The Silent Blades constituted a piratical organization that operated around 0 BBY. During that year, the Imperial frigate Far Orbit, under the command of Captain Vocis Kenit, relentlessly pursued them for several weeks. This chase culminated in a forced confrontation between the pirates and the Imperials within an asteroid field located in the Outer Rim Territories. The TIE Series starfighters deployed from the Far Orbit effectively decimated the pirate group. In the aftermath of this battle, a small number of Silent Blades survivors rebranded themselves as the Tarnished Blades, initiating acts of piracy near the Ringali Nebula circa 0 ABY.
The Silent Blades functioned as a pirate group with activities centered in the Outer Rim Territories during 0 BBY. In that year, their destruction of multiple system patrol craft and starfighters owned by Outer Rim governments spurred the Galactic Empire into action. Following complaints from those governments regarding their losses, the Empire dispatched the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Far Orbit, captained by Captain Vocis Kenit, to neutralize the pirate threat. The Imperials tracked the Silent Blades for a number of weeks, eventually cornering them within an asteroid field. This environment prevented the Far Orbit from directly engaging the pirates, while also hindering the pirates' escape. Against the advice of his second-in-command Dhas Fenoep Vedij to await reinforcements, Kenit deployed the Far Orbit's complement of TIE Series fighter against the pirates. The subsequent battle resulted in the near-total annihilation of the pirate group, though all the TIEs were also destroyed.
Following this decisive defeat, some of the surviving members of the Silent Blades regrouped and adopted the new name of the Tarnished Blades. Under the leadership of Shel Marcino, who had been a mere deckhand during the Silent Blades' attack, they commenced operations near the Core Worlds's Ringali Nebula. The Tarnished Blades swore vengeance against Captain Kenit and the Far Orbit for their defeat.
Eventually, the pirates located the Far Orbit in 0 ABY, within the Core's Ringali Shell. However, the situation had changed: Vedij and a faction of the crew had previously staged a mutiny, wresting control of the ship from Kenit, partly due to Kenit's leadership having resulted in the deaths of numerous pilots during the engagement with the pirates. Given the change in the frigate's command and loyalties, the Tarnished Blades agreed to assist the crew, who had become privateers in service of the Alliance to Restore the Republic after the mutiny. The pirates agreed to this as there was a possibility of encountering Kenit again, the man actively hunting the rogue frigate.
The Silent Blades functioned as a piracy organization. However, the attack by the Far Orbit's starfighter contingent left them fractured, although some survivors were re-organized by Marcino into the Tarnished Blades. As the Tarnished Blades, the group possessed only a few light freighters, including the Dark Vendetta, and a pair of Preybird-class starfighters.
The Tarnished Blades, along with their predecessor organization, the Silent Blades, were first referenced in 1998's The Far Orbit Project, authored by Timothy S. O'Brien. This book served as a supplement to West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and acted as a sequel of sorts to the preceding publication Pirates & Privateers, continuing that book's theme by following the privateering vessel Far Orbit.