Misriah D-79 Stork

"Sometimes, I wonder who brought this flying bucket into reality." -Anonymous UNSC Marine Corps Stork Pilot

The M113 Stork is one of four successors to the Pelican and Albatross dropships and the second largest. Its large payload makes it a formidable dropship.

Description
The M113 Stork is one of four successors to the previous two dropships, the Pelican and Albatross. At first, the Stork was intended to transport large amounts of soldiers to friendly bases behind the lines, which is the reason why it originally lacked thick armor or weaponry. In its debut in 2579, it was used exactly for that. However, in 2583, the role of the Stork was changed, and hardpoints were installed on all models, along with a thicker hull and weak shielding system, though the latter is used only on about 40% of models due to cost. Though the Pelican out maneuvers the Stork, the M113 is revered for its large cargo capacity, as it can supply bases with a larger ammount of munitions and vehicles than the Pelican or Albatross, but less than its larger sister, the M114 Crane VTOL Heavy Dropship. In the Stork's true tests, the Miner's Rebellion and Kongo War, the dropship preformed very well, managing to fill the niche the previous dropships left open, along with its sisters. These four new dropships are planned to be in use through 2650. One issue the Stork faced, however, was that it was a very easy target because of its size. Due to its large, hollow cargo bay, the M113 has been nicknamed the Flying Bucket or Great Flying Bucket.

Weapons Systems
"Looks like the Bucket made some friends." -Anonymous UNSC Serviceman

The M113 Stork has no single standard weapons system. Instead, there are multiple options that can be installed, depending on necessity. There is a total of seven hardpoints: on the chin of the cockpit, on the lower left of the front face of the cargo bay, on the lower right of the front face of the cargo bay, two on the port face of the cargo bay, and two on the starboard side of the cargo bay. Normally, however, Stork Dropships have an average of 3-5 of these filled, though some have all seven being utilized, and some may only use the chin gun. The following is an incomplete list of available weaponry:


 * .50 caliber dual-barrel chain gun (both guns fire at the same time, not alternating)
 * 70mm calibre gatling gun
 * M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle (Rare)
 * M68 Gauss Cannon (Chin Only)(Rare)
 * ANVIL-II Air-to-Surface Missile
 * Porholes can be installed on sides of cargo bay with retractable windows for manned .50 cal Machine Guns.