The J. Edgar is one of the few vehicles produced by the now-defunct Alphard Trading Corporation.   To expand its market and increase profits, ATC decided to make a number of vehicles, military and civilian, to sell to any world, government, or person willing to buy them.   Although the vehicles sold fairly well in early years, the diversification failed as the years passed.   Fewer and fewer vehicles were sold, until finally ATC closed down all manufacturing facilities.
         The J. Edgar was the last military vehicle that the Alphard Trading Corporation produced.   Designed as a cheap, fast, effective fighter, the J. Edgar was only a marginal success.   The fairly small hovercraft sported two small missile units that were fairly effective.   Unfortunately, military buyers wanted more from their vehicles, and so the J. Edgar lost popularity and was eventually pulled from the market.   Although now rare, they are not highly valued.

         The J. Edgar is a sturdy lightweight hovercraft.   Utilizing a fusion engine popular in its time, the J. Edgar can travel as fast as almost any hovercraft available in the Inner Sphere.   As fusion engines have become almost unattainable, however, the Leenex plant is usually stripped out for use in more worthwhile military vehicles.   Internal combustion engines usually replace the original fusion engine.
         The Harvester Corporation had been making weapon systems even before the Alphard Trading Corporation existed.   In fact, at the time the J. Edgar was produced, the Harvester SRM 2 Rack was one of the most popular missile systems available, which is why these weapons were mounted instead of another weapons system.   The missile racks are fairly effective against vehicles, but do not pose much of a threat to a 'Mech.
         The original StarSlab armor is still used on some J. Edgars, but most Techs strip the more valuable StarSlab for use on 'Mechs. The popular (and less expensive) Protectech armor usually replaces this armor.
         Other pieces of equipment include the Alphard Original Two Communications System and the TracTex Alpha-1 Targeting and Tracking System.   Because these two systems are Alphard Trading Corporations originals, they are obsolete and replacement parts are difficult to find.   Like the armor, more popular systems replace the original.

         Little battle history is known about the J. Edgar because the vehicle was popular long ago.   Nevertheless, there is one account that has become a legend.   The truth behind this story has never been verified.
         During an unknown battle on an unknown planet, the commander of a group of J. Edgar hovercraft was commanded to assault a force obviously much stronger than his.   The exact composition of the enemy varies from storyteller to storyteller, but one version includes 20 Atlases, 27 'Mechs of various sizes, and even a giant mobile weapons platform.   The typical version, however, is that the unit of 12 J. Edgars attacked a unit of 30 larger, slower tanks.   The enemy unit had encamped in a large clearing inside a ring of trees.   Unfortunately for the J. Edgar commander, the enemy unit was too far away to be bombarded, and there was no artillery or air support available. Not wanting to disappoint his superior officers or to get a court-martial, he ordered an all-out attack.
         The enemy unit was not prepared for the J. Edgars' rapid onslaught.   While the tanks were momentarily confused, the hovercraft moved inside the minimum range of the tanks guns and missiles.   At that point-blank range, they targeted their attacks against vulnerable points on the tanks.   The J. Edgar commander himself accounted for over a dozen enemy tanks.
         Stunned by the brave attack, the enemy tanks retreated from their position, only to be destroyed when their own DropShip miscalculated its landing trajectory and came down on top of them.

         Variants of the J. Edgar usually replace the missile systems with quad machine guns and sometimes flamers.   The J. Edgar is so old, however, that if the weapons are damaged, the whole vehicle is usually sold for parts.

         Roebinood
         Roebinood is the famous commander referred to in the above tale.   There are many tales involving Roebinood and his men, but most are simply fantasies told to amuse children.