Riva Juro’s Mercenary Profiles: The Kell Hounds 12/10/3133
INN - Interstellar News Network
In 3010, two “spoiled rich kids playing at soldiering” arrived on Galatea and
immediately assembled a crack team of technicians as the first step of their master
plan to build a fearsome new mercenary regiment. The gambit worked, drawing some
of the most experienced warriors of the day to their banner, and before long, from
such humble beginnings, the Kell Hounds were born. Known far and wide not only
for their elite skills, but also their strong identification with the Lyran state and House
Steiner, as well as their role as hosts of Clan Wolf (in-Exile) and their rumored ties to
a secret society known simply as Heimdall, the Kell Hounds have been the focus of
countless holodramas, newsvid articles, and history books. Anyone who’s anyone in
the mercenary business has heard of the Kell Hounds, and chances are some even got
their start through some association with these elite soldiers of fortune.
The Kell Hounds’ early history includes some of the most pivotal battles of the 31st
century, from the Battle for Mallory’s World, where Prince Ian Davion died, to their
role in safeguarding Archon-designate Melissa Steiner during the Fourth Succession
War. During the Clan Invasion, they fought the Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats to a
standstill alongside the Wolf’s Dragoons and House Kurita’s elite forces on Luthien,
and took part in the final battles of the Invasion with several actions alongside the
troops of the reborn Star League. During the FedCom Civil War, they sided with
deposed Archon Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, and helped win back the Lyran capital
of Tharkad for Archon Peter Steiner-Davion. Alongside the Exiled Wolves, their allies
since the Falcon-Wolf Refusal War, they survived and won countless battles during
the Jihad, and once more provided safe haven to their fellow warriors in the Wolf’s
Dragoons.
When one visits the Kell Hounds’ holdings on Arc-Royal, particularly the palace
owned by the Kell family, its founders and leaders since Morgan and Partick Kell
themselves, one can see everywhere the pride and history of this unit. Like the Wolf’s
Dragoons and the 21st Centauri Lancers, their reputation is among the purest one can
find, with high standards of conduct on and off the battlefield. Also apparent are their
links to the Steiner family and the Wolf Clan, demonstrating both their nationalism and
brotherly acceptance—two features rarely found in a mercenary command.
In looking closer, to find out just what makes the Kell Hounds tick, I managed to
score an interview with the mercenaries’ spokesperson, Major Rafael Bradley, who
expanded on these and other fascinating points about the Hounds.
“The Kells are related to the Steiners more by marriage than by blood,” says Bradley,
“but that relationship runs deep just the same, and it goes both ways. The Steiner
family, even during the Civil War, always showed the Hounds respect. Half our
strength both pre-Jihad and after, was made possible through grants direct from the
Archons.
“That’s not to say we were simply handed our success, however,” Bradley quickly
adds, with a smile and a wink. “It just shows the rewards of a job very well done.”
It also shows the bonds of family that extend beyond the boundaries of this
mercenary command, bonds that tie the inheritors of the Hounds not only to House
Steiner, but to the Exiled Wolves who they share their homeworld with. Phelan Kell,
first Khan of the so-called Clan Wolf (in-Exile), was actually the son of Kell Hound
founder Morgan Kell, when he was captured by the Wolves in the early part of the
Invasion. His influence, still seen in the easy camaraderie the mercenaries and
Clansmen continue to share, emphasizes this sense of family that has become the
heart of Lyran defense against Clan Jade Falcon since the end of the Jihad.
During my visit with the Kell Hounds, I saw no real combat action, but Major Bradley
was kind enough to allow me to accompany his reinforced lance into a mock battle
exercise against some resident Wolves. There, while observing the low-power, paint-
munitions battle between five mercenary ’Mechs and an equal number of Clan
machines, the skill and daring of the warriors on both sides was clear. Though waged
with more comm chatter than normally seen between sides in a real dust-up, both
forces fought hard to take their objectives, and the “battle” could have gone either
way at any moment.
In the end, only a clever mine trap won the day when Bradley’s Warhammer narrowly
averted the field lain by his own lancemates, luring the pursuing Mad Cat of Star
Captain Danier into the kill zone. As the simulator computers shut down the 75-ton
machine, a whoop of triumph came over the Kell Hound channels, answered by
congratulations and laughter by their Wolf counterparts. A friendly game of chess
with ’Mechs, resolved between brothers-in-arms.
Like all the greats, the Kell Hounds have risen to fame and fortune as a mercenary
command through their elite skills and a distinctive command style, dedicated to honor
and compassion. But, more than anything else, family defines the nature of what it is
to be a Hound, a sense of unity that goes beyond the battlefield, and extends beyond
the boundaries of simple politics. It can be a volatile combination at times, but the
Hounds have made it work for more than a century, with no signs of stopping now.
With this look at the Kell Hounds, I’m Ravi Juro, INN special correspondent, Arc-
Royal.
INN - Interstellar News Network
In 3010, two “spoiled rich kids playing at soldiering” arrived on Galatea and
immediately assembled a crack team of technicians as the first step of their master
plan to build a fearsome new mercenary regiment. The gambit worked, drawing some
of the most experienced warriors of the day to their banner, and before long, from
such humble beginnings, the Kell Hounds were born. Known far and wide not only
for their elite skills, but also their strong identification with the Lyran state and House
Steiner, as well as their role as hosts of Clan Wolf (in-Exile) and their rumored ties to
a secret society known simply as Heimdall, the Kell Hounds have been the focus of
countless holodramas, newsvid articles, and history books. Anyone who’s anyone in
the mercenary business has heard of the Kell Hounds, and chances are some even got
their start through some association with these elite soldiers of fortune.
The Kell Hounds’ early history includes some of the most pivotal battles of the 31st
century, from the Battle for Mallory’s World, where Prince Ian Davion died, to their
role in safeguarding Archon-designate Melissa Steiner during the Fourth Succession
War. During the Clan Invasion, they fought the Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats to a
standstill alongside the Wolf’s Dragoons and House Kurita’s elite forces on Luthien,
and took part in the final battles of the Invasion with several actions alongside the
troops of the reborn Star League. During the FedCom Civil War, they sided with
deposed Archon Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, and helped win back the Lyran capital
of Tharkad for Archon Peter Steiner-Davion. Alongside the Exiled Wolves, their allies
since the Falcon-Wolf Refusal War, they survived and won countless battles during
the Jihad, and once more provided safe haven to their fellow warriors in the Wolf’s
Dragoons.
When one visits the Kell Hounds’ holdings on Arc-Royal, particularly the palace
owned by the Kell family, its founders and leaders since Morgan and Partick Kell
themselves, one can see everywhere the pride and history of this unit. Like the Wolf’s
Dragoons and the 21st Centauri Lancers, their reputation is among the purest one can
find, with high standards of conduct on and off the battlefield. Also apparent are their
links to the Steiner family and the Wolf Clan, demonstrating both their nationalism and
brotherly acceptance—two features rarely found in a mercenary command.
In looking closer, to find out just what makes the Kell Hounds tick, I managed to
score an interview with the mercenaries’ spokesperson, Major Rafael Bradley, who
expanded on these and other fascinating points about the Hounds.
“The Kells are related to the Steiners more by marriage than by blood,” says Bradley,
“but that relationship runs deep just the same, and it goes both ways. The Steiner
family, even during the Civil War, always showed the Hounds respect. Half our
strength both pre-Jihad and after, was made possible through grants direct from the
Archons.
“That’s not to say we were simply handed our success, however,” Bradley quickly
adds, with a smile and a wink. “It just shows the rewards of a job very well done.”
It also shows the bonds of family that extend beyond the boundaries of this
mercenary command, bonds that tie the inheritors of the Hounds not only to House
Steiner, but to the Exiled Wolves who they share their homeworld with. Phelan Kell,
first Khan of the so-called Clan Wolf (in-Exile), was actually the son of Kell Hound
founder Morgan Kell, when he was captured by the Wolves in the early part of the
Invasion. His influence, still seen in the easy camaraderie the mercenaries and
Clansmen continue to share, emphasizes this sense of family that has become the
heart of Lyran defense against Clan Jade Falcon since the end of the Jihad.
During my visit with the Kell Hounds, I saw no real combat action, but Major Bradley
was kind enough to allow me to accompany his reinforced lance into a mock battle
exercise against some resident Wolves. There, while observing the low-power, paint-
munitions battle between five mercenary ’Mechs and an equal number of Clan
machines, the skill and daring of the warriors on both sides was clear. Though waged
with more comm chatter than normally seen between sides in a real dust-up, both
forces fought hard to take their objectives, and the “battle” could have gone either
way at any moment.
In the end, only a clever mine trap won the day when Bradley’s Warhammer narrowly
averted the field lain by his own lancemates, luring the pursuing Mad Cat of Star
Captain Danier into the kill zone. As the simulator computers shut down the 75-ton
machine, a whoop of triumph came over the Kell Hound channels, answered by
congratulations and laughter by their Wolf counterparts. A friendly game of chess
with ’Mechs, resolved between brothers-in-arms.
Like all the greats, the Kell Hounds have risen to fame and fortune as a mercenary
command through their elite skills and a distinctive command style, dedicated to honor
and compassion. But, more than anything else, family defines the nature of what it is
to be a Hound, a sense of unity that goes beyond the battlefield, and extends beyond
the boundaries of simple politics. It can be a volatile combination at times, but the
Hounds have made it work for more than a century, with no signs of stopping now.
With this look at the Kell Hounds, I’m Ravi Juro, INN special correspondent, Arc-
Royal.
| December 10, 3133 |
