Heavy insertion pod

Were you looking for the standard Covenant Orbital Insertion Pod?

Heavy Orbital Insertion Pod

The Heavy Orbital Insertion Pod is a larger variant of the standard single-occupant Orbital Insertion Pod, which deploys troops in the pod from ships low orbit into the battle zone. It operates similarly to the standard Insertion Pod, but has the capacity to drop four Covenant warriors into battle simultaneously.

Overview
The Heavy Orbital Insertion Pod is the larger version of the standard Orbital Insertion Pod. It has a pyramidal shape, with a large hatch on each of the three sides. The pod most likely drops from ships, and freefalls through the atmosphere the same way the standard version does. It appears that when the Heavy Orbital Insertion Pod is nearing the ground, it fires three engines which are in the corners on the bottom of the pod to slow it down. The engines continue to slow the pod, until it reaches the ground. The hatches on the three sides of the pod start to open when the pod is several meters above ground. This variant is used by the Covenant to get troops, and possibly small vehicles, to the ground faster and in greater numbers. It was first sighted during the Fall of Reach, but possibly used in other battles.

Trivia

 * The Heavy Orbital Insertion Pod was first seen in the Halo: Reach Welcome to Firefight 2.0 Trailer.
 * It's possible to be splattered by the Heavy Orbital Insertion Pod if you are unfortunate enough to be under it when it descends onto the battlefield.
 * It is also possible to get stuck at the top of the Pod as the three doors open, with the the player's death the only way out.
 * If your playing on an outdoors map on Firefight, a pod may end up dropping in during wave 2, 3, or 4 where they release either 4 Fuel Rod Gun wielding Grunts, Brutes with Concussion Rifles, or Ultra Elites with Plasma Repeaters.
 * The pod seems to have energy shields, which probably gives any organism in the pod to be shielded from enemy threats outside of the pod.
 * Covenant troops come out of the pod by walking/jumping through the shield. If a(n) ally/enemy were to reenter the pod they wouldn't be allowed to. This is either for gameplay reasons or that the energy shielding on the pod is similiar to the one-way shield in the forge objects of Forge 2.0.
 * In Firefight of Halo: Reach, it is possible to get in a drop pod. If the player stands exactly where the pod lands, they will go right through the bottom and into the pod, if it lands on them. However, they cannot get out of the drop pod until it disappears or if they commit suicide.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Reach