We were first introduced to Carlist Rieekan as the tough, no-nonsense commander of Echo Base in Empire Strikes Back, and unfortunately as far as the films go that is as much as we saw of him. He kind of disappeared after the loss of Echo Base. But the Expanded Universe shows us a lot more about the character.
Rieekan was born on Alderaan and chose to go into the Galactic Republic’s Judicial Forces where, after impressing his superiors with his grasp of tactics and leadership skills, was sent to Officer Candidate School, eventually serving the Grand Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars. At the end of the war, he refused to serve Palpatine’s new regime and instead served as a civilian tactician for the Royal House of Alderaan and helped to found the Alliance to Restore the Republic, where he oversaw covert operations in the Alderaan system. He was actually in orbit over a nearby planet when the Death Star destroyed Alderaan, and for years he blamed himself, having ignored numerous cries for help and evacuation. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to General in the Alliance.
Over the course of the Galactic Civil War, Rieekan worked closely with Luke Skywalker’s Rogue Squadron and commanded several Rebel bases including Echo Base on Hoth, which he was able to hold long enough to evacuate most of the base personnel when it fell under direct Imperial assault. He continued to serve in the Alliance and New Republic finally retiring after the Black Fleet Crisis, before being reactivated when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded, commanding the ground forces in the failed defense of Coruscant.
Rieekan was a stern man, made grim and morose by the loss of his home planet, which he blamed himself for for many years, despite not having been able to do anything to stop it. But he was a good soldier and a naturally gifted leader and tactician. He also cared deeply for his men, often personally wishing them luck before battle or a mission. As such, he was able to inspire his men to greater heights, and his build is meant to showcase that.
Carlist Rieekan [Nemesis]
Brawn 3
Agility 3
Intellect 4
Cunning 3
Willpower 4
Presence 4
Wound Threshold: 13
Strain Threshold: 16
Soak Value: 4
Melee/Ranged Defense: 0|0
Skills: Charm 2, Coercion 2, Cool 3, Discipline 4, Leadership 5, Negotiation 2, Ranged (Heavy) 2, Ranged (Light) 2, Vigilance 3, Warfare 4
Talents: Adversary 2 (upgrade difficulty of all combat checks targeting this character twice), Body Guard 1 (as a maneuver, may suffer one point of Strain to upgrade difficulty of combat checks against one ally the NPC is engaged with), Confidence 2 (decrease the difficulty of Discipline checks make to resist fear twice), Command 2 (add 
to Leadership checks; affected allies add one boost die to Discipline checks for 24 hours), Commanding Presence 2 (remove 
from Leadership and Cool checks), Improved Field Commander (as an action, may make an Average Leadership check; 4 allies may immediately suffer 1 strain to perform a free maneuver; may spend 
to allow one ally to suffer one strain to perform an action instead of a maneuver), Improved Inspiring Rhetoric (as an action, may make an Average Leadership check; each success removes one strain or wound from one ally in short range; spend advantage to remove an additional strain or wound from an affected ally; affected allies gain one boost die on all skill checks for 5 rounds)
Abilities: Alliance General (Alliance operatives add 2 to their Strain Threshold when in this NPC’s presence), Good Luck (once per day as an action, make a Daunting Leadership check; 4 allies can cause one combat check targeting them to be re-rolled in the next encounter)
Equipment: Heavy clothing (+1 Soak Value), blaster pistol (Ranged [Light]; Damage 6; Crit 3; Range [Medium]; Stun setting); hand-held comlink
Ben Erickson
