The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Jon Rieves

"It’s our job as soldiers to carry out orders from command—that’s good enough for me."

- Jon Rieves

Jon Rieves was a human male from Yanibar. He grew up in the rural areas of the Yanibar refuge, living in the rocky foothills of the mountains that surrounded the refuge. His father had served in the Yanibar Guard for many years, and when Jon came of age, he likewise followed his father's footsteps, joining the Yanibar Guard Army.

Unlike his father, who had served in the infantry and commandos, Jon chose to follow a different path. He became a Challenger tank pilot and was known as a model soldier. He had been in that assignment for ten years when he was approached to become part of a new experimental program. The Yanibar Guard was developing advanced battle walkers in response to a new threat and Jon was asked to participate. The Yuuzhan Vong species had invaded the galaxy, launching a devastating war, and the new walkers were part of Yanibar's increased defensive capabilities in case doing battle with them became necessary. Jon wrestled with the decision, as he was due for a promotion and command of his own company, but he accepted after the commanding officer, Colonel Zid Harrinos, personally appealed to him, saying he needed his leadership potential.

They met the project's lead, Sarth Kraen, who had masterminded the new walkers, dubbed Avatars, and underwent a grueling two year familiarization program that included simulators and numerous runs on the training grounds. Only twenty pilots were selected from the initial class, and only twelve made the cut, entering a top-secret unit dubbed the Pathfinders. The first six months were spent just learning the technical capabilities and systems of their walkers&mdash;the next year was spent learning how to control them. Jon was paired with three other pilots: Akira Arkani, Sneath Lapik, and Terneh Oegonar, under the command of Harrinos.

Their first mission saw them headed to the conquered world of Falleen as Yanibar ramped up its covert strikes against the Yuuzhan Vong and their allies. By this time, Rieves had earned the callsign "Steel" from his steely demeanor and gray eyes. He was willing to accept battle against the Yuuzhan Vong, knowing that his father had participated in covert operations against the Empire to help stop their evil years earlier. As such, he prepared his pilots for battle, and occasionally flirted with Arkani, the only female in the unit, though she rebuffed him.

The four Avatars dropped on Falleen. They were detected and attacked by a group of Yuuzhan Vong starfighters, but defeated them fairly easily. Advancing towards a ruined city, they encountered a large Yuuzhan Vogn warbeast. Rieves was used as bait by their commanding officer after their weapons proved ineffective, luring the beast under a bridge, which the other three Avatars then collapsed on top of it. Moving forward, they encountered Yuuzhan Vong infantry, but were able to clear them with ease. They then detected a large Yuuzhan Vong encampment, and upon seeing the piles of sacrificial corpses, Akira was horrified and understood why the Yanibar Guard was fighting the Yuuzhan Vong.

An airstrike was called in to destroy the encampment, but one of the fighters that bombed it was shot down. The four Avatars were sent to destroy the wreckage. While doing so, the ground beneath their heavy walkers gave way, plunging them into a cavern infested with Yuuzhan Vong. The four Avatars were damaged and encountered three enemy warbeasts. After a grueling battle, they managed to defeat them thanks to Rieves' tactics, but both Terneh's and Akira's Avatars were heavily damaged. Exploring further, they found that the Yuuzhan Vong were growing yammosk war coordinators, telepathic creatures that coordinated the Yuuzhan Vong war effort. Since their enclosure was heavily fortified and the Avatars had depleted most of their ordnance, Akira suggested activating the self-destruct on the damaged two Avatars to destroy all the yammosks at once, preventing any telepathic retaliation. Akira tried to make it from her cockpit to Rieves, but broken ribs sustained earlier in the battle complicated the matter, as did a group of Yuuzhan Vong infantry. Rieves caught her before she plunged to her death, hauling her inside his cockpit and escaping. The two abandoned Avatars self-destructed behind them, collapsing the cavern, while the remaining two Avatars were extracted. As they left, Rieves noted her performance and fiery temperament and coined a new callsign forher, "Blaze," which she approved of. He also flirted with her and this time she was receptive to his advances.

When the Yanibar Guard deployed to fight the Yuuzhan Vong on Rishi in 28 ABY, Jon was part of the group that went, piloting his Avatar to good effect, including rescuing a downed Yanibar Guard pilot and a group of commandos that were extracting her. After the battle was concluded, the Yanibar Guard withdrew from Rishi. When the Yuuzhan Vong War ended in 30 ABY, Akira and Jon Rieves were married. Akira left the service in 31 ABY to care for their son, Kiro, while Jon transferred to a teaching role, training the next generation of Avatar pilots. Yanibar was evacuated in 38 ABY due to environmental damage caused by a Yuuzhan Vong attack, and when its population departed for the distant world of Atlaradis, Jon, Akira, Kiro, and their daughter Naomi went with them.

Behind the scenes
Jon Rieves was created as one of the four main Avatar pilots for the novella Blaze of Glory. He was written as a steady, effective leader, with a flair for creativity and initiative while also being professional when it was demanded of him. His callsign was based off the MechCommander 2 pilot with the same callsign, a fitting tribute since the Avatars themselves were heavily inspired by the BattleTech series. Rieves' father is implied to be Nak Rieves, who was first introduced in the short story Thunderchief. Rieves later had a cameo appearance in Force Exile V: Warrior where helped rescue Jasika and Bryndar Knrr.

Appearances

 * Blaze of Glory
 * Force Exile V: Warrior