Although Takashi Kurita's hatred of mercenaries, especially Wolf's Dragoons, bordered on madness his son Theodore was more realistic.   Mercenaries had played a part in almost every war in the history of the Inner Sphere, and their utlity in supplementing regular House units could not be ignored.   Theodore secretly commissioned a new Battlemech design shortly after the battle of Luthien, one specifically designed for sale to mercenary units.   It was hoped that this would attract more mercenary units to the Draconis Combine and repair relations that had been damaged by Takashi's thirst for vengeance.

The job to design the new merc 'Mech was given to the Maltex Corporation on Nirasaki, a small manufacturing plant on the border of the Federated Suns.   The engineers at Maltex looked first at what every mercenary unit holds most dear - money.   There are many costs related to 'Mechs even beyond the initial purchase price - general maintenance, supplies, repairs, reloads, and even potential replacement.   They set out to create a design that had very low operating costs with high survivability and the Shishiku was born.

Development and testing of the Shishiku went more smoothly than anyone could have imagined.   Using standard hardware easily accessible anywhere made testing and integration go like a breeze - the only advanced technology used was the double strength heat sinks and those had been in wide production since shortly after the discovery of the Gray Death memory core.   Many of the other components were taken from their existing Hatamoto-Chi design - armor, PPCs, and communications system, among others.   The use of standard building materials and weapons (rather than extended range models) kept the costs down and significantly eased maintenance.   Overall, the development and testing of the Shishiku was determined to be a resounding success.

What kept the project from proceeding to production was the Coordinator himself, Takashi Kurita.   Although Theodore had become the Gunji no Kanrei, Deputy for Military Affairs, he did not feel that it would be wise to further stress his relationship with his father.   Although there was evidence of a stroke that had affected the Coordinator's thinking, he was still the Coordinator and his opinion of mercenaries was widely known.   The prototype was put in storage and the project itself shelved for nearly a decade.   It was only when Theodore became Coordinator that it was pulled out of mothballs and put into production.

Despite the focus on cost effectiveness, the Shishiku certainly didn't suffer in terms of battlefield effectiveness.   Its 95-ton frame carries a frightening battery of energy weapons along with as many double heat sinks as could be shoehorned onto the frame.   The 285-rated Pitban engine drives the 'Mech to a maximum speed of approximately 52 kph, standard for designs in its weight class, and the chassis is protected by 18 tons of standard armor.   This makes it very survivable and quite capable of forming the anchor in any heavy formation.

It is the weaponry that really makes this design shine however.   Again, the designers looked at cost before anything else.   One major recurring cost that mercenary units have to endure is replacing expended ammunition, and a significant cause of 'Mech losses is ammunition explosions.   For this reason they decided to go with an all-energy loadout; while this reduces some flexibility in terms of special ammunition and indirect fire capabilites, the specific energy loadout they decided on was considered "sufficient".

To say the least, the energy batteries are "sufficient".   Each arm contains a Tiegart particle projection cannon, both posing a significant threat to any target.   Each of these are backed up by a pair of Diverse Optics Type 30 large lasers, each one an imposing weapon in its own right.   Together these weapons ar ecapable of stripping a 'Mech of nearly three tons of armor in the matter of a few seconds.   The most significant drawback is the intense heat generated by these weapons, but the Shishiku mounts 21 double strength freezers that can dissipate over 75% of the heat generated.

There are no factory variants of the Shishiku produced.   Despite the commonly available components, sometimes mercenary commands must simply make do with what they have available, resulting in all sorts of odd conglomerations of weapons.

As a mercenary 'Mech, the Shishiku has seen Combat across the Inner Sphere.   It is still rather rare, however, as Maltex doesn't have the manufacturing capacity to build the Hatamoto-Chi and the Shishiku full time.   It is rumored that some examples have made their way into DCMS regular formations, unusual for a design that was developed for and marketed to mercenaries.

It should be noted, however, that these 'Mechs are only sold to units that are currently working for the Combine.   Although it is a relatively low cost design compared to contemporary units of its weight class, almost any 'Mech purchase is a signficant investment.   While some units see a disturbing shadow of the old Company Store syndrome, most see the Shishiku as too great of a prize to pass up.