Callandre Kell

Callandre Kell, ca. 3152
Callandre Kell
Character Profile
Also known as Calamity Kell[1]
Born 3106[1][2]
Affiliation House Kell
Rank Colonel[1]
Title(s) Grand Duchess of Arc-Royal[2]
Profession Armor commander
Parents Martin Kell (father)[1]
Spouse Keith Langenhaas[1]

Callandre "Calamity" Kell was a descendant of Morgan Kell, cofounder of the famed Kell Hounds mercenary unit. She would eventually command the Hounds during the final years of the Dark Age era.[3]

History[edit]

Early Years[edit]

Callandre studied in the Nagelring Academy, on Tharkad. There, she met Julian Davion, a student exhange from the Federated Suns. They became friends (co-conspirators, per the official charges) having a romantic relationship. A rapidly escalating series of hijinks culminated into an escapade of both, hotwiring a Zeus for her and a Marauder II for him. A drunken joyride through Tharkad City during a howling blizzard culminated in their infiltration into the Royal Palace, reaching the throne room, where both subdued the two guard 'Mechs, being found at compromising poses of vulgar nature. That joke, which caused about 500,000 kroner in damage resulted in Julian's expulsion and Callandre's graduation being delayed to 3130.[4]

In 3140, she was sent to Federated Suns space by the Archon Melissa Steiner to try to recruit her old boyfriend, Julian, without success.[5]

Commander of the Hounds[edit]

In 3142, Evan Kell was killed in the Battle of Timkovichi and Callandre succeeded him in becoming colonel of the few remaining Kell Hounds.[3] After Duke Vedet Brewer fled from Tharkad, Melissa put Callandre at the command of Tharkad's defenses against the Clan Wolf and Clan Jade Falcon attack, leading an effective defense during the Battle of Tharkad.[6]

The next years, she led the Hounds' lone battalion launching guerrilla missions behind the Falcon lines, sowing chaos, and avoiding getting trapped.[7] However, in 3146 the Hounds were scattered to the four winds after Clan Jade Falcon's brutal conquest of Arc-Royal. Late in the next year, Callandre sent a cryptic message on the back of transmissions leaving Jade Falcon space, asking the Hounds' surviving remnants to rendezvous "Where It All Began." She and her compatriots were thought to have retreated into the deep Periphery.[8]

IlClan Era[edit]

Callandre began the IlClan Era traveling with a small team of Hounds to the planet Timkovichi where she visited the site of the battle and paid her respects to her uncle and the other dead there. After installing a monument to the Hounds which died there, they departed. Their next stop was their secret base on Beta Regulus II, a planet where the population died due to House Steiner's inability to protect them. After gathering the old Hounds and new recruits and training them, she led the now strengthened Hounds into a campaign to reclaim Arc-Royal.

In exile, Kell's vehicle was redesigned to fit her new position. She and her Hounds deployed first on Santana in June 3151, but they didn't find any Falcon garrison, but a planet free which welcomed her there. Instead of helping form a new government, she personally helped hunt guerrillas while overseeing the formation of a new government.[9][10]

Kell led the Hounds in the Battle of Arc-Royal, taking one Falcons position after another. When the Falcon local commander, Star Colonel Riss began executing thousands of civilians a day, she was forced to launch an all-out assault against Old Connaught. There, with her tank, she faced a duel with Riss, downing his 'Mech. When his forces ceased fighting, she ordered an artillery strike to kill Riss.[11] Callandre later allowed the surviving Falcons who hadn't committed war crimes to depart and declared the foundation of the Arc-Royal Liberty Coalition.[12]

She didn't waste any time sending her Hounds to free the other three worlds in February 3152: Zanderij, Great X, and Sargasso. They all succeeded, but she wasn't happy when her ex-husband Keith invited himself into the Hounds.[13]

With the ARLC firmly established, on 20 June, Callandre received a visit from Tharkad on Arc-Royal: The Grafina Antje Kelswa. She was a representative of the Archon, attempting to convince her to fully rejoin the Commonwealth, but Callandre wasn't interested: she blamed the Archon for her father and uncle's death, and much more. When Kelswa delivered her an ultimatum, Callandre's answer to Trillian was very short: "NUTS!"[14]

Relationships[edit]

While studying at the Nagelring, Kell had a brief relationship with Julian Davion which had far-reaching consequences. That relationship conditioned the relationship between both, though later they only were friends, at most.[15] She later met the captain of Kirkpatrick's Invaders Keith Langenhaas and married him, only to divorce after two weeks, realizing she couldn't stand him. However, he remained deeply besotted by her and followed her, trying to regain her love, much to Callandre's chagrin.[16]

Vehicles[edit]

Callandre was a trained 'Mechwarrior. In their hooliganism on Tharkad City she piloted a Zeus with the words Red Delta written, but she was mostly known as an exceptional tank pilot. Her favorite vehicle was the SM1 Tank Destroyer.[4][15] In the years in exile, a full refit created the SM5 Field Commander variant, first deployed in June 3151.[9]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Field Manual: 3145, p. 115: "Callandre Kell"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Tamar Rising, p. 91: "Callandre Kell"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Era Report: 3145, p. 180
  4. 4.0 4.1 Battletech: Legends p. 161
  5. A Bonfire of Worlds p. 131
  6. A Bonfire of Worlds, p. 218
  7. Tamar Rising, p. 33
  8. Shattered Fortress, p. 43
  9. 9.0 9.1 Shrapnel Issue 5, "SM5 Field Commander"
  10. Tamar Rising, pp. 32–35
  11. Tamar Rising, pp. 35–37
  12. Tamar Rising, p. 38
  13. Tamar Rising, p. 71
  14. Tamar Rising, p. 74
  15. 15.0 15.1 A Bonfire of Worlds, ch. 10
  16. Tamar Rising pp. 70–71

Bibliography[edit]