Name: Land Mine Deployment System
Cost: $8,000
Weight: 5 Tons
Function: Speed Enhancement
Mounts On: All Terrestrial Zoids
Mount Location:
--On all Zoids of all types, the LMDS mounts to the Zoid's undercarriage. This modification may not be used in conjunction with any other EP Part.
In Brief: This mine layer system allows the Zoid to drop small, camouflaged, high-power land mines with a proximity charge, sure to discourage pursuit.

Weapon Type: Mine Layer
Ammunition: 5 Light Land Mines
Rate of Fire: Semiautomatic

Description: Though the Extra Potential parts line began with the E-Shield, it most certainly never stayed a one-piece line of products. Soon, the E-Shield was joined by the generalized version of the Attack Booster Unit: the Assault Booster. Why stop there, though? These two siblings were soon joined by a third: the Land Mine Deployment System. The concept was both simple and ancient. For as far back as anyone could remember, the warring factions on Zi had utilized land mines, both anti-Zoid and anti-personnel to wreak havoc on each others' ground forces. The idea of mounting one on a Zoid was actually, novel, though. Why? Well, there were a number of reasons. Firstly, it requires hundreds of pounds (maybe as much as a ton) of conventional explosive to guarentee the destruction the toughest of Zoids. While the humble Molga might keel over from a relatively small mine, the not-so-humble Dark Horn might walk over those same mines with impunity. Next, traditionally one hides land mines from the prying eyes of the enemy by burying them. Unless you want to invent self-burrowing mines (before you ask, it was tried, without much success), this is a major problem. If you can see the mine, you can avoid it or destroy it.

Unfortunately for those of us who sleep soundly at night knowing that there is little fear of accidentally stepping over a landmine during the day, the Extra Potential corporation is not so easily discouraged. With recent advances in active camouflage, ECM, and dodging sensors, hiding landmines has become increasingly easy. The Land Mines used in this part are small and are equipped with active camouflage capabilites - that is, they blend into their environment. They are further cloaked from radar (by virtue of looking exactly like anything else on radar), and from IR sensors (by virtue of not being warm bodies). Even the Shadow Fox's Multisensor, usually all-seeing and all-knowing, has a far less than perfect record while going up against these mines. (That's in sanctioned battling. In 0999 or skirmishes, the 'Fox doesn't have the priviledge of tapping the judge's sensors, and has an essentially 0% detection rate.) Generally, the only surefire of seeing the mines is to use a good ol' fashioned metal detector.

So, that brings us to the other problem: explosive power. On Zi, we all know that armor and construction materials progressed faster than weapons, which leads to relative durability of Zoids today. That being said, there have been significant advancements in chemical explosives, and the power of land mines per unit mass has been improved. However, this isn't enough to give you a very small, light land mine that can destroy a Zoid. Instead, the EP corporation made the land mine a directional explosive. When triggered, the mine creates an explosion only 5 meters in radius. However, all of the force of the explosion is directed upwards, and will more often than not take off the leg of the Zoid unfortunately enough to step on the mine. Even Zoids as tough as the Dark Horn will find their limbs in relatively damaged condition after a punch from one of these. Lesser armored Zoids, up to the Blade Liger, might have to worry about loosing the limb.

All that's left to discuss is the mechanism itself. Every time the pilot pulls the "drop mine" trigger, the mechanism drops a landmine. The LMDS has 5 in total. The mine hits the ground, then waits for its parent Zoid to get at least 5 meters. The land mine is then armed. It does not keep track of who its parent Zoid is. It has a proximity fuse of 5 meters: the next object heavier than 500 pounds to get within that distance of it will detonate it.

The Land Mine Deployment System is great for military ventures, but is useful in sanctioned Zoid Battling for getting an annoying opponent off of your tail. It has a downside and an upside. The bad news is, that, like all EP parts, it can't be used with other EP parts. On the plus side, the LMDS is also one of the only EP parts that can be removed after installation, meaning that buying it may not be the last of your business the Extra Potential corporation ever sees...