Form XTM-51-CT was an Imperial document, a requirement dictated by Imperial Naval Regulation 132.CAT.ch(22). It compelled gunnery captains serving on Imperial ships to provide justification for instances where they engaged escape pods during a Category V combat scenario. Its purpose was to placate the concerns of the Imperial Senate about the actions of the Imperial Military. Bolvan, the gunnery captain of the Star Destroyer Devastator, a man who typically avoided paperwork, affirmed that the existence of this form was far from his mind when he instructed his officer Hija not to target a lifeless escape pod launched from the Tantive IV during its capture above Tatooine. His reasoning was purely to protect his kill ratio, given the pod's apparent emptiness. Bolvan later understood the pod likely concealed the stolen Death Star plans and sought assistance from fleet logistics liaison Arvira to conceal his error.
The short story entitled "The Sith of Datawork" featured the first reference to Form XTM-51-CT; it was included in the 2017 collection From a Certain Point of View.