D96-TCE Albatross
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
The Albatross Heavy Dropship is a Heavy-lift dropship of the United Nations Space Command.
Background
The Albatross is probably capable of holding about four times as much cargo as the Pelican dropship. It is usually used to drop vehicles and UNSC personnel en masse to a site. When dropping its cargo, three sides of the cargo tray open up to allow vehicles and personnel to leave the cargo tray. It's good for emergency back-up and dropping supplies and ammunition.
Appearances of the Albatross
The Albatross is visible only as concept art in the book The Art of Halo. However, the cargo tray of the Albatross is visible on the Halo 2 multiplayer map Relic, where it is crashed on one of Relic's beaches, and on the Halo 3 multiplayer map Sandtrap, where again, only the cargo tray is visible. In Relic, the rear section of the cargo bay is open, and a Warthog can be seen on a ramp leading to its innards. Although there is only one Warthog, the rear's interior looks large enough to fit 3-4 Warthogs, or a Scorpion Tank. On Sandtrap the crashed Albatross was carrying a Missile Pod and a Regenerator.
Another theory, although less prevalent, is that the Albatross could be a mobile command post. It is used as such on Relic, being the base for one of the teams. It may also be able to perform transport and command post roles alternatively, switching between the two.
Known Albatross class dropships
- 03, Attached to the UNSC Aegis Fate.
Trivia
- The Albatross's appearance may have been inspired by the dropships in the Paul Verhoeven sci-fi war movie, Starship Troopers.
[This bit of "trivia" is not trivia, but mere speculation]
