View source for Callandre Kell

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Callandre Kell TamarRising.png
| caption             = Callandre Kell, ca. 3152
| name                = Callandre Kell
| birthdate           = [[3106]]<ref name=FM:3145p115>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 115: "Callandre Kell"</ref><ref name=TRp91>''Tamar Rising'', p. 91: "Callandre Kell"</ref>
| died                = 
| othernames          = Calamity Kell<ref name=FM:3145p115/>
| affiliation         = [[House Kell]]
| rank                = [[Colonel]]<ref name=FM:3145p115/>
| title               = [[Grand Duchess of Arc-Royal]]<ref name=TRp91/>
| position            = 
| profession          = [[Combat Vehicle|Armor]] commander
| parents             = [[Martin Kell]] (father)<ref name=FM:3145p115/>
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = [[Keith Langenhaas]]<ref name=FM:3145p115/>
| children            = 
}}
'''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]].<ref name="ER3145:180">''Era Report: 3145'', p. 180</ref>

==History==
===Early Years===
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]].<ref name=BT:Lp161>''Battletech: Legends'' p. 161</ref>

In [[3140]], she was sent to [[Federated Suns]] space by the [[Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth|Archon]] [[Melissa Steiner (32nd c.)|Melissa Steiner]] to try to recruit her old boyfriend, Julian, without success.<ref>''A Bonfire of Worlds'' p. 131</ref>

===Commander of the Hounds===
In [[3142]], [[Evan Kell]] was killed in the [[Battle of Timkovichi (3142)|Battle of Timkovichi]] and Callandre succeeded him in becoming [[colonel]] of the few remaining Kell Hounds.<ref name="ER3145:180"/> 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 (3143)|Battle of Tharkad]].<ref>''A Bonfire of Worlds'', p. 218</ref>

The next years, she led the Hounds' lone battalion launching guerrilla missions behind the Falcon lines, sowing chaos, and avoiding getting trapped.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 33</ref> 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.<ref>''Shattered Fortress'', p. 43</ref>

===IlClan Era===
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.<ref name=S5-SM5>''Shrapnel Issue 5'', "SM5 Field Commander"</ref><ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 32–35</ref>

Kell led the Hounds in the [[Battle of Arc-Royal (3151)|Battle of Arc-Royal]], taking one Falcons position after another. When the Falcon local commander, [[Star Colonel]] [[Riss (Clan Jade Falcon)|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.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 35–37</ref> Callandre later allowed the surviving Falcons who hadn't committed war crimes to depart and declared the foundation of the [[Arc-Royal Liberty Coalition]].<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 38</ref> 

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.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 71</ref>

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!"<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 74</ref> 

==Relationships==
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.<ref name="ABoWc10">''A Bonfire of Worlds'', ch. 10</ref> 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.<ref>''Tamar Rising'' pp. 70–71</ref>

==Vehicles==
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|SM1 Tank Destroyer]].<ref name=BT:Lp161/><ref name="ABoWc10"/> In the years in exile, a full refit created the [[SM1#Variants|SM5 Field Commander]] variant, first deployed in June 3151.<ref name=S5-SM5/>

==Notes==
The reply "NUTS!" has a storied place in military history, stemming from United States Army Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe's response to a German offer of surrender terms during the 1944 siege of Bastogne. Despite washing out of the Nagelring, Callandre presumably studied the battle at some point in her education.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Callandre_Kell_ER3145.png|Callandre at age 39
Callandre Kell TamarRising.png|Callandre at age 46
</gallery>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[BattleTech Legends]]''
* ''[[A Bonfire of Worlds]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
* ''[[Fortress Republic (novel)|Fortress Republic]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Shattered Fortress]]''
* ''[[Shrapnel Issue 5]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Sword of Sedition]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Tamar Rising]]''

[[Category:Kell Hounds Characters|Kell, Callandre]]
[[Category:Nagelring Alumni|Kell, Callandre]]