With the Clan defeat on Tukayyid, it was not surprising that the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere would be scrambling to design new, more powerful mechs to combat the Clan threat.   With only 15 years of truce, the House lords had very little time to design mechs that could equal, or at least hold their own, against their powerfully armed Clan adversaries.   Many programs were adopted, some successful, some not.

The SHN-2K Shiden, English translation "Violet Lightning," is among the more successful designs.   Centered around an effective, powerful medium range punch, the Shiden carries a quartet of PPCs, and has the heatsinks to put them to use.   The prototype was completed by Luthien Armor Works in July of 3054, and the first production model came off the lines in April of the following year.

The SHN-2K Shiden is a new design, utilizing an Endo Steel Chassis that was designed from the ground up.   Designated the Type XVI Mk. IX, this chassis is reinforced to allow the use of jump jets.   The chassis layout allows for easy maintainence and should be easily adaptable.

Armour protection for the Shiden is nothing short of impressive.   The deisgners provided the 'mech with the heaviest amount, some 17.5 tons, of ArcShield VII Mk 5 armour the chassis would support.   This combined with a CASE system ensures that the Shiden can remain operational even after taking a tremendous amount of punishment.

The Shiden is powered by a 270 GM Fusion engine that gives a maximum speed of just under 55 kph.   While much slower than the Clan mechs it will be facing, the trade-off of speed for more armor and firepower seemed a wise decision.   To help with manueverability problems, the designers added in a trio of Icarus 81 Jump Jets, which allow the Shiden access to places most assault mechs simply cannot go.

The main armament of the Shiden consists of a battery of 4 Lord's Light PPCs.   This heavy battery can be fired all at one time, but at the costs of suffocating heat build-up for the pilot.   However, if the battery hits, it almost ensures that the pilot will have an opportunity to cool his mech before his adversary can recover balance and effectively return fire.   The main battery is backed up by a pair of Victory Heatbeat Medium Pulse Lasers and a Guided Technologies 2nd Generation Streak SRM4.   These weapons help to offset the PPCs minimum range weakness, should an adversary survive long enough to get within that minimum range.

The Shiden is deployed only with House Kurita.   Only small numbers have been delivered to date, but it is felt that more will certainly be fielded in the near future.   These mechs are going to proven, veteran units, as is evidenced by the appearance of 4 Shidens among the ranks of the 2nd Sword of Light.