Name: Cockpit Armor
Cost: $1,000
Weight: Variable (1-5 Tons)
Function: Supplementary Defense/Shielding
Mounts On: All Zoids
Mount Location:
--Mounts over the cockpit on all Zoids.
In Brief: Cockpit Armor is a wartime modification that expands Zoid armor coverage to protect the generally exposed cockpit of the Zoids, thereby preventing a cheap cockpit shot to end the battle quickly.

Description: There are no rules in war. It may have been a great many years since the days of Republic and Empire, but wartime necessity dominated every aspect of Zoid construction in that ancient era. The practices of Zoid construction eventually became standards, and then tradition... and even after many long years the old ways manifest themselves in the oddest places... the wheels and cockpit armor on the Molga, an anachronism, but stubbornly consistent throughout the ages. The time came, though, when man forgot why he had once placed armor over the Molga's cockpit and scoffed at the folly of the ancients, and peeled back the metal coffin of the pilots, congratulating themselves on their enlightment when they realized that bullet-proof plexiglass and plastics would afford the pilot good protection with much better visibility.

But one day, at the dawn of the chaotic age, war returned to Planet Zi. Suddenly, the cockpit glass that had served so well to protect in sanctioned Zoid battles seemed so poor a protection against men desperate and fighting for their lives. While a standard, exposed cockpit might protect its mortal pilot against small arms and small caliber Zoid rounds, a hit from an explosive weapon or a Gun Sniper's cannon might quickly send the factional pilot to join the choir invisible. Clearly, this is unacceptable.

Fortunately, there's a solution -- one that no one had to look hard to find. Armor the cockpit. In a further fortunate development for the factional pilots of Zi, armor itself is nearly free. Unfortunately, covering the cockpit with iron tends to cut off the view that one enjoys through the transparent cockpit glass. The $1,000 surcharge is not for the armor but is instead overwhelmingly for high resolution cameras and display screens that coat the outside and inside, respectively, of the armor -- still a base bargain price, barely visible against most requistion limits. The armor plate is half again as tough as the normal armor coating the Zoid. If it should be a Zoid without an exposed cockpit, such as the Molga or Saurer series, the existing armor around the cockpit is toughened.

Interestingly, the armor plate itself is removable as a single plate, which is useful if the Zoid doubles as a sanctioned Zoid Battling contestant. Note that there is a mild loss in visibility, which when combined with the modest price, does drive a few to skip over this mod. However, on the most part, any soldier who wishes to stay alive will bring cockpit armor.