Carlist Rieekan

Biography

Joining the rebellion

Carlist Rieekan, a human male hailing from the planet of Alderaan, began his career by enlisting in the [Galactic Republic]'s](/article/galactic_republic) Judicial Forces during his youth. He then served in the Republic Military throughout the Clone Wars and eventually secured a position within the Royal House of Alderaan. Later, Rieekan became a founding member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He was away from Alderaan when it was destroyed. He was later promoted to the rank of General and took charge of Echo Base located on the icy planet Hoth. There, he maintained a constant state of readiness for all seven concealed levels of the rebel base, anticipating potential discovery by Imperial forces.

Battle of Hoth

In 3 ABY, General Rieekan summoned Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Chewbacca to the base's central command to discuss certain signals that his personnel had intercepted. After the protocol droid C-3PO identified the signal as an Imperial code, Han and Chewbacca ventured outside, where they found and eliminated a Viper probe droid. Nevertheless, Han concluded that the probe droid had already notified the Galactic Empire of their location and cautioned General Rieekan to order the evacuation of Echo Base. During the Battle of Hoth, General Rieekan oversaw the rebel evacuation from Echo Base. Rieekan waited until all the rebel transports had departed Hoth before making his own escape.

Alliance Fleet

Following the evacuation from Hoth, he joined the other Alliance leaders on Zastiga to formulate a strategy for attacking the second Death Star. Later, General Rieekan was stationed aboard 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 both went missing, General Rieekan convened an emergency meeting of senior officers, including the starfighter pilot Wedge Antilles.

The subsequent morning, General Rieekan and Chancellor Mon Mothma presided over a briefing for members of Corona Squadron, including Private Yendor, Lieutenant Thane Kyrell, and Kendy Idele. After Mothma informed Corona Squadron that they would not accompany the rest of the Alliance Fleet to the new rendezvous point, Rieekan briefed the pilots that their squadron would be based on the Liberty for the foreseeable future. He added that they would get permanent bunk assignments within the next few hours. Yendor then joked about living in a sauna, prompting the General to ask the pilot to clarify his statement. While the others laughed, Rieekan smiled.

Following 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 his punctual return two hours before takeoff. When Thane volunteered to report his movements during his absence, Rieekan reassured the pilot that he was free to come and go as he pleased as long as he followed security protocol. However, Rieekan was visibly displeased when Thane informed him that he had made contact with an Imperial officer. When Rieekan inquired whether Ciena was aware that Thane had already joined the Rebellion, Thane admitted that she already knew of his involvement with the Rebel Alliance.

Angered by Thane's apparent failure to follow security protocol, Rieekan demanded to know whether the rebels had a double agent feeding the Empire intelligence. 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 whether the officer had placed a tracking device on his X-wing starfighter. While Thane vouched for Ciena's friendship, Rieekan still insisted on scanning his ship. Before leaving the hangar, Rieekan warned Thane not to make any more contact with Imperial personnel and added that the galaxy was full of women who did not fight for the Empire.

New Republic service

General Rieekan continued his service within the Rebel Alliance's succeeding government, known as the New Republic, and its military. To strengthen the growing New Republic Defense Fleet, Rieekan initiated a plan to seize Imperial Star Destroyers during the Battle of Jakku. For this operation, General Rieekan enlisted the support of former Imperial officers Thane and Kendy. Despite their reservations, he assured them that the Imperial crews were not as steadfast as they once were, and highlighted that they had witnessed capital ships as large as attack cruisers switching allegiances in earlier engagements during the Galactic Civil War. When Thane pointed out that those ships had thousands of crew members as opposed to tens of thousands, Rieekan responded that they needed enough sympathizers to help them shut the systems down. 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, which was being commanded by the now Captain Ciena Ree. Despite their efforts to disable the ship' 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 ended as a decisive victory for the New Republic which brought the end of the Galactic Civil War. The defeated remnants of the Empire were forced to sign the Galactic Concordance with the New Republic, which became the dominant government in the galaxy for the next twenty-nine years.

Ally of the Resistance

Decades following the Galactic Concordance, the Resistance presented the Rieekan Ribbon for Bravery in Battle to Poe Dameron for his rescue of Admiral Gial Ackbar. In the days following the Battle of Crait during the war between the First Order and the Resistance, Rieekan responded to Leia's plea for assistance, as she was now a general within 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, alongside numerous ships. After reuniting with Leia after three decades at a Ryloth Defense Authority base, Rieekan received a warm welcome from the general. While chatting with her, he introduced Orrimaarko, who was a strategist during the Battle of Endor. Later on, Rieekan was gathered alongside several other individuals by Leia for a meeting in a library that was converted into a war room, which was owned by Yendor, who once served the New Republic with Rieekan.

During the meeting, the Resistance's next strategies were discussed. Rieekan assured Leia that others would arrive to support the Resistance after they had called their allies from Crait. He then asked if the rumors of the First Order rounding up Resistance sympathizers were true, and speculated that the First Order may not have the infrastructure required to house the prisoners. Norra Wexley, another member of the Resistance, replied that they did as they regime had increased in size greatly over time. As the Resistance members continued discussing, Maz Kanata contacted the group via a hologram, informing everyone about a list of prisoners detained in Coronet City on the planet Corellia that she had seen parts of, and that the full list itself was scheduled to be auctioned at a party in the city. Rieekan questioned the validity 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 required before a decision was to be made.

As Kanata explained the auction, Rieekan suggested that they should view the names on the list before committing to a strategy, and requested that Kanata send over the partial list to the Resistance. When they received the list, Leia noticed a name with the initials "R.C." and was relieved to learn that it was her old political partner, Ransolm Casterfo, detained for political crimes. However, Rieekan believed that the location of the prisoners matching with the location of the auction was potential bait to lead the Resistance into a trap on Corellia. He then asked Leia who Casterfo was, who replied that someone she thought had died sometime ago.

Sometime later, the Ryloth government had revealed the Resistance's location to the First Order, and the base where Leia and the others were stationed was subsequently attacked. 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.

Personality and traits

Carlist Rieekan presented himself as a stern and serious Rebel Alliance general, demonstrating a strong commitment to his responsibilities and duties. Despite his severe and professional manner, General Rieekan was capable of appreciating humor, as evidenced when the pilot Yendor likened 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 regarded the Alliance military as a volunteer force.

As a dedicated rebel, Rieekan harbored a deep-seated aversion towards the Empire and its members. Rieekan conveyed his disappointment and anger when Thane Kyrell, one of his subordinates, socialized with Ciena Ree, his former classmate and a commissioned officer in the Imperial Navy. Although he accepted Thane's assurance that Ciena posed no significant threat to the Rebellion, he disapproved of their relationship, suggesting to Thane that he could pursue relationships with women who did not support the Empire.

Behind the scenes

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