The King Cheetah was one of the first wave of 'redeemed' totem designs developed by the resurrected Clan Smoke Jaguars in the aftermath of the ilClan Trials. It is also something of a deliberate slap to the face aimed at Clan Hell's Horses, as several in that Clan were less than gracious upon learning of the Jaguar's return. Perhaps also it should not come as a surprise that during the initial production of the Horse's own Buraq - at the time, the fastest ground-mobile Battle Armor in existence - that a few of their Elementals had quipped about it being far superior to even a cheetah. A less than subtle jab at two Clans they thought dead and buried. It should also not then come as a surprise either, that those in the Fidelis held to their oaths, but remembered every slur spoken, and remembered well. After their reveal and regaining of their status, they swiftly took stock of what was available to them now that Terra's massive industrial might was theirs to use. Then, they got devious, and one could even say that they played dirty.
Not only were the Smoke Jaguars going to out-do the Buraq, but they decided to use a design that used an easily produced Inner Sphere tech based chassis. One that could be manufactured for two-thirds the cost, in half the time, and only then add Clan designed armor and armaments. In short, what normally would be considered an 'inferior' design by hardliners in the Clans, would instead be deliberately and mockingly used to showcase superior engineering, tactics, and sheer pragmatism, in rolling out a design that in nearly every way possible, made the Buraq obsolete.
Technically both units share an identical groundspeed, although each King Cheetah's maintenance teams are downright fanatical speedfreaks in finding all kinds of ways to get 105% performance out of 'their baby', just enough tweaks to always edge out a Buraq in a straightaway sprint or 'die trying'. As such, the King Cheetah can be moved around on the battlefield in nearly an identical fashion, but with one exception. Unlike the Buraq, a King Cheetah will survive a hit from an Inner Sphere large laser and still have a chance at getting away or to it's objective. Another change is that the basic design focuses on pinpoint accuracy and to rapidly deliver damage over a very short time, a must considering the speeds it is meant to go at. This was done via installing the very smallest of anti-'Mech grade pulse lasers along the spine in a special shock-absorptive mount. And just behind that, and part of the canopy for the miniaturized cockpit, rests an enhanced short range missile launcher with one missile already in the tube and a reload to either side of it. This combination of additional range, and the higher likelihood of landing hits on target, can generally run its competitor to ground in short order, and already - if only partially metaphorically - said competition with be limping before it even gets into it's own range. It is only with the Buraq's least commonly deployed Support variant, that gives it comparable range and a slightly superior punch.
Then again, the Interdictor variant of the King Cheetah is meant as both counter to that model, while also being an overall dedicated Battle Armor killer, in mounting a one-shot long range quadruple tubed missile launcher, and a flamer - the one weapon feared above all others by all but a handful of armored infantry currently fielded. Battle Armor facing it must play a dangerous game of dashing in and out of their maximum range or risk a massive counterattack followed by waves of focused plasma. Lastly, the Night Operations/Sniper or 'Stalker' Variant as its pilot refer to it, carries both an Anti-Personnel Gauss and a reverse-engineered Firedrake - specs taken as spoils of war from Clan Wolf's invasion of Tharkad, then passed on to the Smoke Jaguars. A subtly placed set of microphones in the unit's 'head' give it extremely good passive audio listening range, and are generally used when in minimal power mode while motionless or nearly so. Many an insurgent camp have been taken out in moments, completely unaware that a King Cheetah followed one of their personnel back to their hideouts. While a poor comparison to a seismic sensor, let alone a true active probe, the system is sensitive enough to hear virtually any combustion within two kilometer's distance, so long as they're pointed in the right direction.
King Cheetah BattleArmor
Type: King Cheetah
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Tech Base: Mixed (Experimental)
Chassis Type: Quad
Weight Class: Medium
Maximum Weight: 1,000 kg
Battle Value: 327
Swarm/Leg Attack/Mechanized/AP: No/No/No/No
</p>
Equipment Slots Mass
Chassis: 175 kg
Motive System:
Ground MP: 7 120 kg
Jump MP: 0 0 kg
Manipulators:
Left Arm: None 0 kg
Right Arm: None 0 kg
Armor: Standard (Basic) 0 200 kg
Armor Value: 9 (Trooper)
Slots
Weapons and Equipment Location (Capacity) Mass
BA Myomer Booster Body 3 83.333 kg
Micro Pulse Laser Body 1 160 kg
Advanced SRM 1 Body 2 60 kg
Advanced SRM 1 Ammo (3) Body 1 30 kg
Interdictor Variant
Slots
Weapons and Equipment Location (Capacity) Mass
BA Myomer Booster Body 3 83.333 kg
Flamer Body 1 150 kg
LRM 4 (OS) Body 3 100 kg
Night Operations / Sniper Variant
Slots
Weapons and Equipment Location (Capacity) Mass
BA Myomer Booster Body 3 83.333 kg
Gauss Rifle Body 1 200 kg
Needler Body 1 50 kg
Shotgun Microphone Body 1 5 kg
EDIT:
Minor note, since I am forever confused about how AP Modular Mounts work, and that I've had DMs/GMs say both yes & no on this matter. If your GM/DM says if it mounts a APMount, even if there's no Kg left, and will allow a AP weapon? Switch the last variant to carry an APMount. If they say it requires at least 0.01kg left 'free' on the BA, in order to carry anything on the APMount at all, even if it comes with one, then don't bother, and just keep the shotgun mic.
EDIT #2:
Thanks to Sabelkatten (see below) I spotted an error that previously showed the main version having zero ammunition. It was a bug, as if you'd added it all up due to the bug, it's be 35kg short, which is enough for 3 shots, and then be 5kg underweight. Its now showing the correct number of stored ammo shots.
