Finally, after this long, I can tell you how the Iron Cheetah came to be fully canonized, and how it was ordained by the universe to be. Last summer, when the Rec Guides were jut beginning to be released, jymset and I were having a chat. I don't remember the exact details, but we were discussing the Dominator, whose entry I had written, and how it was used to sort of lure Wolf's Dragoons to join the Wolf Clan. The subject changed to the Rec Guide series in general, and jymet mentioned that he needed one more Clan assault 'Mech in the 90-100 ton range. I immediately offered the Iron Cheetah.
At first he said, no this isn't the right time to try reintroducing old magazines 'Mechs. So I said maybe Alaric is resurrecting it to try lure the Fidelis to join him, and reestablish Clan Smoke Jaguar. That got a response. Hour of the Wolf was still several months away and I had no insider knowledge of it, but my suggestion slotted in so perfectly with it that jymset sent the idea up the ladder. After a bit of back and forth, it was approved.
Now, the actual "meant to be part". Several months down the line, I'm writing the Iron Cheetah and jymset contacts me with a Kickstarter pilot. We've been adding these to Rec Guide entries whenever we can, so it was nothing unusual. Except that this person had had requested that his notable pilot be his friend, who has passed. Names always escape me so I can't give the full account, but he said that his friend had long been involved in Battletech, and had even designed a 'Mech that had been printed in an old magazine. That 'Mech was, of course, the Iron Cheetah. It was already going to happen anyway, but this little twist of serendipity told me that we'd done the right thing. The notable pilot, Canis Dirus, is the man who gave us the Iron Cheetah, and it was my pleasure to usher it into the new era for him.
Now, go pester IWM for the mini!
