Schaefer Keller was born on New Avalon to a pair of executives working for Corean Enterprises, Robert and Katrina Keller. He had a relatively happy childhood, though his parents, both high-level managers within the company, were often away for long periods at a time. He had many friends amongst the children of the other executives, and while they didn�t always stay out of trouble, they did keep each other occupied. One of their favourite diversions was holovid games. Schaefer possessed middling skill in most games, but where he truly shone was in �Mech combat games. He had a good eye and a natural feel for the controls that rivaled that of many Nais College of Military Science graduates. This was not that evident with the more simplified games, though he regularly wiped the floor with his opposition, but when the kids got access to Corean�s 'Mech simulators, his touch with a BattleMech became apparent.

Realizing how talented Schaefer was, and how much he loved BattleMechs, Robert and Katrina gave him the option of attending military school. He jumped at the chance, realizing a good performance at military school would pave the way to attendance at the N.C.M.S. and a BattleMech piloting berth with the Davion military. An intelligent boy, Schaefer coasted through the academic requirements somewhat, but as before he shone when it came to the practical components, especially �Mech piloting. He showed a streak of leadership and a knack for both tactics and strategy, graduating in the top 10% of his class and, as he�d dreamed, earned a place at the Nais College of Military Science.

Life at the N.C.M.S. was very different to military school and Schaefer found himself under pressure for the first time, as he was unable to let his smarts carry him along. He was forced to apply himself if he did not want to flunk out, and he did so successfully. He was later recommended for OCS, and again he was given the opportunity to demonstrate his leadership potential, which he did to great effect. Four years after he entered the N.C.M.S., he graduated as a newly minted Leftenant with a choice assignment to the Davion Heavy Guard and a lance of his own.

Schaefer�s first and only tour of duty with the Davion Heavy Guard was a particularly eventful one. As part of Operation Bulldog, the D.H.G., along with many other units, engaged in heavy combat on many of the former Kuritan planets held by Clan Smoke Jaguar. Schaefer acquitted himself well, earning a field promotion to the rank of Hauptmann on the death of his commander and finding himself in command of a short company, but near the end of the operation, things went wrong. Schaefer�s battalion commander, Kommandant Jerome Standish, led his unit into a Smoke Jaguar trap and the battalion was nearly wiped out before reinforcements could arrive. Schaefer lost almost his entire company. Of the seven MechWarriors under his command, only two survived, Sergeant Aletia �Tia� Saunders and Joey Carter, and both of them were dispossessed. Schaefer himself lost the Marauder II his parents had obtained for him through their contacts at Corean, after a wild and ferocious stand that stalled the Smoke Jaguars long enough for the Davion reinforcements to come to their rescue. He was also badly injured, suffering broken bones and numerous burns over much of his body. He was evacuated to the rear echelons to recover, along with Tia and Joey.

In time, Schaefer made a full physical recovery. Plastic surgery removed all but the worst scars from the battle, and even they were minimized. Yet the mental scars were not so easy to heal. He began to experience traumatic nightmares of the battle, in which he usually died, trapped in his burning cockpit. He also developed a phobia in regards to open flames of almost any size and a deep and abiding hatred for the Clans, the Smoke Jaguars and the remnants of their people in particular. Finally, and possibly worst of all, in an effort to quell his nightmares and the headaches that accompanied them, as well as the pain of his burns, he began taking large amounts of pain killers, becoming addicted in short order. He was a mess and everyone knew it. When he resigned his commission at the end of his tour, it was a relief both to himself and to his commanding officers. He likely would have had to be court martialled if he had stayed in the military, both because of his addiction and because of the friction between Schaefer and Kommandant Standish. Schaefer believed that Standish was to blame for leading them into the Smoke Jaguar trap. Standish had grown overconfident and careless as the campaign had progressed. A proper amount of caution might have detected the trap, however, Standish had led them straight into it instead. For his part, Standish needed to find a scapegoat for his mistakes. Seeing what a mess Schaefer had become, that choice became easy. Schaefer might have been able to fight Standish�s accusations, but he just did not have the heart for it. Instead, he offered Standish a deal, if Standish allowed him to resign without charges hanging over his head, Schaefer would go away without causing any trouble for him. Standish was reluctant to go along with Schaefer, as he really wanted someone to crucify for the destruction of his battalion, but he realized that Schaefer could potentially cause him serious problems if push came to shove and he finally agreed.

Schaefer couldn�t bring himself to sit in a BattleMech cockpit again, the nightmares and the fear of burning to death trapped inside one made it impossible. Yet he still loved �Mechs, and he could not bring himself to face his friends or his family. With that, he left the Federated Suns and traveled to the one place he could indulge his passion for BattleMechs without piloting one himself...Solaris.

For a short time, Schaefer frittered away both time and money, gambling at the arenas. The latter quickly grew short however, as did his patience with a life of leisure. He needed to do something with himself, anything that would take his mind off his problems. He had befriended a few of the officers in the Silesia Police Department and seeing how their work gave them a sense of purpose, he enrolled at the academy. Schaefer proved a quick study and he graduated at the head of his class. He went to work with a will, throwing himself into his new career. He also picked up more bad habits, however, including a passion for strong coffee and an addiction to cigarettes. Unsurprisingly, he obtained a lighter that functioned using heat instead of flame.

Shortly after leaving the academy, Schaefer met Detective Marissa Blaine (shown with Schaefer in the image to the right). It was not precisely accurate to say they fell in love. Marissa fell hard for Schaefer, but Schaefer didn�t exactly reciprocate her feelings. He cared for her, certainly, and they were lovers for over two years, but he was not in love. In truth, Schaefer needed Marissa more than he loved her, he needed a stabilizing influence, someone that could help him through his fears and nightmares.

During their time together, Marissa introduced Schaefer to a friend of hers, Brian Croghan, the manager of the Carmont �Mech Stables. Schaefer and Brian hit it off almost instantly, united by their love of BattleMechs. When Brian found out Schaefer had been a �Mech jockey and that he had fought in Operation Bulldog, he tried to sign him up immediately. Although his hang-ups had eased slightly, Schaefer still could not bring himself to set foot in a �Mech cockpit and refused. He did, however, agree to provide opposition for Brian�s pilots in simulation training fights during his spare time. He found he was a little rusty at first, but he soon got back into the swing of things, and having his pilots facing off against someone who could handle a BattleMech like Schaefer helped Brian push the Carmont rankings up.

Over time, Schaefer and Marissa began to drift apart. She began to realize he did not feel as strongly for her as she did for him, and as the trauma of Operation Bulldog slowly faded, Schaefer realized he did not need her as much as he once had. The final straw came when Schaefer accepted an undercover assignment that had him infiltrating an organized crime syndicate suspected of fixing arena matches, amongst other things. Marissa knew the job would require Schaefer to spend a lot of time away from her and possibly even get involved with other women as part of his cover. They fought about the decision at first and even though they attempted to patch things up before the job started, there was a distance between them that had not been there before. As the job went on, by mutual agreement, they stopped seeing each other.

The assignment entailed infiltrating the Lazzaro Syndicate. Run by Franklin Lazzaro, the syndicate had a lot of influence in both Silesia and the Black Hills, as well as across a number of planets in Lyran space. Schaefer�s job was specifically to investigate claims of match rigging. Over the course of a year, in the guise of Simon Pressler, a gambler and general muscle, he gathered a lot of information on the Lazzaro�s operations. Unfortunately, before they could obtain evidence implicating Franklin Lazzaro himself, Schaefer�s cover was blown. He was pulled out just before the Lazzaro�s could get him. Fearing that the Lazzaro�s would continue to hunt him, he was immediately sent off-planet. He was not even get a chance to say goodbye to Marissa.

With his career as a police officer over, Schaefer found himself at loose ends. He had some money, not a lot, but enough to live on for a while, and a ticket that would take him virtually anywhere within the Inner Sphere. After some soul-searching, he decided that the only thing he could do was to try to return to his first love. Mustering up his courage, he set off for Outreach. There, he enrolled in the Wolf�s Dragoons training program. Although his mental health had improved, he still did not feel ready to sit in a �Mech�s cockpit and signed up as a grunt instead. It quickly became obvious that he was more than a basic enlistee. He displayed a knack with a rifle that his earlier training had never highlighted, focusing more on aspects of �Mech combat as it had, not to mention his leadership, tactical and strategic skills. In advanced training, he learned to fly jets, something significantly different than �Mech piloting, but still a step in the right direction to his mind. If he could conquer his fears enough to fly a plane, he thought, maybe it was not impossible that one day he might sit in a BattleMech's cockpit again.

That day came after his graduation. Expected to sign up for a tour of duty as a fighter pilot, he finally told his superiors in the Dragoons who he really was and that he was a fully qualified �Mech jockey. His superiors were skeptical at first, until Schaefer persuaded them to give him a test which he aced, downing four �Mechs in the process. Of course, that was only a simulation, but the Dragoons were sufficiently impressed to give him a chance. For the first time in over four years, Schaefer sat in the cockpit of a real �Mech, and while his fears gnawed at him, he refused to give into them. He was assigned to a �Mech battalion and sent off on garrison duty in the Arc-Royal Cordon, sharing duties with the Kell Hounds.

Although the duty was boring for the most part, Schaefer put the time to good use, spending as much time in the cockpit as he could, honing his skills once again and learning to stamp down on his fears. He also displayed his leadership potential, earning him a lance command when his Lieutenant was bumped up to Captain. This did not endear him to everyone, however, specifically one MechWarrior Detlef Teuber. Teuber had been in line for the promotion before Schaefer came along, so he believed. The outcome had not been as certain as all that, but Teuber still blamed Schaefer. He especially despised Schaefer when he learned something of his history, thinking he was a burnout with no place in a unit as renowned as the Dragoons.

During one of the most violent years on Solaris, Marrisa lost her parents during the bombing of their department. Details were sketchy as to who was responsible, but the prime suspect has always been the Lazzaro crime syndicate. However, no detectives have come up with enough evidence to force a court judge to issue any kind of search warrant, or even an arrest warrant for any known members of the syndicate.

She was devastated by the loss, but Marrisa did not let that cloud her judgment. Instead, she focused on her own assignments, which took her well away from the investigation thanks to her station's Leftenant. Though it frustrated Marrisa that her colleagues came up empty, she reminded herself that her involvement would only worsen the situation. It made her angry to keep herself out of the investigation of her parents and fellow police officers, but she knew it was for the best.

Marrisa Blaine was not searching for love when crossed paths with Schaefer, it was just one of those things that happen in life. To Marrisa, he looked to be her sole mate, that one person who would complete her life. She was blinded to the fact that Schaefer did not feel the same for her, instead he just needed her to help him get through each night. Marrisa mistook his need for her as love, and in the end, never really understood this. Even as his need for her waned, she still believed that he loved her all that time, and that he beginning to fall out of love.

At first Marrisa took the fighting between them to be a sign of a couple in love just going through what all couples go through. The reality was, Schaefer was subconsciously trying to drive them apart so that they could go their separate ways.

In almost a desperate attempt to keep that which she could not have, Marrisa allowed herself to become pregnant. It was her hope that a child would bond them and bring their relationship back to the way it was when they first met. What she did not count on was his assignment to infiltrate the Lazzaro crime syndicate. It was bad timing, she wanted to tell him under much better circumstances, but it was not meant to be. During their fight over his assignment, she never told him that he was going to be a father. Schaefer had no idea what was really going on, but no matter what she did say to him, it did not change his mind, he had a job to do and he was off to do it.

Marrisa never tried to find a new love, instead she devoted her life to her desk job and her daughter, Alexandra. However, during what seemed like another quiet period on Solaris, her stationed was bombed, and Marrisa was killed. This left Alexandra to Schaefer, or as a ward of the state, something she did not want.

Alexandra showed signs of a high degree of intelligence, and her mother nurtured that trait, giving her every possible advantage she could afford. This little girl blossomed under the extra attention, generated a strong bond between mother and daughter.

Shortly before her mother's death, Alexandra and Marrisa were together at a public park in the Kobe sector of Solaris. The photo taken that day is shown below, and was the last one taken by Marrisa. It was the same photo shown to Schaefer upon hearing the news of Marrisa's death and about his daughter Alexandra. After agreeing to Marrisa's wishes and accepting the responsibility of raising their child, Alexandra was sent to Outreach to meet up with her father.

Schaefer felt a wave of guilt and regret concerning Marrisa, as he finally began to understand what really happened between himself and Marrisa. He realized that it was his fault that this turned out the way they did, and vowed it would not happen with Caitlin. However, with the added complication of a child, he hoped that she would still be interested in him.

Alexandra is in the process of getting used to her new set up, and trying to deal with a father she has never truly known. Being as smart as she is, one question she has asked Schaefer has never tried to answer, "Why did you leave home?" Schaefer did not have a good answer for that, and rather than make up an excuse, he refused to answer that question. He quickly figured out that his daughter, though only 4 years old, was rather intelligent. So when Alexandra posed the question, her father told her that it was a question he was not going to answer just now, that he did not want to try and fool her with a lie. Though the question is still pending in her mind, she gave her father a few points for honesty.

In spite of her developed state of intelligence, she is still a child, and her precocious nature does get to Schaefer. In turn, his constant calling her "Alex" drives her nuts and she always reminds her father, "My name is not Alex! It's Alexandra!" This has been, and continues to be a learning experience for both father and daughter, as they live together, sharing their lives together. For Schaefer, his heart is into the relationship, already willing to sacrifice himself to keep her safe. Alexandra is trying to cope with what she feels is an immature man, who's trying play "Daddy." But for her, at least he is trying, and that alone is worth the effort on her end.

This page was created by: Copyright November 16, 2004.