Voi

Voi
Overview
Location:	Kenya, Earth
Notable structure(s):	Battle for Earth
Governed by:	East African Protectorate

There is more information available on this subject at Voi on the English Wikipedia.

Voi was an industrial city in Kenya, East African Protectorate in Africa on planet Earth.^[1]^[2] After its infestation by the Flood and subsequent glassing by the Fleet of Retribution, it became known as the Voi Exclusion Zone.^[3]

Overview[edit]

Voi is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of the coastal city of New Mombasa. The town once sat on an artificial lake that connected Voi to Mombasa and the Indian Ocean, where many industrial facilities and warehouses hugged its shores, such as Traxus Heavy Industries' Factory Complex 09 and Complex 71.^[2]^[4]

The town's water supply was served by the Global Water Campaign via pipes that transported water from Mount Kilimanjaro to municipal pumping houses such as Voi Municipal Water Pump House 03.^[5]^[1] Law enforcement was carried out by the Voi Greater Outlands Police Bureau.^[6] Voi was a farther region served by New Mombasa Waste Management for rubbish collection.^[2]

The town is located along Nairobi Road, a highway that connects the Mombasa megalopolis to the city of Nairobi, alongside its parallel railway line. It is also where Tsavo Highway began as it headed west towards Arusha, Tanzania.

After the Covenant War, the town was left destroyed as part of an effort to eradicate the Flood. The Voi Memorial sits on a prominent hillside at the site of battle, dedicated to all of the lives lost throughout the war up to the Battle of Installation 00.^[7] The memorial sits within the Voi Exclusion Zone, which quarantines the glassed region.^[3]

History[edit]

Ancient history[edit]

Around 97,445 BCE, near the end of the Forerunner-Flood war, the Librarian landed on Earth near the site where the town of Voi would be built millennia later. There, she oversaw the creation and subsequent burying of the Ark Portal structure, which would be hidden for thousands of years to come, and would spend her last days in the nearby region before the Halo Array purged the galaxy of sentient life.^[8]

Covenant occupation[edit]

Main article: Battle of Voi

In 2552, the Covenant empire invaded Earth to commit themselves to the region of Africa between Mombasa and Voi due to the Portal buried underneath it. Covenant forces occupied the city and its outskirts, which stood on the perimeter of their excavation site. As a result of the Covenant uncovering the Portal via glassing, the lake that Voi once sat on completely evaporated.^[1]^[2]

On November 17, the UNSC went for an assault on Voi to disable a Covenant anti-aircraft battery, charged by Spartan John-117, with Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, Marines, and factory workers fighting alongside him. Together they destroyed multiple Ogab'd-pattern anti-aircraft Wraiths, a Scarab, and the Covenant anti-air gun, allowing the UNSC to bomb the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner Dreadnought that rested on the centre of the Portal. But this assault was ineffective, as Truth activated the Portal. ^[2]

Flood infestation[edit]

Main article: Outbreak on Earth

Voi and the surrounding areas are glassed by the Fleet of Retribution in order to contain the threat of the Flood.

Amidst the confusion, a Flood-controlled ship exited slipspace and crashed in at the western edge of the city. This ship was full of Flood, and the Master Chief and the Arbiter began to fight this new threat. Under orders from Commander Miranda Keyes, they started to move to the downed cruiser, hoping to destroy it in an effort to contain the Flood. As they neared the cruiser, the Sangheili Fleet of Retribution arrived, led by Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum. The Sangheili flagship, Shadow of Intent, deployed Sangheili ground forces to assist the humans. Voi was ravaged by the Flood infestation and many Marines and surviving civilian personnel were infected in the ensuing chaos, but the Chief and his surviving allies forged ahead into the heart of the city.

The humans learned that the Sangheili were looking for the AI construct Cortana, who was supposedly aboard the Flood cruiser. Separating from the Arbiter, the Chief went aboard the cruiser. What he found was not Cortana, but a damaged message left by her. As he was inspecting it, 343 Guilty Spark arrived to repair Cortana. All human and Elite forces retreated to the Shadow of Intent as the fleet glassed Voi, therefore destroying all Flood in the vicinity and preventing the parasite from spreading any further.^[9]

Voi was destroyed as a result of the excavation event; only a few industrial buildings remained. The area was subsequently termed the "Voi Exclusion Zone". Operation: JOINT MONITOR saw Alpha-Nine deployed to the zone to ensure any and all Flood were eliminated.^[3] They did not encounter any remnants of it.^[10]

Post-war[edit]

Main article: Battle of Earth (2555)

On March 3, 2553, after the end of the war, a memorial ceremony was held atop a hill in the remains of the town. As humanity began the arduous process of rebuilding, it was decided that this hillside be kept untouched as a memorial to those who did not return from Installation 00 and those fallen in the war at large.^[7]

Within a couple years, ONI had established extensive facilities at Voi as part of the effort to study the portal artifact, now closed. In March, 2555, a joint operations team arrived in town in preparation for Operation: FAR STORM, the third manned mission to Installation 00 that commenced once the portal was reactivated. However, in a plot to mine the Earth's resources as recompense for the damage incurred to the installation during the war a few years prior, its monitor sent thousands of Sentinels streaming through the portal over Voi; this attempt was foiled by elements of the UNSC Home Fleet.^[11]

Due to the artifact's importance, by 2558 Voi housed the largest Spartan-IV garrison on Earth.^[12]

Trivia[edit]

Voi was first mentioned in the Halo 2: Original Soundtrack, as the penultimate movement in the soundtrack's final track Epilogue is titled Road to Voi.^[13]