Covenant drop pod

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The Orbital Insertion Pod is a single-occupant, Covenant-manufactured, high-altitude deployment vehicle. It is roughly cylindrical in shape, but with two tapered, slightly angular ends. It is made of burnished cyan-purple metal, but has an opulent, white interior with a contour that conforms to the physique of a Covenant Sangheili. Upon impact with the ground, the pod splits into two halves, revealing the interior and allowing the Sangheili inside to exit.

Overview
When the Covenant decide to capture a planet rather than simply glassing it from orbit, they use orbital insertion pods to drop Sangheili to the planet's surface as shock troops. Use of these pods is very hazardous, and is reserved only for critical situations, or when a surprise attack is necessary. It is theorized that the pods are coated with an energy shield to disperse heat, and are armored to withstand anti-air flak cannon fire. The vaguely coffin-shaped pods are small and cramped, with barely enough room for one Sangheili and his weapon, and there appear to be no restraints or other devices inside. It is probable that a stasis field holds the Sangheili safely in place during impact. Upon landing, the front of the pod blows off to allow exit.

Appearances
These pods made their first appearance in the Halo 2 E3 Demo, where Sangheili came down and openly challenged John-117 with Energy Swords. In the games, they first appear in the Halo 2 level Outskirts and subsequently were evident around New Mombasa during the Battle of Earth. They also appear in the levels Sacred Icon, Quarantine Zone, and Uprising, occupied by allies of Thel 'Vadamee.

They also appear in the Halo 3 level Floodgate, sent by the Shadow of Intent to aid John-117 and Thel 'Vadam against the Flood infestation in Voi. The impact is hard enough to break the occupying Elite's energy shield once it hits the ground.

They make an appearance in the E3 2010 Halo: Reach demo. They appear to be more rounded and bulky than the previous versions. An even larger variant of the pod makes an appearance in the Halo: Reach Welcome to Firefight 2.0 Trailer, deploying Jiralhanae in the map Waterfront. This pod has three rocket boosters on its underside to cushion its fall, and three hatches on each side that slide upwards instead of blowing open. Once the hatches are open, the openings are also protected by energy fields.

Trivia

 * In Halo 3, one may enter the pods on the level Floodgate when playing on Co-Op as the second, third, or fourth player (a Sangheili), provided the pods are not shot at all. If the player approaches one and holds the Right Bumper, he can jump into the pod, as if it were a vehicle.
 * The drop pods resemble ancient Egyptian sarcophagi; the posture of the Sangheili inside (arms crossed) resembles the posture of the mummified remains placed within Egyptian coffins.

List of appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo 3
 * Halo: Reach