Rivoche Tarkin, daughter to Brigadier Gideon Tarkin and niece to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, began to question the Tarkin family's dedication to the Galactic Empire following her father's death. She then resided with her uncle. She shared classified information concerning an impending Imperial assault with Biggs Darklighter, a young Imperial cadet who had joined the Rebellion. This action was instrumental in saving numerous Duros insurgents, which led to her recruitment as a deep-cover agent for Alliance Intelligence. Due to her connections, wealth, and social standing, she was highly sought after for important social gatherings and attracted the attention of many high-ranking Imperials, making her quite successful in this role.
After the Empire discovered proof of her betrayal, General Airen Cracken of the Rebel forces dispatched Cryle Cavv and [Quillin Arkell](/article/quillin_arkell], two operatives, to extract her before her staged wedding to the son of an Imperial Moff. Despite Sollaine, the chief of the Imperial Security Bureau, attempting to capture her alive, the extraction was successful. Subsequently, Tarkin became a reporter for New Republic Intelligence. She was on board the Star Destroyer Liberator when it crash-landed on Coruscant, where she reported on the devastation caused by the Imperial Civil War on what was once the core of galactic governance. Later, she married historian Voren Na'al, and they had several children together.
Rivoche Tarkin was born to Brigadier Gideon Tarkin, a dedicated military officer loyal to the New Order. Born circa 19 BBY, she spent her formative years on Coruscant, enjoying a privileged existence until her father was killed during the Erhynradd Mutiny in 5 BBY. Following his demise, she was invited to reside at the estate of her uncle, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, on Eriadu. Angered by her father's loss, she displayed spoiled behavior until her uncle "relocated" a friendly servant girl and her family to a prison asteroid, sending a very clear message about her conduct. This event also taught her about the cruelty and danger of the world, which sparked her initial doubts.
She was then enrolled in an elite preparatory academy on the planet Clær, where she continued to participate in the expected social events for a young woman of her status. Despite maintaining a facade of perfect behavior, her confidence in her uncle's policies and the New Order diminished. Her doubts grew as she encountered others who secretly disliked the Galactic Empire, including Biggs Darklighter, a young cadet from the Imperial Academy.
At some point, the Grand Vizier presented her with a specially designed poison detector, a common item among the scheming nobles of the Imperial court. This device, disguised as a sapphire brooch in an ornamental setting, was a modified zZip Personality Series ChaumScanner 5 designed to subtly warn the wearer of chemical or biological toxins detected by its integrated sensor. The sapphire contained a holo of the Tarkin family crest deep inside, becoming Tarkin's most cherished jewel.
During her debutante cotillion, a CompForce cadet (the military arm of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order's) casually mentioned an upcoming assault on Duros insurgents within the Duros Allied Army. Knowing Darklighter had connections to individuals possibly associated with the Rebel Alliance, she passed him the information. To her surprise, the insurgents were successfully extracted, and the CompForce assault failed due to her tip. Thrilled by her success, she began actively spying for the Rebellion. Darklighter connected her with other Alliance personnel, including Voren Na'al, a young reporter turned historian working under Arhul Hextrophon in the Historian Corp. To aid her spying, she had her poison-detecting brooch modified to include a tiny, undetectable holorecorder, which she could activate with a simple touch while flirting with potential targets.
Tarkin quickly established herself as one of Alliance Intelligence's most effective undercover operatives, providing crucial information that enabled the evacuation of an Alliance base on New Cylimba, preventing an Imperial massacre. Her wealth, connections, and fashion sense made her highly sought after at important social gatherings. She was simultaneously courted by over a dozen high-ranking Imperials. Only Na'al, General Airen Cracken, and a select few Alliance Intelligence agents knew of her true loyalties, fearing that widespread knowledge of her being the niece of a hated and feared Imperial would cause problems within the Rebellion.
Some within the Empire believed Tarkin should wed and raise the next generation of Tarkins, devoted to serving the New Order. Following her uncle's death aboard the Death Star in 0 BBY, the pressure on her intensified. She eventually agreed to marry Vastin Caglio, the eldest son of Moff Jamson Caglio of the Bormea sector. The younger Caglio saw her as the perfect trophy wife to advance his political ambitions, while Rivoche Tarkin, who saw him as a spoiled brat, viewed him as a means to end the pressure to marry.
In 0 ABY, shortly before Rivoche Tarkin's engagement party with Caglio on Corulag, the Empire discovered evidence in the form of heavily encrypted datafiles indicating a deep-cover operative within their ranks. Emperor Palpatine considered locating this operative a top priority, but his apprentice and primary enforcer, Darth Vader, was unable to handle it personally, as he had just received the Super Star Destroyer Executor and the task of finding the new Rebel base. Instead, Vader recommended Sollaine, the new head of the Imperial Security Bureau and a rival, for the challenging mission of capturing the operative alive. Alliance Intelligence also learned that evidence had fallen into Imperial hands, leading General Cracken to task former-SpecOp Cryle Cavv and Velabri Lancer Quillin Arkell with extracting Tarkin.
Cavv and Arkell arrived on Corulag to find over one hundred thousand Imperial starships present for the engagement party. Flying under forged data identifying their ship, the G Cat, as belonging to an Imperial noble, Cavv and Arkell received an automated invitation to the party. This allowed them relatively easy access to Tarkin, but Sollaine and a squad of Storm commandos arrived before they could leave. Cavv quickly threw a package of thermite explosive at the Imperials, killing the commandos, seriously injuring Sollaine, and giving Tarkin and her rescuers a chance to escape. Realizing they couldn't return to their ship, they headed to the Royal Galaxy Hotel, the tallest building in Curamelle, so Cavv's droid could fly their ship to them.
However, Sollaine had hired over fifty bounty hunters from Coreguard Security Services and set up an ambush on the hotel roof, having guessed their destination. Tarkin and her rescuers learned of the ambush after Cavv's droid, R2-RC, tapped into the rooftop surveillance imagers. They barricaded themselves in a hotel room while awaiting the arrival of Cavv's backup, a bounty hunter and master of disguise named Finn Varatha. Varatha provided Tarkin with a blaster pistol, and together, the group of four turned the tables on the ambushers, defeating them despite the odds and clearing the way for R2-RC to pick them up.
Tarkin and the rescue team fled the planet. A full squadron of TIE fighters pursued them into the maze of ships, exchanging fire with the G Cat. Sollaine returned to his Star Destroyer, the Devastator, and tried to capture the ship, but it escaped to hyperspace when Darth Vader unexpectedly arrived in-system aboard the Executor.
General Cracken provided Tarkin with sanctuary at a facility under his command. After the Battle of Endor, she became a reporter for New Republic Intelligence, growing closer to New Republic historian Voren Na'al.
She survived the Empire's capture of Coruscant in 10 ABY. Shortly after, she accompanied generals Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian on a series of surprise attacks aboard the Star Destroyer Liberator, and was present when the ship was shot down over Coruscant. The Liberator would have been destroyed if not for Luke Skywalker, who used his Force abilities, along with the ship's deflector shields and anti-grav braking system, to land it near the Imperial Palace. The ship's distress beacon failed upon impact, leaving the survivors waiting days for rescue. While on the planet, Tarkin observed the behavior of the scavengers who had descended on the world, prompting her to write a report. Accompanied by Demolinn and Greybird, two escorts assigned by General Antilles, she sought out survivors of the ongoing Imperial Civil War. Tarkin noted that the devastation and greed of the Imperial mutineers were far worse than generally acknowledged, a fact she relayed in a letter to Na'al.
Five days after the Liberator's crash landing, a group of Imperials found and attacked the ship and crew, nearly overwhelming the survivors. Before they could succeed, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and Chewbacca arrived aboard the Millennium Falcon, and the group defeated the Imperials and a group of aggressive scavengers. When a Force storm appeared from hyperspace, Skywalker insisted it was meant for him and that the others had to leave; the Liberator survivors were forced to rush aboard the Falcon and abandon the Jedi Master. Solo took the survivors to Pinnacle Base in the Cyax system.
After Na'al interviewed Han Solo about his adventures in the Corporate Sector, he allowed Tarkin to review his material. She suggested providing it to the same Adarlon-based holotape producers who had been trying to turn Arhul Hextrophon's study on Xim-era holo-iconography into a musical, noting Solo's tales were perfect for realizing the studio's goal of increasing the accessibility of their "inspirational" holotapes.
Eventually, Voren Na'al and Rivoche Tarkin married. They had several children, including a son, Gideon Na'al, named after Tarkin's father. Gideon followed his father's path as an author. Tarkin was unhappy when her husband left on a special mission for Mon Mothma to Exocron in 19 ABY, but allowed him to go if someone accompanied him. Voren Na'al agreed and asked one of his graduate students, Pollo Tipn, to join him.
Rivoche Tarkin was a spoiled, privileged youth who threw tantrums when she didn't get her way. Living with her uncle made her aware of the galaxy's cruelty and danger, and she began to question her family's pro-Imperial beliefs, eventually hating the Empire and its policies. While she despised the Tarkins' ideology, she remained loyal to her family, refusing to endanger them or tolerate insults against their name. This protectiveness extended to her husband, whom she insisted take someone on a potentially dangerous fact-finding mission to the Kathol sector. Like her uncle, she could be distant and sharp-tongued, but she also shared his calculating mind.
Tarkin's fashion sense, wealth, and connections made her an ideal deep-cover agent, a dangerous job at which she excelled. She also possessed practical skills, including marksmanship and blaster maintenance. She was willing to do distasteful things, like marrying a man she hated, to continue her undercover work.
During her time as a deep-cover agent, Tarkin typically carried a hold-out blaster or hold-out stunner in addition to her poison-detecting brooch/holorecorder. For her aborted wedding to Vastin Caglio on Corulag, she left all her important personal items on Eriadu, simplifying her escape with Cryle Cavv and Quillin Arkell.
Rivoche Tarkin was created by Michael Allen Horne. She was first mentioned in the Dark Empire Sourcebook, published by West End Games for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game in 1993, and was given a full write-up by Horne in Cracken's Rebel Operatives in 1994. Though primarily a character in source material, she played a significant role in Paul Danner's short story "Small Favors," published in Star Wars Adventure Journal 12 in 1997.
Star Wars Adventure Journal 12 includes an adventure idea with "Small Favors" in which the player characters replace Cavv and Arkell in rescuing Tarkin from Corulag. The idea largely mirrors the plot of the short story, though for independent characters without ties to the Rebellion, it suggests General Cracken—disguised as a "mysterious party"—hires the characters to kidnap Tarkin.
The image of Rivoche Tarkin used in Cracken's Rebel Operatives, drawn by Mike Vilardi, has been reused twice. It reappears in "Small Favors" to represent her again. Later, it was colorized and had background elements removed to illustrate the character template of an "Arrogant Noble" player character in Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded. Although Rivoche Tarkin's hair is described as brown, the colorized version shows it as white.