Improved Bimodal Conversion System
Introduced: 2825
Long considered a technological dead end by the SLDF, the bimodal conversion system gained a new lease on life in the Bastion, specifically with its vast, spread out spacer community, who considered the intermediate airmech mode of standard LAMs to be an unnecessary complication to the design process. It was not long after the Bastion had been established that its major Spacer communities resurrected the once abandoned Cosmos and Shadow Hawk LAMs as part of their security forces, and the spacers would continue to research improvements to the system.
Unfortunately, a lack of funds, or any sort of unified research program on the part of the spacer community, would delay real progress for decades, with the first LAMs equipped with the Improved Bimodal Conversion System not entering service until 2825. And even then, the results were somewhat disappointing. Despite lacking the option for an airmech mode entirely, the bimodal system still requires essentially the same amount of equipment as a "standard" trimodal conversion system, which meant the hoped for greater efficiency over standard LAMs never manifested. Though it still weighs roughly the same, the simpler conversion system does offer some advantage in maintenance and reliability, however.
Even if the system hasn't quite lived up to the hopes and dreams of its designers, the major Belter communities have still fully adopted it, deploying hundreds of upgraded Cosmos and Shadow Hawk LAMs among their defense forces.
Game Rules: An Improved Bimodal Conversion System takes up ten percent of the mech's total mass, but otherwise functions identically to the standard rules for Bimodal LAMs
