructure was managed with the help of a second generation "dumb" AI, the Superintendent.
Description
The general shape and the coastline of the Mombasa island have changed radically from its original shape, mainly due to sea level rise, and a massive sea wall surrounding the city to prevent it from being flooded. A highway runs along the sea wall, surrounding the island.
The center and the northern side of the Mombasa island house gigantic corporate skyscrapers, the highest - the Vyrant Telecom building - being 2 kilometers tall.[2].
The size of the structures changes towards the south, with more lower-case buildings. The layout of the southern side of the city is also near-symmetrical, and it is divided to ten sectors. Between the city center housing highest skyscrapers and the southern sections of the city, there is a section with middle-sized skyscrapers. The NMPD Headquarters is located here.
The Office of Naval Intelligence has an important office building on the southeast end of the island. The building is surrounded by a pool of water and an additional wall similar to the sea wall surrounding the whole island. The Orbital Elevator is located north of the Alpha Site, on an artificial island.
Uplift Nature Reserve, a large park and a wildlife reserve, resides south of the island.
The city also contains a massive network of underground installations, such as the Superintendent's data center deep beneath the surface. The facility consists of multiple levels, and on the tenth and final level, in a massive cavern with an underground lake on the bottom, resides the AI's data core.
History
Mombasa
Mombasa had always been an important port of the Indian Ocean trade routes and was captured and recaptured countless times by a variety of powers including Portugal, the United Kingdom, and various Arab forces. This violent history led to its Swahili nickname "Kisiwa Cha Mvita", or "Island of War". The city became part of the independent nation of Kenya in the 20th century. During this era, Mombasa became a tourist destination, boasting numerous resorts and clean white beaches. It was also important as a port city, connecting East Africa to the Indian Ocean.
Formation of New Mombasa
In 2302, due to its economic stability and prominent location, New Mombasa—at that time the world's busiest sea port—was chosen to be Earth's first tether city. The elevator transformed the city; Mombasa became one of the most important cities on Earth.
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. An influx of trade, citizens, and jobs drastically changed the landscape of the city. Within a century older housing and hotels on Mombasa Island were replaced with vast industrial complexes and gleaming office towers.
Mombasa would change dramatically with the arrival of the interstellar era. 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".
By the 26th century the city was a dynamic, cosmopolitan metropolis, boasting such amenities as a mile-long suspension bridge, a highly efficient MagLev Train system, an automatic highway network, a large police department, and large-scale recreational areas.
The Covenant Invasion
- Main article: Battle of Mombasa
On October 20th, 2552, a small cluster of Covenant capital ships exited Slipspace just off of Earth's defensive network. During the ensuing battle, a Covenant Assault Carrier breached the orbital fortifications and made its way to the surface. The ship, which carried the Covenant Hierarch known as the High Prophet of Regret, took position over New Mombasa, deploying troops and vehicles which occupied the city. The city's civilians either evacuated, took shelter, or were killed. In Old Mombasa, announcements in Swahili are broadcast over a public address system. These announcements encourage New Mombasa's citizens to fight against the polytheistic "alien zealots."[3]
The Master Chief arrived in Old Mombasa to help UNSC forces liberate the city from the Covenant. After fighting through the maze-like streets of the mainland, the Master Chief crossed the empty beach below the seawall and then entered the highway system and the bridge to New Mombasa. After a series of quick battles in a public park and the city streets, the Chief boarded and destroyed a Covenant Scarab as it passed through the city's artificial canals. Instantly after destroying the Scarab, the Chief returned to the In Amber Clad. At this point, the Covenant troops were retreating back into the Prophet's Assault Carrier, which was preparing to leave. Meanwhile in orbit, an ODST force was preparing to attack the Assault Carrier. While the ODSTs were on their way down, the Covenant ship jumped into Slipspace, with the In Amber Clad in pursuit. The ensuing shockwave and EMP filled the whole city, causing heavy damage to most structures scattered the ODSTs' drop pods around the city. Their eventual fate is unknown, though at least six survived landing.[4] Although the whole of Mombasa Island was consumed by the explosion, only the buildings close to the Slipspace vortex were sucked through. The slipspace rupture also created a large crater to the mainland north of Mombasa island. This was where the Covenant would eventually begin their excavation for the Forerunner structure under the region.
After the Slipspace event, a Covenant occupation force led by Brutes arrived at the city. The remaining UNSC Marines and NMPD fought against the Covenant occupiers for the rest of the day. Eventually, a larger Covenant fleet appeared over the city, glassing it in order to uncover the Forerunner structure the city was built over.[5] After a costly holding action, the surviving Marine and ODST forces were forced to abandon the city as it was razed by the Covenant.
Appearances
The overall appearance and shape of the city of New Mombasa have changed greatly over the years, but the general architectural direction has stayed fairly similar.
Halo 2 E3 Demo
In the E3 presentation of Halo 2, the city appeared vastly different from its later versions.
The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator was nowhere to be found. Instead, the Space Elevator's site in the heart of the city was occupied by a massive tower shaped like an African Baobab tree, composed of massive skyscrapers, and surrounded by spires. The city was much larger than its future incarnations, with the urban metropolis sprawling into the horizon as far as one could see. The internal architecture of the city also differed greatly in the final version of Halo 2.
Halo 2
In Halo 2, the city was shaped more like its real-world counterpart, with the metropolis residing on the Mombasa island instead of the whole surrounding area having been filled with a gargantuan megalopolis. The space elevator was located in the city center, surrounded by massive skyscrapers. A massive suspension bridge connected the island to Old Mombasa, and a large artificial canal cut through the island. The city's streets also appeared more simple and plain than in the E3 Demo, although with more trees and plants. An effort had been made to try to design the city as realistically as possible. "What would the city look like after 500 years of advancement?"
Halo 3: ODST
The city's architecture was changed again considerably in Halo 3: ODST.
The skyscrapers in the city appear more sleek and tall than in Halo 2. The Orbital Elevator's base now resides away from the city centre, surrounded by water at all sides. Its base structure is different, notably being less immense in size than in Halo 2. The internal architecture of the city is much more detailed, with the streets ramping up and down, and elevated walkways surrounding them. In many ways, it resembles the city seen in the E3 2003 demo, albeit much more detailed. The city center and the surrounding area is nearly symmetrical, as seen in the in-game map of the city. The Superintendent is also a feature introduced in ODST.
Halo 3
New Mombasa is not seen for much of the duration of Halo 3, but if one looks across from the Portal they can see the smoking ruins of the city in the distance. Most of the action on the ground takes place around the market city of Voi instead.
Organizations
- New Mombasa Police Department (NMPD)
- New Mombasa Transit Authority (NMTA)
- New Mombasa Waste Management (NMWM)
- New Mombasa Parks and Recreation (NMPR)
Locations
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Trivia
- Tterrab Industries, a corporation in downtown New Mombasa, is Bungie level designer Chris Barrett's name reversed. "Mtangulizi Kampuni," printed on a welcome mat at the entrance to the building that leads to the canals, is Swahili for "Forerunner Company".[6]
- Originally, it was assumed that the slipspace jump of the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier had completely destroyed the city, creating the crater seen later in Halo 3. It was revealed in Halo 3: ODST that it did in fact create a crater, although much smaller than what was originally assumed. This crater was where the Covenant begun their excavation of the Forerunner structure, the Ark Portal.
- In Halo 3: ODST, there are multiple buildings belonging to Jotun Heavy Industries, first mentioned in Halo: Contact Harvest.
Gallery
- MombasaMap.jpg
A Halo 2-era map of New Mombasa. Note that the city's layout changed considerably in Halo 3: ODST, making this map obsolete.
- Halo3-ODST EnvConcept-10.jpg
Landing pads in the city.
- Background2NM.jpg
The Tanaga district of New Mombasa after Regret's Assault Carrier jumped inside of the city. Note the wreckage of the Space Elevator towards the left in the distance.
- Halo3-ODST EnvConcept-12.jpg
Concept art for the damaged New Mombasa.
- Concept floodedstation.png
A flooded train station.
- Concept tether.png
Concept art of New Mombasa after the slipspace incident.
- Concept tunnel color.png
An indoors area in the city.
The city in the "Keep it Clean" teaser.
- 95415032-Full.jpg
New Mombasa from high above.
- Nm superint.png
New Mombasa, viewed by the Superintendent.
Panorama of the New Mombasa skyline, as viewed from the Uplift Reserve Zoo.
- New Mombassa Approximate Map ODST H2 crossover.png
Approximate map of New Mombassa, including both Halo 2 era and Halo 3: ODST era elements.
Sources
- ^ Lord Hood: "This is the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land. That Prophet is going to tell us why." --Outskirts
- ^ Measurable by using pan-cam coordinates: the height cap is at 615 WU, the bulding extends a bit over that, and 1WU=~3meters
- ^ http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/h2dialogue.html?cat=swahili
- ^ Halo 3: ODST
- ^ Halo 3: ODST
- ^ The Internet Living Swahili Dictionary
