Okay, let's get it out of the system.
There. That's done with, now on to the article about the Battlemech Shockwave instead of the Transformer.
Yeah, that one. You can tell it's different because it's got two hands.
The Word of Blake Jihad was a brutal time for everyone in the Inner Sphere, but nobody quite took it in the chin like the Free Worlds League, which splintered into numerous microstates after it was revealed that "Thomas Marik" was an imposter.
The Marik-Stewart Commonwealth was one of the stronger of these, but in the years after the Jihad they were still cash-strapped and needed to rebuild both their military and civilian strength. To do this, they decided to design a new Battlemech and sell it as an export model. The SKW-2F Shockwave first walked off the assembly line in 3082 and was immediately sold to everyone in the Inner Sphere not named Steiner.
At 50 tons, the Shockwave was a solid entry into the medium mech category. A 250XL engine propelled it a respectable 5/8 movement while 10 tons of standard armor left it a half ton shy of maximum protection. According to TRO 3085, the Shockwave was built for one purpose: combat. Which distinguishes it from all the Battlemechs that were built for civilian usage? Weird lines aside, it does mount respectable offensive capability, with an ER Large Laser in the left torso and an Artemis-IV enhanced LRM 10 and RAC 5 in the right torso. One ton of ammo in the right torso feeds the missile pod, without the protection of CASE, which doesn't matter much because like far too many TRO 85 mechs, this thing made the absolutely bonkers decision to keep the two tons of RAC ammo in the center torso. Guess Earthwerks was counting on its customers having to buy replacements early and often. A total of 11 double heatsinks provide 22 heat dissipation, enough to cover its weapon heat if you decide to go for maximum spin on the RAC. I'm not sure whether you'd want to avoid that due to the mech's limited ammo or make sure to do that to get rid of the bomb in the center torso.
A year after the Shockwave's debut, a second configuration was also released, the SKW-4G. The Artemis-IV and 11th heatsink are both dropped in order to fit a newly-debuting Large X-Pulse Laser into the left torso where the ER Large had been. Between the loss of the heatsink and the extra heat of the laser, this variant runs a touch warmer than the original.
First showing up in 3102 is the third Shockwave configuration, the SKW-6H. This one keeps the ER Large from the 2F but once again drops the Artemis IV and extra heatsink like the 4G. It also uses an XL Gyro for further weight savings in order to replace the RAC with an Ultra 10. Two tons of ammo feed the autocannon, but this time all three tons of ammo are moved to the left torso and protected by CASE, so you'll at least be able to put this one back together after it goes boom. Heat is a bit worse thanks to the loss of that extra heatsink, but it only generates movement heat if it single-taps with the autocannon. It's also the first Shockwave where all the weapons share basically the same range band.
The final variant is the SKW-8X, which didn't deploy until 3132. It keeps the Ultra 10 in the right torso like the 6H, but the missile pod and laser are dropped in order to cram a Thumper Cannon and a ton of ammo into the left. That's the snub-nosed gun, not the artillery piece. CASE protects the left torso, but the Ultra's two tons of ammo have been relocated to the unprotected right torso. This is... certainly an interesting version. It runs much colder than other Shockwaves, as its stock heatsinks cover its running alpha strike heat and then some. The Thumper gives it good useage against infantry, buildings, battle armor, and things that might be protected by Reflective Armor, but honestly I find myself struggling to figure out what to do with it.
For the most part, the Shockwave is a medium-to-long range fighter. It's only got a few guns, and it doesn't have anything in its arms, so you don't want to let enemies get behind it. The armor is good for its size, but still limited. It's much better as a part of a larger force than working on its own. A good mech, certainly, but probably never a great mech, it rolls along filling a similar role as the Centurion did in battles of old. Except for the 8X, that's the weird one that probably eats crayons when you're not looking and is off doing its own thing hoping it doesn't actually have to fight other mechs.
