Designed and constructed from 3056 to 3058, the rare "Hopper" has proven itself a vicious and tenacious combatant. Fast and exceptionally maneuverable, the Earthwerks design appears in several mercenary companies across the Sphere. Although the design enjoyed only an extremely limited production run, it has proven popular with small, tight-knit units that must field light mechs for tactical flexibility (but have few pilots to expend on cannon-fodder designs).

There are a variety of points in Hopper's favor for such units. Mounting only a single energy weapon, the Hopper is easy to maintain and supply. Pilots adore the design's agility and compact target profile, and some greatly enjoy the breakneck land speed. Perhaps the most telling, the extremely powerful attitude-controlled jump jets guarantee that a smart mechwarrior can protect the unit's investment by leaping away from danger when pressed.

One peculiarity of the design is the eerie accuracy of the pulse laser after a jump. While the rapid-fire nature of the weapon naturally helps to balance out the inherent instability of a jumping battlemech, some credit the Maxell target-tracking system. While this system is of no special note and certainly nothing on par with the Clan targeting computer or Inner Sphere copies thereof (indeed, both the comm and tracking systems are merely recycled from Galleon light tanks, a contribution by a designer related to the CEO of Brooks, Inc), many pilots remain adamant and swear by the system.

As the Hopper was not mass-manufactured, finding reliable battle reports can be difficult. One incident is notable both for the performance of the Hopper and the general circumstances, however.

In 3059, Colonel Waco's Rangers were contracted to help pin down a bothersome group of bandits raiding the peripheral edges of Lyran/Federated Commonwealth territory. Having run the bandits to ground on an uninhabited rock of a planetoid, both the Rangers and Steiner garrison units were closing in for the kill, each anxious to claim the credit for themselves. The bandits panicked and scattered all over the terrain, leaving their glory-hounding pursuers with little choice but to follow suit or risk losing the prize. In all the confusion, a Rangers' Hopper traded nearly a minute's worth of fire with a Steiner Marauder-5S before respective commanders could straighten out the misunderstanding. Although grazed by pulse fire from its larger antagonist, the Hopper found itself constantly able to jump behind the "enemy" titan and carve into its weaker rear armor. Once ordered to cease fire it was determined that the Hopper had given the Marauder the worst of the engagement, trading respectable internal damage for only minor armor loss.

As a result of the engagement, the Rangers and the Steiner garrison forces came to an agreement; although the repairs to the Marauder came out of the Rangers' contract, the exchange was a clear success for the design. This particular Hopper went on to exterminate the bandit pests, but was regrettably lost in one of the Rangers' pointless skirmishes with Wolf's Dragoons some years later.

(Fluff by Denise)