Leader: 3139: Turin Kell*
QUOTE: "To the future!" *
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.
QUOTE: "To the future!" *
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.
* Indicates non-cannon information
