Kell Hounds

Overview

The Kell Hounds are one of the most celebrated mercenary units in the Inner Sphere. Founded by the legendary MechWarrior Morgan Kell and his brother Patrick Kell, the Kell Hounds have played pivotal roles in the history of the Successor States, from the Succession Wars to the Clan Invasion.

History

Third Succession War

During the Third Succession War, the Kell Hounds were sent to the planet of Mallory's World, where Prince Ian Davion of the Federated Suns was engaged in a running battle with Yorinaga Kutira and his Second Sword of Light regiment. Prince Davion was killed in a rear-guard action and would have been taken as a trophy by Yorinaga had not Morgan Kell intervened.

The Silver Eagle Incident

Reduced down to the level of a reinforced battalion after what the remaining Kell Hounds had dubbed The Defection, the unit was entering its darkest days. But Patrick, taking the rank of lieutenant-colonel as he believed Morgan to still be the commanding officer of the Kell Hounds, determined to make the new Kell Hounds the best battalion-level mercenary unit out there. Contracting with the Lyran Commonwealth, the Kell Hounds found themselves as garrisons for the planet of Pacifica. When the Draconis Combine got word of this, a task force was covertly sent to destroy the Kell Hounds. The Hounds beat off the first few attempts, though Patrick was critically wounded. Soon, however, they found their situation untenable. Getting off-planet and jumping into Combine space, the Kell Hounds found themselves at a former mining outpost called Styx. Unbeknown to the Kell Hounds, the DropShip Silver Eagle, carrying Melissa Steiner on a covert mission to meet her future husband Hanse Davion, had been hijacked and taken to Styx by the local Heimdall cell. To make matters worse, the Combine had gotten wind of this and sent the newly formed Genyosha with Yorinaga Kurita at its head to take Melissa for themselves. Only when lead elements of the Kell Hounds make their way partly through the Styx compound, and had come across Melissa themselves, did they come to understand the gravity of the situation. Tricking the Kutritans into thinking that they had already taken Melissa off-planet, the Kell Hounds waited for Patrick's cue to engage the Genyosha, which came in the form of Patrick dropping his ''Victor'' right in the midst of the Kuritans despite his previous injuries. As the rest of the Kell Hounds attacked, Patrick made it his sole duty to reduce the numerical superiority of the Genyosha despite murderous fire coming from Yorinaga's ''Warhammer''. The battle came to an end when Yorinaga destroyed Patrick's Victor, and in return Captain Daniel Allard rammed his ''Valkyrie'' into the back of Yorinaga's Warhammer. With the Genyosha in retreat, the Kell Hounds had saved Melissa Steiner but at a great cost: Patrick Kell died from his wounds, safe in the knowledge that he had done his duty.

Other Appearances

The Kell Hounds appear in the MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries PC game as potential sponsors, employers (New Exford), and allies (Tharkad). Units sponsored by the Kell Hounds have earlier access to Clan tech, though not as early as Wolf's Dragoons who start the game with it.

References

• Lethal Heritage