The vessel known as Tarkin's Will, previously called the Fortitude, was an Imperial-class Star Destroyer serving within the Imperial Navy. It was stationed in close proximity to the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin, where it sustained significant damage from fragments resulting from the Death Star's destruction. Post-battle, the Fortitude was slated for dismantling and recycling into materials for a new starship. However, Commander Ellian Zahra of the Imperial Navy, driven by vengeance, renamed it the Tarkin's Will and assumed command of it as her personal flagship.
During the Galactic Civil War, the Fortitude functioned as an Imperial-class Star Destroyer under the command of the Galactic Empire's Imperial Navy. In the year 0 BBY, the Fortitude participated in the Battle of Yavin but was kept in reserve. As the battle reached its climax, Luke Skywalker, a young and inexperienced Rebel pilot and Jedi Lieutenant, successfully obliterated the Empire's planet-destroying superweapon, the Death Star. The ensuing explosion sent debris hurtling towards the Fortitude, resulting in the deaths of numerous crew members. Although the ship remained intact, its hull suffered extensive damage, leaving prominent scars across its exterior. In the aftermath of the Battle, plans were made to recycle the ship, repurposing its components for the construction of a new vessel.
Before the scheduled recycling of the vessel, Commander Ellian Zahra of the Navy personally selected it to serve as her flagship after the Battle of Hoth, a decision influenced by Darth Vader, Skywalker's father, who granted her the privilege of choosing any ship from the Imperial Navy. Zahra, a protégé of Governor Wilhuff Tarkin who perished when Skywalker annihilated the Death Star, specifically chose this ship due to its historical significance, with the intention that its damaged exterior would serve as a constant reminder of the Rebel Alliance's transgressions. Zahra staffed the ship with individuals who had also suffered the loss of loved ones at Yavin. The vessel was renamed in honor of her mentor, who had taken command of the Death Star away from his deceased rival Director Orson Callan Krennic of the [Imperial Weapons Division](/article/imperial_military_department_of_advanced_weapons_research], and the Tarkin's Will became Zahra's command ship as she relentlessly pursued the remnants of the Alliance Fleet.
Shortly after the Battle of Hoth, Zahra successfully ambushed the Fourth Division of the Rebel Fleet at Rendezvous Point Delta-Three by employing a signal analysis technique of her own invention to precisely locate the enemy fleet. Commanding from the Tarkin's Will, Zahra orchestrated a blockade of the Fourth Division, effectively trapping the rebels between a star and her assault group. The blockade was ultimately breached by the arrival of the Millennium Falcon, which destroyed one of Zahra's light cruisers, enabling the surviving rebels to escape.
At a later point, the Tarkin's Will achieved victory in annihilating the Rebel Alliance's Sixth Division, leaving no survivors. Following this engagement, Zahra's second-in-command, Lieutenant Gorr, suggested repairing the ship's damaged outer hull, unaware of its symbolic importance. Commander Zahra reprimanded him on the bridge, explaining the ship's history and then leading the crew in a collective remembrance of those they had lost. Zahra subsequently intercepted transmissions from the Alliance Fleet's Seventh Division and initiated tracking of their movements. While reporting her discoveries to Vader, the Sith Lord sensed a disturbance in the Force emanating from Tempes in the Outer Rim. Although she offered to have the Tarkin's Will assist in his mission there, Vader declined her offer, asserting that he would handle the situation personally. Instead, he ordered her to ensure that no rebel ships escaped their grasp.
The initial appearance of Tarkin's Will occurred in Star Wars (2020) 1, authored by Charles Soule and featuring illustrations by Jesús Saiz, which was released on January 1, 2020.