Disclaimer: I don't own Mechwarrior/Battletech. I do, however, own my grand total of 16 CBT and 14 MW books as well as my 50-odd miniatures…
Kell Hound Headquarters, Arc-Royal
Arc-Royal Theatre, Lyran Alliance
7 July 3135Two days after William's arrival at Headquarters, my mother returned with her company and handed the reins over to her second-in-command in a small ceremony. To our dismay, a call came in right as we'd begun to congratulate Captain Kym Corrigan on her new command.
"Thomas, you shouldn't leave. I have a bad feeling about this."
My father smiled down at my mother and bent to kiss her forehead.
"Don't worry, love. It'll be fine."
"Thomas…"
"Hush," said Thomas, drawing Maureen Kell into his arms. I stood there and watched them, my tall, auburn-haired father and my 5'1 mother, whose black hair was cropped close to her head so as not to impede the sensors in her neurohelmet. She looked up at him with her pale green eyes that stared from a face nearly identical to my own.
"Please, Thomas. Don't…"
My father hushed her with his hand and said, "I've already accepted the job, Mauri. And you know I never back out of a job."
Maureen nodded and kissed him gently on the lips. Her hands lingered on his shoulders as they pulled away from each other and this sent alarm bells ringing in my head.
My mother's worry was not a good sign.
I gave him a hug before he left for the 'Mech Bay, my arms entwined about him along with those of my siblings. Ten-year-old Justin clung to his waist whilst four-year-old Lividia hugged his pants leg and whimpered about Papa going away again. He assured her he'd be back before he hefted her into our mother's arms then winked at Justin and me as we stood together, my arms wrapped around my little brother's neck.
William, in a surge of brashness, volunteered to accompany my father with his Outraiders. The 'Raiders probably wouldn't like the fact that they'd only get twenty percent of the pay and whatever salvage but William would sort them out and there'd be no worry.
Except for my mother's, that is.
Mother took Lividia off to bed but Justin and I stayed and watched as our father's company, the Hounds of Hell, and William's Outraiders loaded their 'Mech's up. There was some tweaking of instruments done by the Tech's and then the 'Mech Bay was four lance's smaller.
Our father saw us as he climbed into his DropShip, the Phelan, and waved before he vanished inside. Justin leaned back against me from where he sat between my legs and whispered, "He's not coming back, is he?"
I looked down at my little brother, my throat too tight to speak from a sudden surge of fear. Instead of answering him, I just wrapped my arms around him and hugged him close. His arms clenched on mine and I felt him shake as the tears came.
Already we were in mourning for someone not yet dead.
Two and a half weeks later the report came in. The Outraiders had been decimated upon landing, their force of a lance and a half of heavy and medium 'Mech's set upon by a company of assault 'Mech's. They didn't stand long against that assault.
The Hounds of Hell, which was made up of two lance's and a half, had lasted longer than the Outraiders but in the end they too had succumbed to defeat. A Wolfhound was reportedly the last 'Mech standing and it had gone down in a blaze whilst charging an Atlas.
Lividia's piercing shrieks and Justin's sniffling tears drowned my mother's cries of pain out as they rang through the hallways and corridors. I myself fled from my quarters upon receiving the news from a pilot who'd been present when the report had arrived.
I fled, not to my mother and siblings sides, but to the 'Mech Bay. Curled up in the space where my father's Wolfhound had once stood before, I sat in the dust on the floor and cried. I cried for the loss of my father, who had taught me of honor and had instilled in me my love for BattleMech's. And I cried for the loss of my cousin, who's only wrongdoing had been volunteering to follow his uncle.
As I sat there on the floor, tears streaming down my face, I wondered what would become of the Kell Hounds now. My mother would not want the command and she would never allow me to take it, not when I had no battle experience. Father's sister Catherine was also out, as she abhorred the family legacy that had stolen her only son from her – now in truth as he was dead. And Jacob Baxter, my uncle-in-law, would destroy the Kell Hounds if he took command.
So who would lead now?
Who would lead now if no Kell could stand up?
My mother, it seemed, already had an idea of who should lead the Kell Hounds now. By the time the sun rose the next day, Major James Hilton, commander of the First Kell Brigadiers, the second Kell Hound company, was in command.
This news sent me into a rage and I made sure my mother knew of my ire.
"How could you do this? You let that mongrel of a man take control of the Kell Hounds!"
"He's the best suited for the job," said my mother calmly, not looking up from her noteputer.
"Best suited!" I shouted, waving my arms wildly. "He nearly ran the Brigadiers into the ground during their last mission! You know Father was going to get rid of him soon and put Captain Saul in his place!"
"Well he's not now!"
I took a step back from her then narrowed my eyes into angry slits.
"You will run the Kell name into the ground by doing this, you fool," I snarled. "We'll die!"
"We've survived since your grandfather rejoined his uncle Morgan and we will continue to do so after!" shouted my mother, rising to her feet.
" 'We?' " I repeated. "You've done nothing! You're not even a Kell, woman!"
"Don't speak to me in that tone, young lady!"
"I'll speak to you any way I please!"
We stood there for a long moment, glaring at each other across the main living area of the quarters she and my father had shared.
"Get out!" she finally snapped, her eyes flashing. "Just get out!"
I didn't deign to respond to her shout. I just turned and left, leaving the door wide open behind me. As I stormed down the corridor, fully intent on climbing into a Sim, loading up a Daishi and going on a shooting spree, I was halted.
Major James Hilton stood in my path, a superior smirk on his face. At 6'1 with close-cropped black hair just going gray and dark blue eyes, he was forty-four, five years younger than my father was – used to be – and was, to my dismay, utterly intent on having me. My mother had told me time and time again that it was a smart match but my father had known better. He knew Hilton's true nature – knew that the man had wanted to control the 'Hounds since he'd joined them.
Now he had his command.
He commanded the Kell Hounds, the company whose command was my blood right!
"Hello, Victoria," he said, lust showing clearly in his eyes.
"That will be Miss Victoria to you, Major." I sneered his title, sincerely hoping my hate for him showed clearly in my eyes. Father had told me once that hate was once of the worst emotions to concentrate upon.
But for Hilton…for Hilton I threw my father's words into the nearest piece of artillery and shot it as far away as possible.
"Very well, Miss Victoria," purred Hilton, turning what I had wanted to be a difficulty for him into a jibe at me. He then smirked and asked, "What is your opinion of my new command, hmm?"
Rage burned through me at the sound of his words and his voice. My arm curled back without my consent and it snapped forward, striking him hard on the cheek and leaving a mark of my hand there.
I spat on him then as my blood boiled through my veins.
"You are not worth a tick on a surat, Hilton," I hissed at him. "You are dezgra and not worth licking the mud from my boots."
"Clan-loving scum," spat Hilton, one hand pressed to his stricken cheek. "Who are you to judge me?"
I glowered at him then lifted my chin, gray eyes focusing my hatred for him into his eyes.
"I," I said slowly, "am a Kell. You would do well to remember that."
I turned on a booted heel and was fully intent on walking away from him when he spat, "And you would do well to remember who is in charge of the Kell Hounds now, you little wench!"
"You will not command them for long," I said softly, not caring if he heard me or not.
I had made my promise to overthrow him then and there. A promise made to my deceased father and to my grandfather Major Christian Kell, who had taught my father of honor in the way only a Combine raised soul could.
I would not let Hilton destroy the Kell Hounds!
I will die before I allow my great-uncle Morgan's creation to go down in flames!
Even if it took waiting until Justin was ready to take command of the 'Hounds, I would fight Hilton with all the will that was within me. And there was a great amount of will within me.
As I walked towards my quarters, a frightening thought suddenly came to me.
Hilton would not dare strike out against me, not when I could easily kill him in his sleep thanks to my training with Guy Malthus, a Jade Falcon warrior my father had claimed as a bondsman before I was born. Guy had originally resented his place within Kell Hound Headquarters but he had come to respect my father. When he had been asked to train me in hand-to-hand combat – Guy's specialty – he had accepted.
This acceptance had created a bond between the two of us; one that Hilton knew existed as well. Not only would I kill him if he struck at me but if he succeeded in killing me (the chances were slim but anything's possible), Guy would demand a Trial of Grievance. I doubt the Trial would commence due to the fact that the 'Hounds were Spheroids but Guy would likely push it until something happened to Hilton.
But Hilton striking at me wasn't what I feared.
I was afraid that he would murder my brother and little sister, leaving only me to carry on the Kell line. My aunt Catherine had sworn to never bear another child after her son had turned Mercenary and I knew she would keep to her word.
She'd inherited the same stubbornness my father and I had.
Coming to a complete standstill in the corridor, I knew then what I had to do. Shaking at the realization that Hilton would kill my siblings without shuddering, I broke into a run. The sound of my boots hitting the ferrocrete floors echoed back to me off the walls and my heartbeat pounded heavily in my ears as I ran as thought for my life.
I slid down the railing of a stairwell past a Tech who stared after me as I took off sprinting at the bottom of the stair. Another stairwell had me on the floor I wanted and I rushed to the end of the main corridor, flinging myself into the door that lay within the small alcove at its end.
"Guy! Open the stravag door!"
The door opened and the tall, graying countenance of my combat teacher looked down at me. Worry and surprise showed in his brown eyes and then he spoke in the calm, serene voice that had more than a few times put me to sleep when I was younger and feared for my mother and father's return.
"You learn my tongue well, Victoria Kell," he said. "But what brings you to my door with such shouting?"
"You've heard that son of a surat Hilton was given command of the 'Hounds, right?"
Guy ignored my using contractions with Clan slang – as he had done since I'd learned the slang – and nodded, replying, "I have heard. What does this news have to do with you arriving so wildly at my door?"
"I'm afraid, Guy," I confessed, not afraid to let fear cloud my voice in front of the Clansman. "I'm afraid he'll hurt Justin or Lividia to get to me."
The Jade Falcon's brown eyes darkened with anger at that and he spat, "Freebirth! Your father feared this. He told me many times that he did not trust this Major James Hilton."
He then scowled and said, "Your mother will not listen to you I take it."
I shook my head and replied, "No! She won't! It's as though she doesn't care!" A thought came to me suddenly and I added in a breathless voice, "Guy…what if she betrayed Father and William to the pirates they were going after!"
Guy frowned and rubbed at his chin, where there was a day's growth of beard. He then looked down at me and said, "We shall simply watch for now, Victoria Kell. If your sibs are indeed in danger, then we shall protect them."
"And if my mother was the one that betrayed Father and William?"
"Then that dezgra woman shall be challenged by me," growled Guy. "And I assure you, Victoria Kell, that she will not defeat me, Star Captain Guy Malthus of the Jade Falcon's, in single combat."
I smiled up at the bondsman and said, "Thank you, Guy."
"You are a noble warrior, Victoria Kell. I am proud to follow you."
"Then let me assist in your following," I said, pulling an old switchblade my father had given me from a pocket, flicking it open. Reaching out, I took the Jade Falcon's wrist and lifted enough of the bondcord to get the blade underneath it.
The cords snapped easily under my well honed blade and I dropped his wrist as they fell to the floor.
"You are no longer a bondsman of the Kell Hounds, Star Captain Guy Malthus of the Jade Falcon's," I said. "You are a warrior once more."
"And where shall I fight, Victoria Kell?"
"With me."
Guy smiled at that and nodded, saying simply, "Aff."
Author's Note
Next chapter of Rise of the Dog's of War will possibly be finished by the end of February. Maybe.
saerry