Ranulph Tarkin was a male human from Eriadu and the paternal cousin of Wilhuff Tarkin. He bore an uncanny resemblance to Wilhuff's father, so much so that they could have passed for twins. In the last decades of the Galactic Republic, he was one of the most respected commanders of the Outland Regions Security Force. At some point, Tarkin designed a ploy to avenge Eriadu Mining and Shipping from the Q'anah's Marauders by introducing a computer virus in the hyperdrive motivators of several container ships. However, Eriadu Mining refused to go along with his plan on cost grounds. Years later, when Wilhuff Tarkin had become a lieutenant in the anti-piracy task force of the Outland, the security force acquired a lead on which containers Q'anah's Marauders would target, and Eriadu Mining finally