: So, across all the Halo games, we never really got to fly the Pelican. In
: Halo Reach, it was available as an easter egg, an awesome bonus for
: hunting down those triggers. But when it came to dogfights over the Ark or
: blasting apart Scarabs or puttering around New Alexandria, we always had
: something else to fly.

: I think this is because the cockpit of a Pelican is a poor fit for the Chief.

: The primary use of a Pelican is to deliver hardware and meat shields when the
: Master Chief needs them. Someone need a Warthog? We deliver. Need
: reinforcements? Drop the hangar doors, and we'll park them in there.
: Running low on ammo? Be sure to stock up with those drop canisters. And
: how many levels end with the Chief stepping into the blood tray to be
: carried to the next level?

: Yes, Pelicans do CAS*, but it's supplementary to their main role as troop
: transport. Tellingly, when it came time to take to the skies, we had
: Hornets and Falcons to fly. Hornets and Falcons are more 'traditional'
: Halo vehicles, because they can carry passengers who help you fight. And
: when we're out of targets, we land and continue fighting, leaving the
: passengers to fend for themselves unless they can keep up.

: *Close air support. Don't leave home without it.

: Now, I know that y'all have been reading this article thinking "What
: about Halo 4? What about Shutdown?" And I'm getting to that.
: When we got to fly an 'alleged' Pelican, it was... different. And, many would
: say, unfulfilling. The Pelican was used solely for the transport of one
: man; there was nothing it had to do that distinguished it from a Falcon or
: a Hornet with a crate of firearms lashed to the deck.

: I think that the, ah, the Pelican was included solely as fanservice, and the
: developers at 343i really struggled with finding something to do with
: it. Eventually, they had to modify it into something it wasn't to make it
: (relatively) interesting to fly. They gave it a boost function so players
: wouldn't get bored flying from one tower to the next. There were these
: sideseats stuck on there like tits on a Sangheili, because... I don't
: know. I just don't know.

: So, if Pelicans deliver troops and support them, can the Chief fly them? Can
: you imagine, as the Chief, dropping off a squad of troops to take a
: Forerunner installation and then supporting them from the air? Let them do
: most of the fighting? The Chief is built to lead, to fight for others.

: To tell the truth, I can see this being a game of its own. As a Pelican
: pilot, you could drop off a squad or two and a Warthog, and then order
: them to their destination. Gun down enemies, direct troopers to cover,
: call down artillery, even fetch supplies the groundpounders can't reach.
: It would be a very Halo style of RTS, that's for sure. Perhaps it could be a
: mobile game centered around a character people care about, like Foehammer?

: Another situation where I can see us flying a Pelican, as the Master Chief
: even, is in a crisis when there isn't anyone to fly a Pelican, and it has
: to be us who take out a dropship and retrieve scattered troops and
: abandoned supplies. Only, Halo 4 was the perfect opportunity for it, and
: nothing even remotely similar took place. I think it's safe to say that we
: won't be seeing the Chief behind the yoke of a Pelican, or doing anything
: fundamentally different from what we've already done in the past four
: mainline games.

: Thoughts?

A fighter like a Longsword or Broadsword would have been a good choice for the level, if it was down to just needing firepower, but fighters are too fast for the maneuvering that was expected. You don't need a jet that whizzes by you need an aircraft with impressive speed yet the maneuverability of a helicopter.

But for the mission at hand, a Hornet or a Falcon would have been too slow a vehicle to maneuver around Phantoms firing, or even to get to the Didact's Cryptum and the Phantoms from the Infinity.

The Pelican was the best choice for just the UNSC air vehicles we've been introduced to.

Besides that, it was Lasky that prepped a Pelican and who was going after the Chief assuming he'd already left and that was Lasky's Pelican that he "let" the Chief have, disobeying orders to do so. The Chief used it because it was ready to fly. And fan service.