Thunderbolt

[DeJaVu]

Type/Model: TDR-11SE Thunderbolt
Mass: 65 tons
Chassis: Earthwerk TDR II Endo Steel
Power Plant: 260 Magna Lite Light Fusion
Walking Speed: 43 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64 km/h
Jump Jets: Chilton 466 Improved
Jump Capacity: 180 meters
Armor Type: Starshield A with CASE Standard
Armament: 1 Ceres Arms Thrasher Snub-Nose PPC
1 Doombud Multi-Missile Launcher 7
3 Diverse Optics ER Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Earthwerks Incorporated
Primary Factory: Keystone
Communications System: Neil 8000 with Guardian ECM
Targeting & Tracking System: RCA Instatrac Mark X with Targeting Computer


Here in the Free Worlds we love our Thunderbolts. It’s one of our main ’Mechs, second only to the Orion in prestige. We conveniently forget that it was originally designed by a Capellan. And we tinker with it. Endlessly.
But then, so does everyone else.
The strain of recent years and the glut of refit facilities has made for some interesting upgrades. The most common one is yet another to the standard mercenary model Thunderbolt. A Capellan snub-nose PPC rides the right-arm weapon mount, backed up by the usual bevy of medium lasers. The cream of the crop, however, is the big Doombud MML system in the toros, combining the old T-bolt’s SRM and LRM launchers into one bay. Endo steel and a light fusion engine save the weight to add these deadly babies and for the sextet of improved jump jets.
The Lyrans have made their newest Thunderbolt a sprinter. MASC gives it burst speeds approaching ninety kilometers per hour, while a Guardian ECM suite protects it from advanced electronics. Although the weapon load is pretty standard—ER PPC, lasers, the usual—the interesting part is this ’Mech’ll be damn near unkillable. A compact engine and a hardened gryo mean you’re going to have to burn out the entire center-mass of the ’Mech to put it down for the count.
There’s a third new variant running around, in very small numbers, and I’d just call it angry. Someone’s taken a bigger engine and made this T-bolt faster; then they added MASC to make it faster. It’s got a 150-meter jump radius. Heavy armor. Triple-strength myomer. It’s a bully. And I haven’t even gotten to the weapons yet.
It’s all energy. A pair of Fusigon snub-nose PPCs. ER medium lasers. Two kinds of pulse lasers. Even a pair of standard small lasers. It’s like the littlest Warhammer. And it’s damn scary, although the XL engine they used to pack all that weaponry on does make it admittedly more susceptible to penetrating damage. I wouldn’t want to face it.