Agias Rikton

On the Core Worlds planet of Corulag, Agias Rikton was raised during the Galactic Empire's reign. He had a strained relationship with his parents, who opposed the Empire, unlike him. However, he shared a close bond with his grandfather, who recounted his service alongside the clone troopers before his death. During the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, he left his homeworld to join the Empire, resulting in his parents disowning him. Rikton pledged his allegiance to the Empire and became an engineer within the Imperial Navy, eventually being assigned to an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser around 2 ABY. He spent eighteen months serving aboard the vessel and began studying to become an Imperial officer during that period.

However, in 4 ABY, the Alliance secured a significant victory against the Empire at the Battle of Endor, which led to the death of Emperor Palpatine. Consequently, the Empire's military experienced fragmentation as territory rapidly fell to the Alliance, which then restructured itself into the New Republic. Rikton's Gozanti-class cruiser soon encountered the enemy, and the vessel's captain opted to engage in combat. Witnessing the deaths of half of his fellow crew members in the ensuing battle, Rikton abandoned the cruiser in an escape pod.

Without a commanding officer to report to, Rikton drifted for a while until he secured employment as a mechanic on the Lormar-class space station Whitedrift Exchange, a mobile trade station as part of a crew under the leadership of "the Harch." There, he resided in a habitat capsule on D-deck, smaller than an escape pod. During that time, Rikton, feeling obligated to his oath to the Empire, attempted to contact Imperial allies. He eventually connected with other Imperial loyalists, who convinced him to construct a bomb to target the shantytown Traitor's Remorse, where Imperial defectors were being held and interrogated by the New Republic.

While working at the station, Rikton collaborated with a fellow mechanic known as Devon Lhent. Unbeknownst to Rikton, Lhent was actually Soran Keize, an Imperial ace and a major in the Empire's 204th Imperial Fighter Wing who had deserted his unit following its role in the Empire's genocidal Operation: Cinder campaign, believing the Empire had already lost the war. On one occasion, Rikton had a repair job where he acquired parts from the Eightmarket using the Harch's bulk discount. Despite the Harch requesting a receipt, he intentionally ignored her request to secretly obtain parts for his bomb.

Rikton completed the repairs, which took all day, and reported back to the Harch, who was displeased that he didn't provide a receipt. He began to protest, but Keize intervened and resolved the situation by pointing out the purchase was recorded. Afterward, "Devon" cautioned Rikton against making purchases without a receipt in the future. Rikton acknowledged the advice, and his colleague suggested he get some rest. The following day, the pair were assigned to repair a century-old cargo hauler that had lost its plasma transverter.

Rikton and Keize worked together all day on the job, during which they discussed Rikton's upbringing and his relationships with his parents and grandfather, with Rikton hesitant to reveal his involvement with the Empire. They also talked about their future plans, but Rikton avoided mentioning any plans he had. While they worked, Rikton discreetly took a power pack they had removed. After finishing the job and cleaning the floor, "Devon" inquired about the proper handling of the power pack, but Rikton claimed he had already taken care of it. However, Keize noticed Rikton's lie and grew suspicious of his colleague's activities.

In the weeks that followed, Rikton continued to work while secretly taking parts to continue building his bomb. On one occasion, he purchased a naikon matrix using the Harch's bulk discount without seeking reimbursement. Meanwhile, Keize began to closely monitor their inventory of equipment, junk parts, and returned items, noticing four discrepancies as a result of Rikton's indirect theft. "Devon" started asking his colleague about his plans for traveling off-station, his remaining family contacts, and the parts he could handle. Keize then requested the logs of Rikton's shipboard comm from the Harch, deducing that his colleague had been convinced to build a bomb.

"Devon" visited Rikton's habitat capsule the next morning and took him out for a chat, treating him to breakfast. While sitting on a catwalk, Keize told his friend about a job in the junker systems salvaging two Star Destroyers, mentioning Rikton's Imperial past. Rikton was shaken that "Devon" knew about his past, but his friend reassured him and offered to reach out to the junkers. However, he revealed that he had different plans and disclosed his past as a shipboard engineer and how he had escaped his vessel during a battle. Keize then inquired about any contact he had with other Imperials, further asking if those contacts were the reason Rikton was building a bomb.

Rikton implicitly confirmed Keize's suspicions, and "Devon" pressed the mechanic to reveal that the target was Traitor's Remorse. Piecing together the rest of Rikton's plan, Keize continued to talk with his colleague, revealing his own career in the Empire while Rikton shared more about his. The ex-major told his friend that there was no shame in finding a life after the Empire. Rikton still felt bound by his oath to the Empire, but Keize believed that the Empire was already lost. They spoke all day and then over the next few days until Rikton departed the Whitedrift Exchange, leaving behind the parts for a bomb along with a note claiming he had gone to Corulag.

Keize discovered Rikton's note in his locker with the bomb parts and informed the Harch of the mechanic's departure, as well as his own intent to leave. The Harch assisted Keize in finding work on the Outer Rim planet Vernid, but two New Republic Intelligence agents soon caught up with the ex-major. Keize killed the agents and concluded that his past would continue to haunt him, so he chose to return to the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing instead. Meanwhile, Rikton had started a new job but eventually lost it due to the New Republic's rules against employing anyone who worked with ex-Imperials. Unemployed, the mechanic wandered until he encountered Keize around 5 ABY, his old colleague now a colonel in charge of the 204th.

Keize provided Rikton with a position in the 204th as an engineer aboard their newest flagship, the bulk freighter Yadeez. As a junior engineer in Keize's unit, he worked closely with the TIE pilot Yrica Quell while she collaborated with the engineering crew. Like Keize, Quell had also deserted the 204th for some time and had eventually returned after the 204th had come under Keize's leadership, becoming his aide. However, unknown to the rest of the 204th, Quell had actually worked with the New Republic against the fighter wing during her absence.

During that year, the 204th annihilated the civilizations on Dybbron III, Kortatka, and Fedovoi End, three planets that had not remained loyal to the Imperial government, as part of a second Operation: Cinder. Shortly after the attack on Fedovoi End, Rikton disassembled faulty proton torpedos with Quell in the Yadeez's hangar, asking her if she knew the 204th's next target. The junior mechanic speculated that the target was Fikzwaa, the homeworld of a diminutive species that had overthrown the Empire. Quell advised Rikton against believing rumors. The pair then discussed Quell's relationship with Keize as his aide and how the colonel had helped Rikton during what he considered a difficult period in his life. Afterward, he asked Quell if she would fly as a pilot again, but she was unsure about the possibility.

Agias Rikton made his debut in the 2019 novel Alphabet Squadron, the first book in Alexander Freed's Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy, where he was only identified by his last name. Rikton's first name was revealed in the final book of Freed's trilogy, the 2021 novel Victory's Price.