Echo 216

Echo 216
	File:Echo216.jpg
Production information
Manufacturer:	Misriah Armory
Class:	Pelican
Role:	Dropship
Service information
Pilot:	Echo 216's pilot
Affiliation:	United Nations Space Command

"This is UNSC Pelican Echo 216. Can you hear me?"

— Echo 216's pilot tries to hail a friendly signal.^[2]

Echo 216 is a Pelican dropship of the United Nations Space Command Armed Forces.^[2] At some point following the advent of late 2561 it and its pilot, after having been stranded around the remains of a shattered Halo installation for some time, had a chance encounter with John-117 and brought the Spartan-II aboard. Echo 216 was hit with some kind of electronic attack soon thereafter, which led its pilot to evacuate the rear bay so the Master Chief could go on the offensive.^[2]

Operational history

"Warning. Warning. Warning. Pressure building in lines four, seventeen, and thirty-three."

— An automated alert greets Echo 216's pilot as soon as he is jolted awake.^[2]

.

At some point around late 2561 Echo 216 was near a Halo ring when it suddenly shook its pilot awake, who had been asleep in the cockpit.^[2] He was also greeted with warnings notifying him that pressure was building in lines four, seventeen, and thirty-three. The pilot initiated a protocol which caused the warnings to cease, but just then a piece of debris impacted Echo 216's rear, creating a breach. Her pilot rushed to seal it and was successful in doing so. From that point on weeks passed before the Pelican detected a friendly signal. Her pilot hailed it with enthusiasm only to find that the source was a lone Spartan-II warrior—John-117—floating lifelessly just outside the craft's cockpit. He didn't hesitate to bring the Master Chief aboard and attempt to revive him. Rerouting what little power remained to the dropship into the Spartan's Mjolnir armor caused the suit's fusion reactor to respond in kind, suddenly revitalizing some of her depleted onboard systems. Though the pilot was overjoyed at the return of his craft's full interior lighting and the prospect of now having a chance at getting home, neither he nor the Chief had very long to speak before some sort of attack generated electrical discharges within Echo 216 and enveloped it in bright light. The pilot panicked at this and signaled to the Chief that he had witnessed this sort of attack before. He advised that they needed to flee, but John disagreed, instead stating that they needed to fight. At that point, the pilot sealed himself within the cockpit while the Spartan took up a position in the troop bay. The Chief told him to get ready right before the pilot opened the rear hatch so he could go on the offensive.^[2]