Kmiro'sish-pattern Lich

The Deployment Platform T-56 Ground Support/Ultra Heavy, colloquially known as the Lich, is a Covenant matériel deployment vessel manufactured by Achoem Weapons.

Overview

The Covenant's largest airborne deployment platform, the Lich boasts heavy armament and is capable of mass deployments of up to forty soldiers. Because of this, UNSC encounters with Lichs have almost always resulted in total destruction of the UNSC ground forces, resulting in a lack of available information on the craft. They are capable of traveling into space and through slipspace.

Similar to its predecessor Spirit and Phantom dropships, the Lich sports a gravity lift on its underside and two doors on both sides.

Like the Scarab, the Lich possess a core on the rear. Destroying the core results the dropship emitting sparks on its entire hull as it drifts off course, and then creates a massive explosion with almost no part of the Lich left intact.

The Covenant remnant deployed multiple Liches during their occupation and assault on the Forerunner shield world Requiem between 2557 and 2558. When The Didact traveled through slipspace to Installation 03, several followed him there with one being commandeered by the Master Chief and Cortana to follow.

Trivia

• In keeping with the naming scheme of most Covenant vehicles, the Lich is named after a supernatural being. In this case, a lich is an undead corpse, usually that of a sorcerer who has used black magic to resurrect himself after death.
• The first time this vehicle is encountered in the Halo 4 campaign, it is clearly noted as being unidentified by UNSC forces. The second time it is seen, in large numbers, John-117 casually refers to them as "Liches", though at no point in the intervening time was this name actually given to the new warship. It seems, then, that the Lich name was given to the Type-56 Deployment Platform by the Master Chief himself.

List of appearances

• Halo 4 (First appearance)