Mombasa

Mombasa is a city in Kenya, East African Protectorate on the planet Earth. It consisted of a prosperous section called "New Mombasa" on an island known as Mombasa island, as well as a run down section known as "Old Mombasa", on a 74 km area surrounding the island.

History
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.

The mainland districts were stifled, ironically, by their thirst for growth. During the 21st and 22nd centuries, sea levels worldwide began rising due to global warming. Port cities around the planet were faced with a choice: construct flood control measures, or drown. In Mombasa, it was decided that, rather than shore up the old docks on Mombasa Island, it would be easier to build brand new ports on the mainland, southwest of the city. So massive seawalls were built to hold back the rising waters, and new dock structures extended out into Kilindini Harbour.

Interstellar Era
For a time, these docks brought prosperity to the mainland. Shantytowns were demolished to make way for new office buildings, highways were constructed, and commerce thrived. But by the end of the 23rd century, global warming began to reverse as new technologies emerged and millions of people departed Earth for colonies in the rest of the Solar System. Sea levels began receding as temperatures dropped worldwide. In time, the port facilities on the mainland were left literally high and dry.

Mombasa underwent dramatic change with the arrival of the interstellar era. In response to increasing demand for cheap orbital access, due to its economic stability and prominent location, Mombasa was chosen to be Earth's first Space Elevator city. The government began construction on one of the wonders of the age: a space elevator (Mombasa's proximity to the equator made it an ideal location) in 2302. This structure served to lift heavy cargo into geosynchronous orbit without expensive booster rockets filled with fuel. The elevator transformed the city; Mombasa became one of the most important cities on Earth. Consequently, the island-city transformed into the hi-tech metropolis of New Mombasa, while the mainland area languished, closed off behind its useless seawall.

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. There was an immediate influx of trade, people, and jobs; as a result, the landscape of the city was completely re-imagined. Within a century, the old apartment buildings and hotels on Mombasa Island had been torn down and replaced with the latest architecture, such as vast industrial complexes and gleaming office towers. It was during this period of tremendous growth that the city became known as "New Mombasa".

Mombasa would change dramatically within the centuries that followed. 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".

Covenant Invasion


On October 20, 2552, a small group of Covenant capital ships arrived at Earth. Uninformed of the Human presence on Earth, Regret was outnumbered and outgunned against the UNSC Home Fleet. During the orbital battle, the Prophet of Regret's Flagship broke through Earth's defenses and descended to the atmosphere, and anchored itself above New Mombasa. The Covenant started deploying their ground forces to the city, in search of a Forerunner relic, the Ark Portal, buried under the city.

However, due to a strong UNSC counterattack and the inferior numbers of the Covenant, Regret ordered all of his forces to be evacuated back into the Carrier. After this, the ship jumped into slipspace just above the city, releasing a shockwave and pulling multiple city blocks from the mainland with it. This event became known as the "Mombasa Slipspace event". In the hours after Regret's retreat, a larger Covenant fleet arrived at Earth. After sending in ground forces and crushing the remaining UNSC resistance in the city, they glassed the area in order to uncover the Portal. During the final days of the Battle for Earth, only smoldering ruins of Mombasa remained.

Old Mombasa


The mainland area of Mombasa was known as Old Mombasa. By 2552, it had remained much the same as the preceding centuries. Its architecture was an odd hodgepodge of old and new: 16th-century Muslim arcades, aging 21st-century office buildings, looming 26th-century power couplings, old concrete homes secured with computerized locks. Clotheslines strung next to power lines, and mechanical gates set into ancient brick walls. The culture also seems displaced; while New Mombasa was populated with industrial workers and ambitious cosmopolitans, Old Mombasa was considered to be more of an old rundown slum that deteriorates by the day.

New Mombasa


The futuristic metropolis of New Mombasa resided on the Mombasa island, connected to the mainland by multiple bridges. By the 26th century the city was a dynamic, cosmopolitan metropolis, boasting such amenities as an Urban Infrastructure AI, mile-long suspension bridge, a highly efficient MagLev Train system, an automatic highway network, a large police department, and large-scale recreational areas.

Mombasa Suspension Bridge
The Mombasa Suspension Bridge is one of few bridges connecting New Mombasa to the Mainland, through Old Mombasa. The bridge has 44 main cables, which all go down to the center of the bridge. There is a toll booth at each end of the bridge, possibly hinting that it cost money to cross the bridge. On a scaled map, the Mombasa suspension bridge is actually 1.09 Km long, making it almost the length of a Halcyon-class Cruiser.

Locations

 * New Mombasa
 * City Center
 * ONI Alpha Site
 * Orbital Elevator
 * Old Mombasa
 * Sector 0-5
 * Liberty Street

Internal

 * Africa
 * Voi

External

 * Mombasa on Wikipedia