Cairo

This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!

"There isn't a man alive that can fly a chopper in here and survive."

―Sam to Quinn regarding his need for extraction^[src]

Cairo is the capital of Egypt, and one of the many cities on Earth that was invaded and overrun by Mental's Horde during the Mental War. It is a major featured in Serious Sam 3: BFE and plays a major role early in the game's campaign.

Overview[]

Located in northern Egypt, Cairo is the largest and most densely populated city in the country. The city consists of many high-rise buildings, apartments, office buildings, and skyscrapers. Most of these buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged during the war on Earth; most of this was due to Mental's warships leveling the city with their scorcher beams.^[1]

History[]

Cairo was home to over 10 million inhabitants prior the outbreak of the Mental War. During the 22nd century, after Mental was accidentally awoken from dormancy by humanity, his main focus was Earth and its many densely populated cities after he managed to overwhelm and destroy the extraterrestrial colonies.^[1]^[2]

Mental War era[]

Cairo abandoned street — An abandoned street in Cairo.

When Mental's forces attacked Earth, Cairo was one of the most heavily hit cities, having been subjected to heavy bombardment from Mental's warship fleet. By the time Serious Sam 3 takes place, there was little to no traces of human life left in the city, as most of its inhabitants had been killed or already fled. Throughout the city was an abundance of military supplies, such as weapons, ammunition, barricades, and fortifactions. This suggests that Cairo had recently came under siege by Mental's forces, which it seemed the Earth Defense Force lost. Sentry turrets, originally meant to fend off hordes of Mental's forces, remained active in potential hotspots that saw heavy enemy activity, which made some locations in the city extremely dangerous for anyone who was still alive.^[1] As the city became abandoned, the streets became desolate and hostile places.

With the city under Mental's control, his forces began to slowly transform parts of Cairo for their own needs; Antaresian Spiders created large nests to lay their eggs, both on the streets and inside buildings, Major Bio-mechanoids were emplaced in certain spots in the city to shoot down any aircraft (espcecially helicopters) that flew in, Scythian Witch-Harpies perched on top of buildings, waiting to lure and kill unsuspecting prey uiing their attractive mimicry. Technopolyps flew around in the skies, gunning down any soldiers and civilians still left in hiding. Adult Arachnoids, Beheaded Rocketeers, Cloned Soldiers, Hatchling Arachnoids and Kleer Skeletons patrolled the streets, looking out for any signs of trouble, and Gnaars feasted upon the less fortunate for sustenance.^[3]^[4]^[5]

As if that wasn't bad enough, anyone who was lucky enough to escape from the city awaited more misfortune in the sands of the Sahara, where highly aggressive Sandwhales would devour anyone who was foolish enough to enter their territory. In fact, more civilians have been eaten by Sandwhales trying to escape than by Mental's forces in the city itself.^[6]

Notable locations[]

Great Pyramid of Giza[]

Main article: Great Pyramid of Giza

Located just outside the city, the Great Pyramid is the largest pyramid in Egypt, and forms part of the Giza pyramid complex. It was constructed by the ancient Egyptians during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. While it was initially thought to have served as a tomb for the pharoah Khufu, it turns out the pyramid had a much grander purpose, where deep inside lies a secret chamber, which is accessed via a hole inside the Great Sphinx.^[7]. Also deep inside the pyramid is the resting place of the Oracle, who was thought to be the last Sirian left on Earth.^[7]

Remarkably, the pyramid still remained in relatively pristine condition compared to Cairo. This was likely due to the landmark serving little or no interest or strategic value to Mental and his forces.

Egyptian Museum[]

Main article: Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum houses a large collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and treasures. It later became an auxiliary depot in 2015, and was abandoned after Cairo was taken over by Mental's forces. The building served as a place of interest for professor Hermann Stein, who went to do his research on the Time-Lock.

Mosque of Ibn Tulun[]

Main article: Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Built in the year 884, the Ibn Tulun mosque is one of the oldest surviving mosques in Egypt, and the largest in Cairo. It was the location for Sam's extraction when he needed a lift out of the city. According to legend, the mosque was where Noah's Ark came to rest after the great flood.^[8]

Appearances[]

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

Black Hawk approaching Cairo — Team Alpha's Black Hawk approaching the ruins of Cairo.

Sam, Rodriguez, Jones and the rest of Alpha Team are sent into Cairo to rescue Professor Stein from the Egyptian Museum, who needs help after his security detail, Bravo Team, lost contact with HQ at around 0900 hours. Soon after Alpha Team make it into Cairo, their helicopter is shot down by rockets fired by Major Bio-mechanoids. Sam is chucked out of the helicopter from the rocket impact due to him not wearing a seatbelt, and is forced to fight through the dangerous streets alone.^[3]

Eventually, Sam makes his way to the helicopter crash site, but he is too late, as Rodriguez and the rest of the team are already dead before he gets there. Quinn instructs Sam to get into the museum, which he does so. Entering the museum, Stone finds it infested with alien spiders. As he proceeds up to the second floor, he hears muffled screams and gunfire, indicating a struggle. He follows the screams to a dark basement and finds the remains of Professor Stein, who has been killed by the spiders.^[4] While the professor can no longer be rescued, Sam is able to upload his data from his cell phone back to headquarters. He eventually escapes from the museum and continues on foot through the dangerous streets.

Once Sam is out in the open, he is sighted by Garret, who is tasked with extracting Stone out of the city. He gets to the extraction point, the Ibn Tulun mosque, but before Garret can land, his helicopter is shot down. After defeating the culprit responsible, a Major Bio-mechanoid, Sam hurries to the helicopter's crash site to rescue Garret, but as soon as he approaches it, a strange creature takes control of the helicopter, transforming it into a Technopolyp.^[5]Sam runs from the Technopolyp, shutting down sentry turrets while eliminating any threats that stand in his way. He finds a rocket launcher near a gate, and uses it to destroy the Technopolyp. With the bird "secured", Quinn offers Sam another lift via helicopter, but he declines, stating that it's too dangerous for anyone to fly in without getting shot down.

Sam elects to travel to the Great Pyramid on foot, and meets even heavier resistance from Mental's forces, and eventually he reaches a large, open area with the remains of destroyed buuldings. There, he gears up and deals with more of Mental's forces before a warship suddenly appears. The warship begins attacking Sam with its scorcher beams and teleports troops in to harass him, but Sam is able to critically damage the warship with his rocket launcher, forcing it to flee. With the area now clear, Sam finds a car nearby and uses it to drive out of the city and towards the Great Pyramid.^[9]

Like the rest of Egypt, Cairo was completely destroyed when Earth's Moon was hurled into it. This only occurred in the Serious Sam 3 timeline, however, so the fate of the city in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem's timeline remains ambiguous.