Battle bus (Zero Hour)

"Okay now, where are we going next?"

- Battle Bus

The battle bus was a GLA heavy infantry transport appeared later in the War against the GLA.

Background
The battle bus was an armoured bus that enabled the transported infantry to fire out of its windows, making it both an armoured troop transport and a mobile bunker. Even after the battle bus' engine was destroyed, the structure of the bus would remain intact, allowing it to be used as a stationary bunker. Once the bus has been immobilized, all infantry units inside of it will have their health reduced to 50% and if the bus is destroyed entirely, the units inside will be killed.

Upgrades
Note: any upgrades applicable to the infantry unit riding inside the battle bus will still be applied.

Salvage
Like most GLA vehicles, thee battle bus benefitted from armour plates salvaged off the battlefield. When upgraded once, its battered frame is noticeably patched up and improved some durability. The second improvement added an intimidating ram to the front, further increasing the bus' durability and allowing the battle bus to crush infantry.

In-game
The effectiveness of the Battle Bus depended greatly on which infantry units were inside of it. They were also vulnerable to tanks if fully loaded with rebels, or missile-armed infantry if all were RPG troopers.

Its ability to gain a second life after its first health bar emptied made fighting a group of battle buses a very rough experience. If the battle buses were dealing serious damage to a building or unit while mobile, they were more than likely going to finish the job once they went into their bunker stage.

Despite its heavy armour and lethal attacks when loaded out with RPG Troopers, the battle bus stood no chance against most fast-moving aircraft, as they would bomb it into oblivion and retreat before the rockets could even scratch them.

In spite of its lethality up close, the battle bus was very vulnerable to long-ranged attacks. Nuke cannons in particular can easily eliminate one, killing its driver and passengers if it was armed with neutron shells. While the battle bus' ability to become a makeshift bunker was useful in defense, it meant that it was no longer elibible for further engagements elsewhere.

Changelog

 * Zero Hour patch 1.03:
 * transported units can now directly target air units
 * speed decreased from 75 to 70
 * occupied battle buses can no longer be captured by hijackers

Trivia

 * The battle bus has the habit of flying a short distance before turning into a bunker.
 * Its design influenced the Nod Reckoner in Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, which is almost identical in function, except that the battle bus cannot deploy into a bunker at will, the battle bus will be repaired to full health after being "destroyed" and deployed into a bunker (whereas the Reckoner will have half the health after taking certain damage), and if no infantry garrisoned inside after being destroyed, the battle bus will vanish instantly.
 * Prince Kassad's battle bus was supposed to get the disguise ability of the bomb truck, allowing it to disguise as any other vehicle on the battlefield. If this variant is placed in the Worldbuilder or enable it by INI editing, the disguise ability does nothing, and infantry cannot get out of the bus as the related buttons are absent for some reason.
 * Rodall Juhziz was supposed to have his own version of the battle bus called the demolition battle bus, and some of the cut quotes suggest that it was able to drop demo traps. Only the quotes remain in the Zero Hour files.