Rick Hunter - Robotech Expeditionary Force

Robotech Expeditionary Force

In December 2022, Rick, now at age 32 and a Major General of the fleet, prepares to join now-Admiral Lisa Hayes on the SDF-3, flagship of the Robotech Expeditionary Force, which is about to depart after eight years under construction. The mission's primary goal was to find the Robotech Masters and forge a peace in order to prevent another catastrophic war on Earth. On the day before the SDF-3 launches, Lisa and Rick are finally married in a huge wedding ceremony attended by all of their friends on board the Zentraedi Factory Satellite. The wedding ceremony can be seen in Robotech II: The Sentinels. Lisa's one-time rival for Rick's affections, Lynn Minmay, eventually makes peace with the officer well enough to volunteer to sing at her wedding. Dana Sterling, now aged 10, serves as a flower girl and Bowie Grant, Claudia Grant's nephew, serves as the ring bearer. Breetai, the former ruthless Zentraedi warlord turned ally, (who has now been micronized) gives away the bride, while Max Sterling is the best man. The wedding is the happiest day of their lives even though their honeymoon lasts only a few hours as they must be ready for the SDF-3 to launch early the next morning. Although they hoped the mission would be over quickly, events would keep the SDF-3 away from Earth for the next 22 years.

By the time of Robotech's third generation, some thirty years after the first generation, Rick is referred to as "Admiral Hunter," who appears to be in command of the Robotech Expeditionary Force that is attempting to liberate Earth from the Invid. (His experiences during the intervening years, as well as his relationship with now-wife Lisa Hunter, are chronicled in Jack McKinney's Sentinels novels). The SDF-3, with Rick Hunter aboard, never arrives at Earth with the main REF fleet at the end of the original Robotech series. The quest to find the SDF-3, and Admiral Hunter and company, is a major plot thread in the Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles feature film, and its forthcoming sequel(s).