Southern Cross Who's Who - Geoff "Punchout" Richards

Background

Geoff is the oldest child of a farming family living on the south island of New Zealand. New Zealand suffered little in the Zentraedi planetary assault of 2011 so Geoff grew up largely ignorant of what was happening in the world except for stories he heard from travellers, or when the family would visit the city of Christchurch or, on rare occasions, Wellington. Young Geoff did have a strong imagination and began writing as a hobby at an early age. His father preferred that his son concentrated on more practical things, but Geoff was encouraged in his artistic endeavors by Jacob Wildmon, a local schoolteacher and an author himself. "Uncle Jake" became a mentor to the young boy and Geoff still corresponds regularly with him, often sending his latest writing samples for review and criticism.

Geoff would likely have grown up to take over the family farm if not for a fateful school trip to Wellington. While on the field trip the school children spent some time playing video games in a newly opened arcade. Geoff did very well with the games, especially in the ones that simulated jet fighters, tanks, and Robotech mecha in various combat scenarios. Geoff's high scoring activities had attracted quite an audience, including some odd men in uniforms. After talking to the school chaperone the uniformed men took Geoff to another room in the arcade, this one with even more complicated video game simulators. Geoff was a little uncertain of what was happening but the chaperone assured him it was all right so he played these new games while the men in uniform watched. There were also men in lab coats there who watched computer monitors and took notes. Some of the men in coats, scientists Geoff assumed, seemed very excited with Geoff's performance. In the end Geoff was told he was done and sent back to the rest of his classmates for the trip home. The whole thing seemed a little unreal and Geoff didn't talk about it when he got home, other to tell Uncle Jake, who seemed to be upset about the whole situation but wouldn't explain why to Geoff.

A few days later two men in uniform came to Geoff's family's farm. The men had a long, and often loud, discussion with Geoff's parents in their kitchen while Geoff and his two little sisters tried to listen in from upstairs. When the discussion was over Geoff was told that the video games he had been playing were aptitude tests and that his scores had impressed the men overseeing the test. They wanted Geoff to come with them to Japan, to the Robotech Research Center, for more tests. Geoff's parents had been reluctant to let him go, but in the end the men in uniform offered the family compensation that would help out the farm, which (unknown to Geoff) had been struggling lately.

At the end of the school year Geoff, now 14 years old, went off to Tokyo and the Robotech Research Center. There he was subjected to a battery of additional tests. The tests were often bothersome but Geoff hardly noticed as he was busy soaking in the new sights and sounds. Japan was very different from New Zealand and he had a lot to see and do, even though his activities were strictly monitored. Eventually it was decided to send Geoff off for training as a Veritech pilot. He was given a choice between the Alpha Tactical Armored Corps and the Tactical Armored Space Corps. As much as Geoff liked the idea of space, he hadn't flown much and decided on the Veritech Hovertanks of the A.T.A.C. instead. He went off to the Robotech Academy in Monument City in North America as a recruit of the Army of the Southern Cross. After completing his training Geoff was sent back to Tokyo as a member of the 474th Armored Squadron.

In addition to his regular correspondence with his "Uncle Jake", Geoff also tries to write home as often as possible. His sister Erica, the elder of his little sisters, is resentful of Geoff for what she sees as his abandonment of the family but the youngest, Drew, looks forward to hearing about her big brother's adventures and dreams of following in his footsteps someday.

Call Sign: After having to eject (punch out) from his hovertank several combats in a row the rest of the squadron gave Geoff the call sign Punchout.

Recent History

Soon after Geoff joined the 474th the threat of war between the UEG and EBSIS began to grow. The squadron soon stumbled across a conspiracy to inflame the tensions between the world powers and drive them to open war. Their amateur investigations, however, warned the conspirators who then arranged for the squadron to be sent on a suicide mission in Indochina. The ploy nearly worked, with several of the squadron being killed, but Geoff and the surviving members were saved by another hovertank squadron, the 21st ATAC.

Geoff and the others were then transferred to Australia where they joined the 21st. When war did erupt between the allied factions of the New World Order and the UEG and EBSIS the 21st was sent into action across southeast Asia and the South Pacific. In combat after combat what the analysts in Tokyo had predicted all along was proven, that Geoff was an exceptionally gifted mecha pilot. Geoff, however, was not as pleased with the revelation. After each battle he would frequently become morose, depressed by the carnage he had witnessed and guilty that he had been responsible for so much of it. Even so, Geoff's sense of duty kept him from neglecting his responsibilities and he continued to excel in combat. In fact, Geoff's guilt was nowhere to be found when he was in the heat of battle. Instead he would find himself in an almost tranquil state, in near-symbiosis with his Veritech as the combat maneuvers came to him almost instinctively. In the aftermath, however, Geoff would always feel regret over his actions but he fears that someday he might not anymore, and wonders if would even really be human anymore if that happened.

Despite his occasional depression Geoff became friends with many of his teammates, nearly all of whom respect (and are in awe of) his combat abilities. There are exceptions, like the youngest member of the squadron, Damien Ortega, who sees Geoff as a rival to be beaten (though even the egotistical Ortega must acknowledge Geoff's uncanny talents). For a time Geoff tried to get closer to his squad mate Cassandra (aka Copycat), intrigued by the efforts she went through to keep anyone from learning anything about her while playing at being sociable. Geoff made frequent advances and overtures, and was beginning to see some results, but sadly Cassandra was killed in combat at the close of the Second Robotech War, before any relationship had any real chance of developing.

Geoff was one of the members of the 21st who did survive the final battle with the Robotech Masters. Trapped in the Australian Outback, Geoff and the others came across a group of alien refugees rejected by the Masters, who had exiled them to the planet to die. Amongst the refugees was a Tirolian Muse named Celesta, whose sisters had died when their craft was forcibly crashed into the desert. Geoff was intrigued by Celesta and the seeming power she had with her voice to calm her frightened people. The 21st took the refugees under their wing and began a trek to safe harbor, Geoff's home of New Zealand, which they believed had been spared the worst of the final days of the war.

After a dangerous sea crossing the 21st and the refugees made it to New Zealand and Geoff was reunited with his family. The 21st were unwilling to let the New Zealand authorities know about the alien refugees, fearing there would be angry reprisals and people would want to punish the Tirolians for the pain and suffering their Masters had caused. Fortunately Geoff's family and the kind-hearted people of his hometown were willing to help and took in the refugees, hiding their true nature from the authorities. As the 21st worked with the local military and government to help stabilize and strengthen New Zealand, Geoff was able to make frequent visits back home and he began to spend more and more time with Celesta and the two developed feelings for each other, a first for the alien muse, who was unfamiliar with emotions like love but welcomed the new experience.

Geoff has reluctantly left home again, this time to accompany the 21st as it joins the submersible mecha carrier SLV Ulysses on its trek across the globe to find other surviving Southern Cross and UEG centers. Geoff's family have promised to take care of Celesta, and she them, while he is gone.

United Earth Forces Service Record

Assignment History

Honors and Awards

Mission/Conflict Summary

Warp Zone | Robotech RPG | Southern Cross | Who's Who | Dramatis Personae / 21st A.T.A.C. | Geoff "Punchout" Richards