Uplift Nature Reserve

The Uplift Nature Reserve was a large nature park and a zoo, located on an artificial island next to the city of New Mombasa, Kenya, Earth. It was funded by New Mombasa Uplift, the company responsible for managing the Mombasa Tether. Apart from the Tsavo National Park, the Uplift Nature Reserve was the largest wildlife reserve east of Nairobi, and one of the most renowned nature reserves in the world. Uplift Reserve, like all other parks in the city, was under jurisdiction of New Mombasa Parks and Recreation.

Description
Located southwest of New Mombasa, the Uplift Nature Reserve resides on what used to be part of Mombasa Island but is now a separate island due to the rise of sea level. Due to this, the entirety of the reserve's natural habitats, including the rock formations, are artificial.

The public entrance to the reserve lies north of the park, easily accessible by New Mombasa's Waterfront Highway. Upon arrival, visitors are shuttled to New Mombasa Uplift plaza, where the company's headquarters also lie. The plaza is located directly adjacent to the reserve's primary access road, and within Sector 9 of the city.

Main sections of the reserve include three linked containment areas with high-reaching perimeter walls. Structures such as cranes and gates litter the exterior walls, with various outposts stationed at predetermined junctures throughout the facility. In their interior, these sections contain vast natural habitats filled with local fauna.

Sections A and B both lie on a separate landmass, the furthest west of the park entrance. The west side of these sections contains the only exception to the perimeter walls; a makeshift beachfront which looks across the waterway to Old Mombasa. Section B is the largest enclosed area within the reserve. Providing direct access to New Mombasa through Section C, accessible by way of a suspension bridge. In the center of Section B resides the main attraction of Uplift Reserve: A large visitor center with an observation deck, allowing the public to watch animals in their natural habitat. Across the bridge from Section B, Section C is located. This section is the only one which actually lies on the Mombasa island itself, instead of the separate landmass that Sections A and B are built upon.

History
During the Battle of Mombasa, Uplift Reserve's Section C was where the Solemn Penance deployed its Gravity Lift's base, making it the highest concentration of Covenant ground troops in the area at the time. Any of the animals that may have been housed in the reserve were likely killed or perhaps evacuated by the reserve's personnel or unintentionally released by the Covenant, or intentionally released by either side to add to the woes of the other.

After the slipspace event generated by the retreat of Regret's carrier, the Covenant still had a heavy presence in the park, having multiple Wraiths and other vehicles stationed in there, especially around their landing zone. The UNSC Marine forces, under the command of an unnamed Colonel, had various platoons stationed in all sections of the park; most of them were overpowered and outnumbered by Covenant infantry and armor. Several F-99 combat drones also partook in the battle, patrolling the skies.

The turning point of the battle for the reserve was the arrival of an ODST, Taylor "Dutch" Miles. Having landed on the beach on the southwest end of the park, he moved out 30 minutes after the Slipspace event and soon regrouped with Marines pinned down by Covenant forces. By this point, the Marines were under orders to secure the carrier's former LZ and snatch a Tier 1 asset. With the assistance of the ODST, the Covenant were defeated and the Marines regrouped and moved out. Leading a Warthog charge, Dutch made his way through the park to Section B, where the Second Platoon was pinned down by Covenant armor, most of them taking cover in the reserve's visitor center. With the arrival of Dutch, the Covenant were defeated and the Marines could continue to push forward towards the Colonel's location in Section C, just beside the Covenant landing zone.

However, before the Marines could make it to the Colonel's position, the Orbital Elevator collapsed and debris rained upon the area. The Colonel was killed by a piece of falling debris, his last orders for the Marines being to clear the area. Upon arrival to the Covenant landing zone, Dutch discovered several Marines taking cover behind a ridge, with many wounded or dead among them, including the Colonel. The Jiralhanae Chieftain in command of the Covenant in the area had moved out to the last section of the park beyond the landing zone, where the Covenant made their final stand against the UNSC, who soon crushed the remaining Covenant and moved out of the reserve towards their new rally point at the entrance to the ONI Alpha Site in Kizingo. However, the UNSC victory was short-lived. The Covenant soon returned in much larger numbers, crushing any remaining resistance.

The next day, while trying to escape the city on the New Mombasa Waterfront Highway, the Rookie, Captain Veronica Dare, Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck and Huragok Quick to Adjust were forced to take cover in the entrance to the Uplift Nature Reserve to await the arrival of the rest of Alpha-Nine in a captured Covenant Phantom. The group came under attack by Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar, Mgalekgolo and Wraiths before they were finally extracted by the rest of Alpha-Nine. As Alpha-Nine escaped in their stolen Phantom, a emerged from slipspace and began to glass the area.

Despite the intense fighting, it would seem that the Uplift Reserve itself managed to survive the battle, as overhead shots of the destroyed city show that the grounds were largely intact. However, it was likely destroyed when the Covenant glassed New Mombasa in order to uncover the Forerunner Portal structure the city was built upon.

List of appearances

 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: New Blood