An Arquitens-class light cruiser was utilized by the Galactic Empire's navy. Following the Empire's attack on the Son-tuul Pride criminal organization, during which they seized the syndicate's fortune, the credits were scheduled for transfer to an Imperial safe on board the Arquitens-class light cruiser. Doctor Chelli Aphra, the renegade archaeologist, acting under secret orders from Darth Vader, the Imperial enforcer and Sith Lord, orchestrated a robbery of the Son-tuul Pride's credits, employing a team of bounty hunters.
While the light cruiser was positioned above Anthan Prime, Aphra initiated the creation of an asteroid field by detonating an asteroid and subsequently used an ion torpedo to incapacitate the cruiser. Aphra's team then boarded the vessel and successfully located the vault containing the credits. Krrsantan, a bounty hunter, then towed an asteroid directly into the cruiser, breaching the vault and exposing it to space. The droid BT-1 deployed a magnetic field to gather a portion of the credits, although the majority were lost to space. These lost credits were then collected by a satellite and transported to the moon Anthan 13 for Vader's personal agenda. The wreckage of the cruiser was then transported to the Anthan Prime Orbital Dockyard, where Inspector Thanoth, Vader's adjutant, analyzed it. Thanoth, unaware of the Sith Lord's involvement, managed to determine that the loss of the credits was not accidental.
The initial appearance of the Arquitens-class light cruiser occurred in Darth Vader (2015) 7, a comic published by Marvel Comics on July 1, 2015. The comic was written by Kieron Gillen and featured illustrations by Salvador Larroca.