Hounds at Bay

Hounds at Bay
Novella by Geoff Swift
Hounds at Bay cover.jpg
First Publication
Published
  • 29 July 2024 (Backer)
  • 27 September 2024 (Retail)
PublisherCatalyst Game Labs
Illustrator(s)
Pages156 (EPUB)
MSRP$2.99 (EPUB)
PICCAT36894
Chronology
EraDark Age era
Timeline1 October 3146 — 24 April 3147
Series
Fortunes of War series
Arrleft.svg 
A Skulk of Foxes 		  Arrright.svg
Heavy is the Head
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Hounds at Bay, subtitled Fortunes of War #4, is a novella by Geoff Swift that was released as the fourth entry in the Fortunes of War fiction series announced by Catalyst Game Labs as unlockable stretch goals for the 2023 Mercenaries Crowdfunding Campaign. It was the $800,000 stretch goal, provided for free to all Battalion backers and above and available for purchase for those in lower tiers. The title was released digitally for Mercenary campaign backers on 29 July 2024, prior to being offered for retail purchase as electronic EPUB format on 27 September 2024.

From the Back Cover[edit]

“ TALON VERSUS FANG...

Lieutenant Shane Atkins of the Coursing Hounds mercenary unit had a comfortable garrison assignment on Cumbres—until a Jade Falcon task force landed on the planet with orders to wipe the Hounds out to the last warrior.

Forced to flee the planet, Shane and his people embark on a search-and-destroy campaign to hurt the bloodthirsty Clan in their own occupation zone. But the ruthless Watch leader of the Falcon force will stop at nothing to hunt these rampaging Hounds down. And when the Jade Falcons catch the Coursing Hounds in a trap, only one side will survive the desperate battle...

”

Plot Summary[edit]

In the aftermath of the successful conquest of Arc-Royal in October 3146, Khan Malvina Hazen wants to erase every trace of the Kell Hounds, Clan Jade Falcon's long-term adversary. She orders Garran of the Watch to systematically hunt down all present and former members and dependants of the Hounds. Anyone tied to the mercenary unit is a target. After learning about it, Colonel Callandre Kell warns her people of this Trial of Annihilation and orders them in a cryptic message to rendezvous with her "Where It All Began".

Given command of a Jade Falcon strike force, Garran's first destination is Cumbres in the Lyran Commonwealth. Records are seized at the planetary financial administration in Karlsbaden to find names and places of targets. In a skirmish with the Cumbres Planetary Militia several militia 'Mechs are destroyed, while Elementals burn civilian hostages they had used as human shields. Elemental Point Commander Eveline, a Clan Wolf Abtakha, serves with the Jade Falcons but begins to doubt them. Leutnant Jaira Raigan piloting a WLF-5 Wolfhound survives the battle and withdraws.

Meanwhile, Callandre Kell's warning reaches the Coursing Hounds, a mercenary company founded by former Kell Hounds member Lawrence Chambers, and currently on Cumbres for R&R. Colonel Chambers, long retired and terminally ill with The Pharaoh’s Curse, orders the evacuation of all personnel and dependants-codenamed Ausfallsicher-after listening to the message. Captain Zakai Unterwald, the unit's current CO, and Lieutenant Shane Atkins rally civilians and dependents, among them Chambers' granddaughter, Leutnant Raigan, and Shane's brother, Trevor Atkins, who is brilliant and literal but not a fighter. The Hounds load the Union-class DropShip, Saluki, with their people and as much equipment and supplies as possible before they manage to escape after a brief skirmish with the Jade Falcons.

What follows is a chase through the Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone, in which the Coursing Hounds repeatedly raid enemy planets to replenish their supplies while simultaneously weakening the Jade Falcons' infrastructure with pinpoint strikes. Garran and Nova Captain Grell drive the pursuit from planet to planet, while the raids strip food depots and destroy vital infrastructure and frontline supplies. The raids also take their toll on the Hounds. Multiple skirmishes and a clever trap set by Garran result in growing casualties and the destruction of several 'Mechs, among them Captain Unterwald in his TDR-10S Thunderbolt, who sacrifices himself to slow down the Jade Falcons and allow the DropShip to escape. Disgusted by their dishonorable conduct, Eveline finally decides she does not belong to the Jade Falcons and subsequently joins the Coursing Hounds.

Following the Apolakkia raid on 1 January 3147, life aboard the Saluki turns grim. The DropShip carries far more people than it should, Water recycling starts to fail and rations run thin, after the DropShip's storage bay is damaged and much of the supplies are lost. As a result of the damage, the Saluki cannot replenish supplies, so food has to be rationed instead.

On 24 February 3047, the refugees reach Sisyphus's Lament in the Republic of the Barrens, location of a Kell Hounds memorial for their first encounter with the Clans. At the memorial they find a hidden data chip that contains the coordinates for their final destination, Taran's World, where they arrive about two weeks later, completely exhausted and unable to communicate. A Kell Hounds boarding team is send to investigate. The team enters the unknown vessel and finds an unconscious and starving crew. The logs reveal a months-long journey that originated on Cumbres, while rescue teams provide first aid and stabilize who they can. From the more than 300 refugees, seventeen were too far gone to be saved while 289 survive. For these survivors the journey ends in rescue as the Kell Hounds take them under protection.

Colonel Chambers did not survive the journey. In his honor, the Coursing Hounds placed a grave marker beside the memorial on Sisyphus's Lament that records his name and dates, to remind all visitors of a great man, who knew Morgan Kell, the legendary founder of the Kell Hounds.

Featured Characters[edit]

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Featured BattleTech[edit]

BattleMechs[edit]

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DropShips[edit]

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