Combine Dropship

Resembling crab-like creatures, dropships are used by Combine forces to quickly send infantry to areas they are needed by air. Dropships are commonly encountered on the coast, sending Combine infantry in troop carriers to attack rebel outposts.

The front and two rearmost pairs of legs contain the engines that give the dropship lift and movement. The front two legs also hold retractable wings, used for maneuvering. The middle four legs end in large, posssibly magnetic, gripping pads, and are used to carry various forms of cargo. The pads are identical to the mouths of lampreys.

Dropships are very useful transport craft for the combine, being able to quickly transport infantry (most commonly), Combine APCs, Striders, and Civil Protection officers to stop refugees traveling along the Canals. Dropships are also seen dropping rollermines on the coast, which makes it evident that the Combine use dropships as minelayers, a very efficient way of preventing resistance forces from traveling by road.

Dropships themselves are unarmed, and don't attack the player. However, the troop containers carried by dropships sport a mounted Pulse turret on the front, designed to suppress any opposition in front of the ship, allowing the occupants to deploy safely. However, if you position yourself correctly in front of the dropship bay, the turret won't be able to fire at you. However, you cannot attack the troops as they spawn one at a time and are invulnerable to damage until they are on the ground, although the carrier itself is not. Rockets can be used to shoot down the pod that the dropship carries, but it requires many hits to destroy it, and an ammo crate of rockets should be close if this is to be attempted.