Napatu was a colonel in the New Zealand Special Air Forces.[1] He was first introduced in Earth Unaware.
History[]
Earth Unaware[]
In 87 BX, Wit O'Toole came to Colonel Napatu's base to test five of his men for the Mobile Operations Police. Colonel Napatu, like most other special forces commanders, was reluctant to test his men because he did not want them to leave, but it was required, and the conversation between Napatu and O'Toole was essentially a formality before the five men were tested.[1]
Earth Afire[]
Later, Napatu's unit was put in charge of testing the HERCs, which were new aircraft invented by Juke Limited. Napatu assigned Mazer Rackham, Reinhardt, Patu, and Fatani as the main team testing the HERC. Eventually, Napatu was ordered by his commanders to do a display of the HERC's abilities for the Chinese. Before the display, Napatu ordered the men testing the HERC to not sleep during the 36 preceding hours and kept the conditions of the test secret from the team other than retrieving a Copperhead tank.[2]
Afterwards, Napatu revealed to the team that Captain Shenzu and Heinrich Burnzel had come to see the HERC used in action. Napatu then ordered the team to prepare to leave for China in order to teach the Chinese troops how to fly and use the HERCs. Napatu granted Mazer a promotion to Captain upon giving the team new orders, so that there was a clear leader of the team in China.[2]
While in China, Mazer's team stole a HERC to obtain information on the invading Formic scout ship. Napatu was furious when Mazer called asking for permission to attack the alien landers, as the situation had caused a commotion with the Chinese. Napatu ordered Mazer to return to the Chinese base without any specific time limit, which would allow the team to attack the alien landers.[2]