Carlist Rieekan

Carlist Rieekan, a human male born on the planet of Alderaan, began his career by enlisting in the Galactic Republic's Judicial Forces during his youth. He then served in the Republic Military throughout the Clone Wars, eventually securing a position within the Royal House of Alderaan. Later, Rieekan became a founding member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. When Alderaan met its destruction, Rieekan was away from the planet. He was promoted to the rank of General and took command of Echo Base on the icy world of Hoth. To prepare for possible discovery by Imperial forces, he maintained all seven hidden levels of the rebel base in a state of constant readiness.

In 3 ABY, General Rieekan called Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Chewbacca to the base's central command area to discuss intercepted signals detected by his staff. After the protocol droid C-3PO identified the signal as an Imperial code, Han and Chewbacca ventured outside, where they located and neutralized a Viper probe droid. Han then realized that the probe droid had already alerted the Galactic Empire to their location and advised General Rieekan to order an evacuation of Echo Base. During the Battle of Hoth, General Rieekan oversaw the rebel evacuation of Echo Base. Rieekan waited to leave Hoth until all the rebel transports had departed.

Following the evacuation from Hoth, he joined the other Alliance leaders on Zastiga to strategize an attack on the second Death Star. Later, General Rieekan was stationed on the Mon Calamari cruiser Liberty. He commanded various Alliance units, including the X-wing starfighter squadron known as Corona Squadron. After the Millennium Falcon and Luke Skywalker went missing, General Rieekan convened an emergency meeting of senior officers, including the starfighter pilot Wedge Antilles.

The next morning, General Rieekan and Chancellor Mon Mothma conducted a briefing for members of Corona Squadron, including Private Yendor, Lieutenant Thane Kyrell, and Kendy Idele. Mothma informed Corona Squadron that they would not be accompanying the rest of the Alliance Fleet to the new rendezvous point. Rieekan then informed the pilots that their squadron would be based on the Liberty for the foreseeable future, and they would receive permanent bunk assignments within a few hours. When Yendor joked about living in a sauna, the General asked the pilot to elaborate. While the others laughed, Rieekan smiled.

After Thane Kyrell's return from a clandestine meeting with his friend Ciena Ree, who was still a commissioned officer in the Imperial Navy, General Rieekan thanked Thane for returning two hours before takeoff. When Thane offered to report his activities during his absence, Rieekan assured the pilot that he was free to come and go as long as he followed security protocols. However, Rieekan was visibly displeased when Thane informed him that he had contacted an Imperial officer. When Rieekan asked if Ciena knew that Thane had joined the Rebellion, Thane admitted that she was aware of his involvement with the Rebel Alliance.

Angered by Thane's apparent violation of security protocols, Rieekan demanded to know if the rebels had a double agent providing intelligence to the Empire. Thane reassured General Rieekan that Ciena had identified him based on Imperial battle footage from Hoth. While Rieekan accepted Thane's explanation, he still asked if the officer had placed a tracking device on his X-wing starfighter. Although Thane vouched for Ciena's friendship, Rieekan insisted on scanning his ship. Before leaving the hangar, Rieekan warned Thane against further contact with Imperial personnel, adding that there were plenty of women in the galaxy who did not fight for the Empire.

General Rieekan continued his service with the Rebel Alliance's successor government, the New Republic, and its military. To strengthen the growing New Republic Defense Fleet, Rieekan devised a plan to capture Imperial Star Destroyers during the Battle of Jakku. For this mission, General Rieekan enlisted the former Imperial officers Thane and Kendy. Despite their reservations, he assured them that the Imperial crews were not as fanatical as they once were and pointed out that they had witnessed capital ships as large as attack cruisers switch allegiances in earlier battles during the Galactic Civil War. When Thane noted that those ships had thousands of crew members compared to tens of thousands, Rieekan responded that they only needed enough sympathizers to help them shut down the systems. He added that former Imperial officers like Thane and Kendy could identify the most vulnerable areas.

Thane and Kendy later boarded the Imperial Star Destroyer Inflictor, commanded by the now Captain Ciena Ree. Despite their attempts to disable the ship's self-destruct mechanism, Ree managed to deny the ship to the New Republic by crashing it on Jakku's surface. Meanwhile, the Battle of Jakku concluded with a decisive victory for the New Republic, bringing an end to the Galactic Civil War. The defeated remnants of the Empire were compelled to sign the Galactic Concordance with the New Republic, which became the dominant government in the galaxy for the next twenty-nine years.

Decades after the Galactic Concordance, the Resistance presented the Rieekan Ribbon for Bravery in Battle to Poe Dameron for rescuing Admiral Gial Ackbar. In the aftermath of the Battle of Crait in the war between the First Order and the Resistance, Rieekan responded to Leia's plea for assistance, who was now a general in the Resistance. He was transported to the planet Ryloth by Zay Versio and Shriv Suurgav during the Longest Night holiday, accompanied by Rebel Alliance strategist Orrimaarko, along with numerous ships. After reuniting with Leia after thirty years at a Ryloth Defense Authority base, Rieekan received a warm welcome from the general. During their conversation, he introduced Orrimaarko, who had been a strategist during the Battle of Endor. Later, Rieekan was among those gathered by Leia for a meeting in a library converted into a war room, owned by Yendor, who had served with Rieekan in the New Republic.

During the meeting, the Resistance's upcoming strategies were discussed. Rieekan assured Leia that others would arrive to support the Resistance after they had contacted their allies from Crait. He then inquired if the rumors of the First Order rounding up Resistance sympathizers were true, speculating that the First Order might lack the infrastructure to house the prisoners. Norra Wexley, another member of the Resistance, replied that they did, as the regime had grown significantly over time. As the Resistance members continued their discussion, Maz Kanata contacted the group via a hologram, informing them about a list of prisoners detained in Coronet City on Corellia that she had partially seen, with the full list scheduled to be auctioned at a party in the city. Rieekan questioned the authenticity of the list. Pilot Poe Dameron interjected, stating that the people on the list were being detained unjustly. Leia, however, supported Rieekan's point, saying that more information was needed before making a decision.

As Kanata explained the auction, Rieekan suggested that they review the names on the list before committing to a strategy, and requested that Kanata send the partial list to the Resistance. Upon receiving the list, Leia noticed a name with the initials "R.C." and was relieved to find that it was her old political partner, Ransolm Casterfo, detained for political crimes. However, Rieekan believed that the prisoners' location coinciding with the auction could be bait to lure the Resistance into a trap on Corellia. He then asked Leia who Casterfo was, to which she replied that he was someone she thought had died sometime ago.

Later, the Ryloth government revealed the Resistance's location to the First Order, leading to an attack on the base where Leia and the others were stationed. Rieekan and several others fled to their respective ships, their escape covered by Yendor and the Ryloth Defense Authority. After the Resistance successfully escaped the planet and arrived at their new base, whose location was provided by the Collective underground organization, Rieekan and Leia operated the war room as the Resistance prepared for their next move.

Carlist Rieekan was a stern and serious Rebel Alliance general who took his responsibilities seriously. Despite his serious demeanor, General Rieekan could still appreciate humor, as demonstrated when the pilot Yendor compared the starship Liberty to a sauna. Rieekan was a flexible commander who allowed his men to come and go as they pleased as long as they followed the Alliance's security protocols. Rieekan considered the Alliance military a volunteer force.

As a dedicated rebel, Rieekan harbored a strong dislike for the Empire and Imperials in general. Rieekan expressed disappointment and anger when one of his subordinates, Thane Kyrell, socialized with his former classmate Ciena Ree, a commissioned officer in the Imperial Navy. While he accepted Thane's explanation that Ciena posed no significant threat to the Rebellion, he disapproved of their relationship and told Thane that he could find other women who did not fight for the Empire.

General Rieekan was played by Bruce Boa in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. His backstory was further developed in several Star Wars Legends works. More recently, Rieekan has appeared as a supporting character in the canon novels Lost Stars and Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure.