New Mombasa

Template:City

"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 south Kenya, in the East African Protectorate on Earth. On the mouth of the river north of the island is the Mombasa Tether, a dominant feature of the city skyline. Old Mombasa is located on the mainland surrounding the island. Like Earth's other tether cities, New Mombasa's infrastructure was managed with the help of a second generation "dumb" AI, the Superintendent. It was the main target of the initial Covenant attack during the Battle of Earth. The city was invaded, occupied, and destroyed in the course of the conflict.

Description

An overhead view of the general area of New Mombasa.

The dramatic rise of sea levels has changed the coastlines of Mombasa Island and its surroundings. This has also forced a seawall to be built around the city, in order to prevent it from being flooded. A highway runs along the seawall surrounding the island. While the island was originally about as wide on the north as on the southern side, this has changed due to sea levels rising. Despite them dropping at some point, large areas of former land still remain underwater.

The northern side of the island still retains more of its original width than the southern section protruding from it. There, sea has occupied larger areas of land, leaving the southern half much more narrow. The narrow southern half houses the city center and the business districts of the city, while on the northern side, industrial structures are more prevalent.

From the northern side of the island, a massive suspension bridge connects the island to the mainland. Starting at some point near the city center, the highway NM 105 E leads over the bridge, to the old city. Near the end of the bridge on the island is New Mombasa's industrial district, where companies such as Tterrab Industries have their headquarters. Here are also located multiple gargantuan industrial buildings, some with sky bridges connecting them.

The city center is elevated above the surrounding terrain by a large "arcology wall", and houses a concentration of gigantic skyscrapers, the highest - the Vyrant Telecom building - being 2 kilometers tall. At the southeast end of the city center there are several medium-sized skyscrapers. The NMPD Headquarters is located here. Southeast of the arcology wall, the layout of the city is near-symmetrical, and it is divided to ten sectors. Symmetrical compartmentalization like this is a security precaution taken into account when designing all tether cities, to minimize damage in case the tether were to fall.

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. Northeast of the Alpha Site, a large artificial island has been constructed to house the orbital elevator. This island is full of port structures, including warehouses, docks and cranes. MagLev train lines connect the island to the mainland. A highway and a train line connect New Mombasa to other cities such as Voi and Nairobi, with multiple highways leading to different parts of the continent.

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

Superintendent, the Urban Infrastructure AI of New 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

The Mombasa Tether, an iconic feature 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 space elevator city. The elevator transformed the city; New 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-kilometer 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 majority of New Mombasa is divided into numbered, symmetrical sectors to limit human casualties and property damage, should disaster befall the city's space tether. Despite this, some districts such as Mbaraki, Kizingo or Kikowani still retain their original names. The original names are often seen in the names of streets or train stations, for example. Some of the districts' names have changed, albeit slightly; areas originally referred to as Tangana and Liwatoni are now referred to as Tanaga and Liwitoni, respectively. The locations of some districts have changed as well. This is the case with most of the districts on the southern side of the island, where the sea has claimed large areas of land.

The Covenant Invasion

A hologram of New Mombasa, with Solemn Penance above it.

New Mombasa and its surroundings, after the Battle of Mombasa.

Main article: Battle of Mombasa

On October 20th, 2552, a small fleet of Covenant capital ships exited Slipspace just off of Earth's defensive network. During the ensuing battle, a Covenant assault carrier, Solemn Penance 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 were broadcast over a public address system. These propagandist announcements encouraged New Mombasa's citizens to fight against the invading "alien zealots", even though there was very little truth to these announcements as they were only intended to increase moral of those that still remained after most of the city evacuated.

Later that day, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 was deployed into Old Mombasa to assist UNSC forces to 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 Template:UNSCship. At this point, the Covenant troops were retreating back into the Solemn Penance, which was preparing to leave. Meanwhile in orbit, an ODST task force was preparing to hot-drop onto the carrier and make their way inside. However, one of the ODST squads was assigned to a classified mission by the ONI to drop into the premises of the ONI Alpha Site and secure the Vergil subroutine of the Superintendent, and prevent it from falling into Covenant hands - a task they were not informed of until in mid-drop. While the ODSTs were on their way down, Solemn Penance jumped into slipspace, with the In Amber Clad in pursuit.

The ensuing shockwave and EMP engulfed the whole city, causing heavy damage to its digital infrastructure, and scattering the ODSTs' drop pods around the city. Their eventual fate is unknown, though at least six survived landing. Although the whole of Mombasa Island was consumed by the explosion, only some 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 Jiralhanae-operated fleet arrived at Earth, inserting an occupation force into the city in order to capture Vergil, under orders from the High Prophet of Truth. The remaining UNSC Marines and NMPD fought against the Covenant occupiers for the rest of the day. Eventually, the fleet bore down over the city, glassing the northern sectors in order to uncover the Forerunner structure the city was built over. After a costly holding action, the surviving Marine and ODST forces were forced to abandon the city as it was glassed 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.

New Mombasa in the Halo 2 E3 demo.

Halo 2 E3 Demo

In the E3 presentation of Halo 2, the city appeared vastly different than its later versions.

The Mombasa Tether 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.

The center of New Mombasa, in 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 massive central structure from the E3 demo was scrapped because the designers wanted New Mombasa to feel more like a real city.

The space elevator was located in the city center, surrounded by massive skyscrapers. A large artificial canal cut through the island, built to house dock facilities for the space elevator. The city's streets appeared more simple and plain than in the E3 Demo, although with more trees and plants. The color palette was also different, now mostly featuring shades of light brown instead of the mostly gray city in the E3 demo. An effort had been made to try to design the city as realistically as possible, using photographs of the current-day city as reference material and envisioning what the city would look like after 500 years of advancement.

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.

One can see signs pointing to New Mombasa on Tsavo Highway.

Halo 3: ODST

The island of New Mombasa in Halo 3: ODST.

The city's architecture was changed again considerably in Halo 3: ODST. While the areas seen in Halo 2 are not visited, the city's in-game model from in the level Prepare to Drop has significant differences to the Halo 2 version; namely, the absence of the large canal cutting into the island, as well as the bridge crossed in Halo 2. The northwest side of the island now also has a different overall shape than the Halo 2 version, which mostly followed the shape of the real-world Mombasa Island.

The skyscrapers in the city appear more sleek and tall than in Halo 2, and very similar to those later seen in the city of New Alexandria on Reach in Halo: Reach. The orbital elevator's base now resides away from the city center, 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 Halo 2 E3 demo more than the version actually seen in Halo 2, albeit with much more detail. The "hub" area visited in-game is essentially symmetrical, and divided into ten sectors.

City organizations

• New Mombasa Police Department (NMPD)
• New Mombasa Transit Authority (NMTA)
• New Mombasa Waste Management (NMWM)
• New Mombasa Parks and Recreation (NMPR)

Locations

Major Locations Sector A Sector B City center Data center Docks Section 14 Section 21 Industrial zone Kikowani Kilindini Kilindini Park Cultural Center Mwatate Street Transit Center Beria Plaza Palace Hotel Kizingo Kwakiziwi Lumumba Makupa Manyimbo Mbaraki ONI Alpha Site Mombasa Tether Tanaga NMPD Headquarters Tayari Plaza Tononoka Uplift Nature Reserve Highways and streets New Mombasa 105 East Kilindini Underpass Kizingo Boulevard Moi Avenue Shimanzi Road Waterfront Highway Business District Sectors Sector 0 Sector 1 Sector 2 Sector 3 Sector 4 Sector 5 Sector 6 Sector 7 Sector 8 Sector 9 Sector 10

New Mombasa Transit Authority MagLev Train stations Kikowani Station Kilindini Station Liwitoni Station Makupa Station Manyimbo Station Mtongwe Station Nyali Station Multiplayer levels Headlong Ivory Tower Terminal Tombstone Alpha Site Chasm Ten Crater Last Exit Lost Platoon Rally Point Security Zone Windward The sectors in New Mombasa's business district, near the southeast end of the city.

Trivia

• Tterrab Industries, a corporation in downtown New Mombasa, is the 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".
• 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 began their excavation of the Forerunner structure, the Portal.
• In Halo 3: ODST, there are multiple buildings belonging to Jotun Heavy Industries, first mentioned in Halo: Contact Harvest.
• The massive tree-like structure from the early version of Halo 2 is present in the colony development sequence in Part II of Origins.
• The Halo 2 E3 demo-era design of the city was later used to represent a Forerunner structure covered in Flood biomass in the Halo Legends episode, Origins.
• The tree like structure and design of the city can be seen as an Easter egg in Halo 2. The old version of the city can be seen in the reflection of a glass window at the ground floor of the building with the giant soccer ball.
• The tree like structure and design can also bee seen in the reflection of the large glass side of one of the buildings in the multiplayer level Headlong.

Gallery

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  The emblem of the city.

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  An overview of the bridge connecting Old Mombasa and New Mombasa.

• MombasaMap.jpg

  An obsolete, Halo 2-era map of New Mombasa.

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  A map of New Mombasa, with major locations marked.

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  The city in the "Keep it Clean" teaser.

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  Panorama of the New Mombasa skyline, as viewed from the Uplift Nature Reserve.

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  Mombasa island and the orbital elevator.

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  New Mombasa being glassed.

• Cea image2.jpg

  A construction site in Section 21 during the Battle of Mombasa.

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  A banner advertising New Mombasa.

List of appearances

• Halo 2 (First appearance)
• Halo 3
• Halo 3: ODST
• Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
  • Palace Hotel
• Halo Graphic Novel
• Halo: Uprising (Mentioned only)
• i love bees (Mentioned only)