Voi

Voi is an industrial city in Kenya, East African Protectorate in Africa on planet Earth.

Background
Voi is located about 140 kilometers away from the coastal city of New Mombasa, and on the edge of the Tsavo National Park, the largest wildlife reserve in the region. The town served as the crossroads for railway lines between three Kenyan cities, including Mombasa and Nairobi. A highway known as A23 or Tsavo Highway also runs through the town. Voi is a futuristic worker town, and it is filled with mechanical factories and shoreline buildings.

History
About 100,000 years ago, when the Forerunners discovered Earth near the end of the Forerunner-Flood War, the Librarian landed on Earth near Voi. There, she oversaw the burying of the Ark Portal structure, which would be hidden for thousands of years to come.

Voi has a long history. The town is centuries old, and was formerly a simple market town. According to local history the name of town comes from a slave trader called Chief Kivoi who settled near the Voi river around the 17th century. There after the town grew as a trade post between the local Taita people, other Kenyan tribes and Arabs. The town started to grow at the end of the 19th century when the Kenya-Uganda railway was constructed. People started to move in to work on the railway and the near by sisal estates.

Voi in the mid 26th century is situated beside a man-made lake. As a result of the global warming period of the 21st century, the snow melt that supplied Voi with a water supply died off, creating a major water shortage. It was decided to construct a man-made lake to store water from the remaining mountain runoff, this lake was built at what was then the southeastern edge of Voi. A ferry service was constructed to carry cargo and people across the lake, all the way to New Mombasa on the coast. Along with that, the Voi River still runs through, providing easy transport up and down the river for the industry.

Covenant Invasion
When the Covenant Empire invaded Earth in 2552, the general region between Voi and Mombasa became their top priority due to the Portal buried underneath it. When the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator collapsed on October 20, 2552, debris rained down upon Voi and the surrounding region. During the following weeks, the Covenant Loyalists occupied the city and placed heavy defenses around their excavation.

On November 17, due to the return of John-117, the UNSC was ready for a counterattack. By disabling a Covenant Anti-Aircraft Battery from the ground, the UNSC would be able to assault the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner Dreadnought resting on the center of the Portal.

The Master Chief arrived in Voi via the Tsavo Highway and joined up with the Arbiter and a large group of Marines. The battle for the city begun with the UNSC attacking entrenched Covenant Loyalist forces. Together they destroyed multiple Anti-Air Wraiths, a Scarab, and the Covenant anti-air gun. With the anti-air forces destroyed, Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood's ships attacked the Prophet of Truth's Dreadnought, until Truth activated the Portal to the Ark and escaped through it, with his fleet following.

After this, a Flood-controlled ship slipped in, and crashed in at the western edge of the city. This ship was full of Flood, and the Master Chief and the Arbiter begun to fight this new threat. Under orders from Lieutenant Commander Miranda Keyes, they started to move to the downed Cruiser, hoping to destroy it and contain the Flood. As they neared the Cruiser, the Covenant Separatist fleet arrived, led by Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum. The Separatist flagship, Shadow of Intent, deployed Sangheili ground forces to assist the Humans.

The Humans learned that the Separatists 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.

Appearances
Voi is a key location in Halo 3. Three successive Halo 3 campaign levels - Tsavo Highway, The Storm and Floodgate, take place in or around Voi. The multiplayer maps Foundry and Ghost Town are also set in Voi. More specifically:


 * Tsavo Highway, the third campaign level, takes place along the Tsavo Highway, leading to Voi.
 * The Storm deals mainly with the character assaulting Covenant forces entrenched in Voi.
 * Floodgate deals with clearing the Flood from the city, although the city is eventually glassed by Covenant Separatists.

Trivia

 * The town of Voi was actually first seen in the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer more recently to the launch of the game, the only part seen was the billboard on fire (Floodgate) and the Master Chief emerging from the destroyed elevator out of Crow's Nest which wasn't near Voi at all.
 * There is a SAM launcher similar to the one on High Ground pointed directly at the AA battery.
 * The last movement of the Halo 2 Soundtrack is called "The Road to Voi".
 * One of the ferries used to transport cargo across the artificial lake is encountered stranded on a beach during the level The Storm.

Internal

 * Africa
 * Republic of Kenya
 * Tsavo Highway

External

 * Voi on Wikipedia
 * Kenya on Wikipedia
 * Africa on Wikipedia
 * Tsavo on Wikipedia
 * Tsavo National Park on Wikipedia
 * Tsavo Highway on Wikipedia