Name: Troop Pod
Cost: $2,500
Weight: 3 Tons
Function: Infantry Transport
Mounts On: All Aerial Zoids(*2), All Terrestial Level 1 and Level 2 Zoids(*2), and Heldigunner(*2), Raynos(*3), Shield Liger(*2), King Liger(*2), Gul Tiger(*2), Gorhecks(*2)
Mount Location:
--On all Zoids, this modification replaces a standard missile pod, be it Air-to-Air or Surface-to-Air Missile Pod. This modification replaces the aforementioned missile pod. One Troop Pod can be used with One Missile Pod (or two, in the case of the Raynos). The Raynos may also carry Two Troop Pods and One Missile Pod.
In Brief: The Troop Pod is a sizable armored compartment housing a squad of your faction's combat soldiers.

Description: Shocking as it may sound, troops can be extremely useful in the course of a battle. The earliest protohuman found this out when he tried having a friend help him beat up his rivals. The earliest generals found this out when they realized that yelling to an empty battlefield wasn't terribly effective. The earliest Zoid pilots found this out when they'd CSFed the enemy Zoid but the enemy pilot sat stubbornly in his cockpit with his arms crossed. Troops can't move trains, no, and aren't terribly effective against armor in small numbers and without preparation, but they can still be exceedingly useful on the field of battle.

The inside of a Troop Pod is very simple. It has a squad of your faction's soldiers (usually 10, in this case) armed with primarily anti-infantry weapons. They have whatever your faction's standard soldier's armament is -- usually assault rifles of some persuasion, a few grenades, and heavy body armor. Assault rifles, and even heavier battle rifles and machine guns, aren't terribly helpful against armored Zoids. However, they're very helpful against pilots. Any pilot who's ever encountered a situation where their opponent has been CSFed but is insisting on defending his cockpit with his life knows just how important this can be.

The troop pod itself has armor half again as thick as the standard armor of the Zoid (to a minimum of a Rev Raptor's standard armor, in the case of unarmored Zoids). It takes the troops a full round to deploy from the Troop Pod, as the positioning of a missile pod is often such that it's not in contact with the ground. Opponents gain no extra points for killing or capturing these soldiers. If any soldiers die or are captured during a mission, they are replaced at no cost to you. Soldiers cannot be rearmed, ejected, or undeployed easily during a battle.

It's that simple. The mod itself is pretty cheap, and it can do you a world of good... and can tip the favor if the battle happens to end in a tie. Is it worth the $2,500? Well, that's for you to decide.