D75-TC Pelican

The Dropship 75-Troop Carrier, colloquially known as the Pelican, is a shuttlecraft utilised by the United Nations Space Command to transport troops and supplies. Capable to space-to-ground flight and vice versa, it was often used to ferry troops from starships to planetside battlefields, but could also be outfitted as a gunship or for reconnaissance missions.

Operational history
The D75 model of Pelican had entered service some time before 2526.

Two D75 Pelicans were carried by the Razor-class prowler in June 2526, during its mission to Netherop. At the command of Lieutenant Commander Amalea Petrov, one of these Pelicans, a D75-TC/r outfitted for reconnaissance, was launched with a three-person crew immediately upon the Night Watch's arrival, to ascertain the strength of the Covenant naval presence, and determine whether a dropship would be able to make landfall at all. It was shot down by a previously-undetected Covenant stealth vessel shortly before entering the planet's tropopause. Following its destruction, Petrov resolved to insert Blue Force with the Night Watch itself rather than risk loading them aboard the prowler's second Pelican. Instead, she launched the remaining Pelican - this time a D75-TC/g gunship - as a decoy to draw fire away from the prowler during its descent. John-117 surmised that, given it only had its three-person crew on-board, Petrov did not expect it to survive insertion. The ploy allowed Petrov to deploy Blue Force within sixty kilometres of their target, a downed Covenant frigate, but the Covenant had more available fighter craft than Petrov had expected, and so the Night Watch was brought down despite the decoy.

Variants
At least two variants of the D75 Pelican exist.

D75/r Pelican
A D75 Pelican variant nicknamed the "slash-r" outfitted with a special scouting package, used for reconnaissance missions.

D75/g Pelican
A D75 Pelican variant nicknamed the "slash-g", which is furnished as a gunship. It is equipped with a ground support package including two wing-mounted miniguns and two belly-mounted cannon turrets.

Production notes
In early drafts of Halo: Oblivion, the D75-TC/g was originally named the D75 TC/s (for support). However, due to concerns that it could be mistaken for standing for surveillance and hence confused with the D75-TC/r reconnaissance variant, 343 Industries recommended that it be renamed to D75/g, for ground support. One instance of the name D75/s persisted in the final release of Oblivion, at the start of chapter 7, having been missed in proof-reads of the book.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Oblivion