Janek Sunber Janek Sunber was a native of Tatooine and a boyhood friend of Luke Skywalker , nicknamed " Tank " by his friends for his large frame . Growing up on a moisture farm , he set his sights on the skies and applied to become an Imperial pilot . His test scores were not sufficient , so instead he joined the Imperial Army . A dedicated and hardworking cadet , he graduated and quickly made lieutenant . Sunber saw his first combat at Maridun , when his company was attacked by a vastly superior Amanin force . During the battle , Sunber distinguished himself to his commander , General Ziering , with his work ethic , quick thinking , bravery , and tactical aptitude . Sunber devised the strategy that saved the beleaguered Imperial camp , and when Ziering was killed in battle , he devoted his dying words to praising Sunber and promoting him to the rank of commander . Sunber led the camp ' s defenders to victory , but his jealous former superior and now subordinate , Captain Gage , refused to verify Sunber ' s promotion after the battle . Continuing his career as a lieutenant , Sunber eventually was assigned to rooting out the last of the Loyalists on Jabiim . They were taken as slaves to Kalist VI , which troubled Sunber . On Kalist VI , Sunber risked his career to prevent another lieutenant from raping a slave , but escaped punishment after a Rebel attack on the base . One of the participants was his old friend Skywalker . Sunber confronted him , refusing Skywalker ' s entreaties to join the Rebellion , as he still saw the Empire as the right side in the Galactic Civil War , a force for order . Skywalker escaped , leaving Sunber wounded . Sunber was tormented by learning that Skywalker , as well as his other friend Biggs Darklighter , had become his enemies . He was unable to deal with the possibility that he might have chosen the wrong course , and eventually came to conclude that he had to stop his old friend . He volunteered his knowledge of Skywalker to Darth Vader , who tasked him to capture the Rebel hero . Sunber sent a message stating he wished to defect and was " rescued " by Skywalker , who brought him among the Alliance Fleet . There , Sunber attempted to subdue the young Jedi and the pair battled . Sunber had Skywalker at his mercy but could not kill his childhood friend when the ship was damaged in an attack by Vader ' s fleet . Sunber found himself hanging on the edge of a pit , an unconscious and wounded Leia Organa grasped in his hand . He saved the Rebel leader , handing her up to Skywalker , before he lost his grip and fell away . Biography . Growing up . A young man from Tatooine , the grandson of a slave , Janek Sunber was raised on a moisture farm near Anchorhead . On Hutt - dominated Tatooine , he learned Huttese in addition to Basic . He ran with a group of other Anchorhead youths near his age . As the biggest of the boys , he gained the nickname " Tank " by which he was commonly known . He was regarded as a mischievous rule - breaker , eager to have fun . He and his good friends Biggs Darklighter and Laze " Fixer " Loneozner were older than some of the other boys , like Windy Starkiller and Sunber ' s good friend Luke Skywalker , by a few years . This led to a phase in his mid - teens in which , able to do things such as drive landspeeders where Skywalker could not , he spent most of his time with the older boys , racing landspeeders and driving to Anchorhead to kill time at Tosche Station . As they aged , he returned to a close friendship with Skywalker . In one instance , he " borrowed " his father ' s blaster rifle to go womp rat hunting with Darklighter and Skywalker . Growing up , Sunber was a skilled pilot , frequently flying through Beggar ' s Canyon with his friends . He hoped to put those skills to use as an Imperial pilot , cutting a glamorous and dashing figure . Darklighter and Skywalker were planning to become Imperial pilots as well , and Sunber was confident they would succeed and the three could serve together . However , when he applied to enter the Naval Academy on Prefsbelt IV , he did not test well enough to become a pilot . Rather than admit defeat , Sunber chose a career in the Imperial Army . He left Tatooine in 1 BBY and went through training at the Academy of Carida , where his exceptional performance and tactical skill earned him a transfer to officer training . Within a year he graduated a lieutenant . Training broke him of his impetuosity , bringing him to see the value of discipline . As an army lieutenant , Sunber envied his friends for taking what he believed to be an easier path to advancement than the less - glamorous life of a foot soldier , but was determined to make the best of his lot and rise to a high position . Assignment to Maridun . In early 0 ABY , Sunber was assigned to the world of Maridun . He was put under the command of the young and privileged Captain Gage , whose easy advancement , condescending demeanor , and reluctance to put forth significant effort grated on backwater - born Sunber . As Sunber traveled with an armored column , one of the Juggernaut s became stuck . A man who wished to give no orders he would not carry out himself and who did not shy from toil , Sunber intended to aid the stormtroopers under his command in freeing it . For this , he was rebuked by Gage as not properly holding himself above his men . Regardless , Sunber entered the mud to aid his troops , earning the admiration of the expedition ' s commanding officer , General Ziering , who saw in Sunber a dedicated and hardworking officer . Immediately upon the Juggernaut being freed , the column came under attack by local Amanin warriors . Sunber , seeing his first action , immediately organized his unit in counter - fire , quickly driving off the ambushers and earning Ziering ' s praise for his initiative . Newly on guard against what had been perceived as peaceful natives , the column set out with Sunber ' s squad taking the point position . Before departing , Sunber noted that the rock on which the Juggernaut had hung up bore what appeared to be ritual Amanin markings . A full day of travel brought them to a remote mining outpost on the Maridun prairie — which they found had been raided by the Amanin and left waste while the aliens carried off the miners ' blasters . Sunber immediately ordered his men to set up defenses , but Gage countermanded him and took the matter to Ziering , who suggested that only a small redoubt be constructed against the cliff face the outpost was built along , as the men were tired from the day ' s march . Undaunted , Sunber labored with the stormtroopers to construct the walls . As night fell , he conferred with Gage , Ziering , and Ziering ' s deputy Commander Frickett . Gage and Frickett were confident in the defenses , but Sunber ' s doubtful expression prompted Ziering to ask the junior officer ' s opinion . Knowing he was making enemies by showing up two superiors , he suggested that they did not have enough men to defend the position , lacked proper intelligence on the Amanin , and had no lane of retreat . Dawn saw an Amanin attack by climbers descending the cliff face , and Sunber , seeing to the defense , was caught next to one of the two Juggernauts when it was destroyed by sabotage . Knocked out , he awoke to learn that Ziering had been wounded in the same blast and was recovering . Frickett and Gage were seeing to the defense , and tasked the impertinent lieutenant with building wider perimeter fortifications . Disappointed in his subordinate , Ziering put Gage on patrol duty . When Gage ' s patrol came under attack , Sunber quickly took the controls of the remaining Juggernaut and scattered the Amanin with a quick blast , letting Gage make it back to camp . Revealed in his wake were a vast horde of Amanin warriors . With Ziering in surgery , Frickett was in command . Panicking , he ordered a charge . Sunber immediately realized that the Amanin were drawing them out for an ambush , but neither Gage nor Frickett would listen in time . Frickett was slain in the field , and the last Juggernaut captured and put out of commission . Desperate stand . After a conference , Ziering held Sunber back and sought his advice . The younger man accepted that without reinforcements , the death of the entire company was the only likely outcome . Therefore , he suggested that they sell their lives dearly , setting up three successive breastworks with overlapping fields of fire in front of a final redoubt . Impressed , Ziering promoted Sunber to captain and implemented his plan . Sunber spent the night seeing to the building of trenches and earthworks . When it came time for the defense to be mounted , Sunber protectively suggested that the general retire to the redoubt . In his absence , the jealous Gage ordered Sunber to the first trench , using his power as senior captain to push Sunber into the greatest danger . Sunber kept the spirits of his men up until sunset , when the Amanin made their attack . As the natives threatened to overwhelm his trench , Sunber gave the order to fall back to the second trench . He was shaken to see that Gage , ordered to the second trench by Ziering in retaliation , had quailed on observing the onslaught and ordered his detachment to fall back . Sunber ' s squad lacked the covering fire necessary for a safe withdrawal . Fearful , he managed to settle on what seemed the squad ' s only chance : lobbing a thermal detonator at the wrecked Juggernaut in the field . He found success , setting off the Juggernaut ' s fuel supply in an explosion that cleared much of the field and held off the Amanin advance long enough for Sunber to fall back to the second trench . Out of thermal detonators , Sunber needed a new tactic to stall the Amanin . He found one by having his men lower themselves out of sight in the center of the trench as if readying for attack , and then sidling to the north and south ends of the trench . Taken in , the Amanin mounted their attack on the center . Sunber ' s men caught them in a crossfire while Ziering ' s redoubt E - webs raked the Amanin caught in the center . Sunber quickly fell back to the redoubt , where he was warmly greeted by Ziering before a renewed Amanin offensive commanded their attention . The Imperial forces long held out , but the continual Amanin assault wore down their numbers , and barrages of Amanin throwing spears caught more and more troops . Eventually , Sunber himself was struck in the right shoulder but struggled through the pain to remain conscious and fighting . Next to him , Ziering was pierced through the chest . The Tatooinian rushed to the general ' s aid , but Ziering could not be helped . He passed away after exhorting Sunber to lead the men to victory and issuing him a field promotion to commander . Fully feeling the weight of responsibility , Sunber shouted encouragement to his men and they fought even more fiercely . At long last , the opposition faded away . Sunber immediately began consolidating his defenses for another onslaught , but instead the Amanin leader came forward . Honored by the Imperial valor in what the Amanin saw as ritual battle — " takital " — resulting from the Imperial incursion into sacred lands marked by the stone Sunber had observed , the Amanin chieftain offered peace and a tribute of slaves taken in their battles with other Amanin tribes . After finalizing the agreement , Sunber filed a report and eventually returned to Carida to face a board of review leading an inquiry into the Battle of Maridun . While losses had exceeded ninety percent of the Imperial force , the board found Sunber ' s actions satisfactory and the agreement to gain the Empire slaves quite advantageous ; they issued Sunber a special commendation . However , as Gage enviously refused to verify Ziering ' s field promotions , Sunber was returned to lieutenancy . Doubts and surprises . Approximately seven months later , Sunber was part of a detail assigned to take on an underground fortress of Jabiimi Loyalists which had proven impervious to Imperial bombardment . Sunber led a charge up a rocky hill , against the well - fortified enemy . He directed his engineers in blowing a breach in the rock , exposing an entry point into the Jabiimi base . With access , he was able to compel the defenders to surrender . As per his orders , he oversaw the enslavement of the rebels , but he was uncomfortable with the task . Boarding the same " Acclamator " - class assault ship as the slaves , Sunber and his remaining men — all clones — shipped out to Kalist VI . There , he got them situation in a new unit and found himself empty quarters . His belongings had been lost in transit , but he was accustomed to such difficulties . As he unpacked his new kit , he was challenged by another officer , a burly man named Clynn , who claimed the room as his . Rather than back down , Sunber won respect from the other officers by standing up to Clynn and , when Clynn swung , subduing the larger man . The fight was broken up by Captain Kale Roshuir , who assigned Sunber and Clynn to immediately pull double shifts together . Impressed by Roshuir ' s mention of Sunber ' s service at Maridun , Clynn eagerly showed the new man around the base as they supervised the slave workers . Imperial media had made heroes of the survivors of Maridun , and Clynn was hungry for anecdotes . Sunber , however , saw battle as anything but glamorous . After their shifts concluded , Clynn promised to show Sunber entertainment , though the veteran of Maridun simply wanted sleep . Sunber was shocked at Clynn ' s idea of entertainment when the larger man pulled away a female prisoner and dragged her to a cell . Outraged , Sunber demanded that Clynn desist . When he was ignored , Sunber pulled his blaster on the other officer and forced him to let the woman go . Clynn left while threatening Sunber with retribution . Clynn reported Sunber to Roshuir , telling the captain that Sunber had drawn a weapon on him while interfering with the disciplining of a prisoner . However , before Roshuir could deal with it , the captain was called away to lead an expedition against a suspected Rebel base at Thila . He left Sunber at the base and promised to bring him up on charges upon his return . Sunber , now experienced in military politics , knew a tribunal would never bear him out . Worried , he was suddenly comforted by the unexpected sight of Skywalker on the landing platform from which Roshuir had departed . Skywalker , wearing a lieutenant ' s uniform , was equally surprised , and Sunber excitedly engaged in reminiscing with him , filling his old friend in on developments in his own life and asking after the careers of Skywalker and Darklighter . He was proud to hear Skywalker report that he had made pilot , and Darklighter had as well — but devastated to learn that Darklighter was dead at the Battle of Yavin , killed covering his wingman Skywalker . Sunber began to share his doubts about the Empire and its role in slavery , and to his surprise Skywalker replied that he had doubts as well . However , Sunber was shocked when Skywalker suggested that he join the burgeoning Rebel Alliance . When a transmission from command stated that Rebel saboteurs were on the base , Sunber knew that his old friend was one of the enemy . When a nearby explosion broke out , Sunber attempted to apprehend Skywalker , but the other man knocked the Imperial officer out . When Sunber awoke , he was outraged and betrayed . He immediately reported the presence of saboteurs and gave a description of Skywalker before pursuing him into the slave quarters . There , he found the slaves gone and stormtroopers slain . Furious , he caught up with Skywalker as he was leading the slaves aboard the Acclamator . Confronting his old friend , he was taken aback when Skywalker left himself open , confident Sunber could not shoot him . Instead , the budding Jedi expressed his confidence that Sunber would know that rescuing the slaves was the right thing and not stand in the way — as did the woman he had earlier rescued from Clynn ' s advances . Sunber admitted that Skywalker was right and agreed to let the slaves go , though he refused to defect , feeling that he was accomplishing good within the Empire . When another detachment of Rebels , bringing with them the freed Rebel Jorin Sol , arrived , Sunber again felt betrayed and manipulated , used by Skywalker to advance a Rebel agenda that had nothing to do with slaves . Enraged , he fired on Sol , but Skywalker ' s lightsaber blocked the bolt and sent it back into Sunber ' s shoulder . Skywalker again tried to persuade Sunber , but Sunber was unmoved , though shocked when Skywalker revealed that " he " had destroyed the Death Star , and Darklighter had been a Rebel as well . Skywalker and the Rebels took off , leaving Sunber wounded on the hangar floor . Betrayal and struggle . After the battle , intelligence officers persuaded Roshuir not to charge Sunber — secretly grateful that Sol , whom they had broken and made a spy , had been returned to the Alliance Fleet . Bacta treatment healed his shoulder , and Sunber was left with only the emotional wounds of having his two best friends on the opposing side of a war . That struggle consumed his thoughts over the next month , even as he commanded in a hard - fought battle against a Rebel base on Keskin . The night before , he had had a dream in which he and the other Anchorhead youths had been boys playing war , and in it he had " killed " Skywalker . Though tormented by the situation , Sunber increasingly came to believe that he was somehow meant to stop Skywalker . Even when he was nearly killed by an infiltrator ' s thermal detonator , Sunber felt confident that he would not die , as Skywalker was not present . Thrown by the blast , he struggled with and killed another Rebel warrior before making his way back to Imperial lines , which were withdrawing in preparation for a TIE bomber bombardment . One of the bombers was shot down and plummeted towards Sunber . As it tumbled towards him , barely cartwheeling over his head , Sunber first accepted death and then realized that he would survive after all — and knew that he did so to battle Skywalker . Later , Sunber interrupted the beating of a prisoner from the battle in an interrogation room , rebuking the Imperial soldiers for taking out their anger on a captive . He was determined to show the Rebel that the Empire truly represented justice and order . The prisoner was unconvinced , hostilely proclaiming that the Empire would fall , and mentioning Skywalker as the Rebellion ' s foremost hero . The prisoner taunting him with Skywalker ' s name was enough to cause Sunber to snap , striking the man until he was pulled away by the very men he had threatened with charges for beating the prisoner . To have Skywalker a Rebel was one thing — to learn that he was a leading Rebel warrior , the hero of Yavin , was too much for Sunber to bear . That night , Sunber was again sleepless , tormented by Skywalker ' s role in the Rebellion . He refused to believe that Skywalker could have been right to join the Rebellion , and realized that if Skywalker was a major Rebel figure , he had important background information on that hero . His sense of duty compelled him to report it . Sunber was taken to the Star Dreadnought " Executor " and brought before Darth Vader . He made a full report to the intrigued Lord Vader of Skywalker ' s background , and Vader decided to make use of Sunber ' s connection to the young Rebel . Sunber agreed to become a mole among the Rebel forces . He sent a message to Skywalker stating that he wished to defect , and giving coordinates where he could be found . The message was made to look as if he had been found out , and Sunber consented to undergo torture at the base at the given coordinates — a small space station controlling a deep - space junkyard — in order to strengthen his cover and credibility . Rebel commanders did not believe the message , but Skywalker , fully trusting his friend , dismissed concerns that it could be a trap and set out with supply clerk Deena Shan on an unsanctioned rescue mission . Enemies . Skywalker found Sunber in a torture chamber on the deserted station , and Sunber warned him that he had been " found out " and the situation was indeed a trap . Roshuir led a boarding party of stormtroopers onto the station , which caught Skywalker , Sunber , and Shan in a firefight in a hallway . At Roshuir ' s urging , Sunber attempted to seize Skywalker , but a stray shot hit him in the hand , halting the capture effort before it could begin . Skywalker was able to hold off the troops and , wounded , Sunber went with them as the two Rebels escaped the ambush . When they returned to the Alliance Fleet , Sunber was taken under guard to receive medical care . He was repeatedly interrogated by Rebel spymaster Tungo Li , who found no flaw in his story . Eventually , Sunber was allowed his freedom on a limited basis , kept away from sensitive areas of the ship and always guarded by at least one Rebel . He met up with Skywalker again , but by then had firmly decided that Skywalker was an enemy of the Empire , an enemy of order — a decision made easier by Skywalker ' s seemingly blithe dismissal of the loss of life in the Death Star ' s explosion . Still , he could not entirely bring himself to hate his old friend . That night , he had a dream in which Vader appeared , demanding that he put aside his doubts and capture Skywalker for the Dark Lord of the Sith . Thus urged on , he awoke and knocked out the guard outside his room , taking the man ' s clothing and sneaking out into " Rebel One " . Simultaneously , Sol opened fire on Leia Organa on the ship ' s bridge , and Vader ' s fleet arrived . Sunber , making his way to the bridge , brought Skywalker under his gun . The Rebel begged Sunber to allow the wounded Organa to receive medical aid , but Sunber was unmoved . He ordered Skywalker , carrying Organa , to proceed to an escape pod which Vader would recover ; after that , he promised to see that the Rebel leader received treatment . Skywalker , bitterly disappointed , told Sunber that the Empire had killed Owen and Beru Lars , Skywalker ' s guardians . Overwhelmed , Sunber struck Skywalker , and the Jedi fought back . Sunber gained the upper hand and had Skywalker at his mercy , threatening to kill him , but he could not bring himself to do so . Skywalker offered to submit to capture if Sunber would only see that Organa lived . Before Sunber could take action , a shot rocked " Rebel One " , causing a malfunction in its artificial gravity that turned the corridor into a chasm . Sunber grabbed onto Organa and was in turn grabbed by Skywalker , who was secure on top of a horizontal surface . No longer willing to battle Skywalker , he mustered all his strength to hand Organa up to the other man before he lost his grip and plummeted down the long hallway . Sunber ' s body was never found aboard " Rebel One " , but before " Rebel One " jumped to hyperspace and escaped the ambush , one escape pod was launched and recovered by the Empire . Personality and traits . As a young man , Janek Sunber dreamed of escaping Tatooine , becoming an Imperial pilot , and gaining prestige in wider society . When that dream could not be fulfilled , he put his hopes in the infantry rather than return home humiliated , his dreams of glory crushed . He envied Darklighter ' s and Skywalker ' s position as pilots , but was proud of them and confident of his friends ' success . Sunber found his own success as an infantry officer , earning the respect of the veteran General Ziering , who proclaimed him " a natural " at command . Sunber was a hard worker . Willing to do whatever the situation required of him , he would labor or put his life on the line for the Empire , and preferred not to ask his subordinates to do anything he himself would not do . Originally a wild and headstrong youth , Imperial training brought him to value personal discipline and orderliness . Combat experience forced him to mature even more swiftly . He believed strongly in duty , and would give no less than his all in pursuit of it . Despite his strong loyalty to the Empire and what he perceived as an orderly and just system , he was not entirely comfortable with all its practices . Slave - taking especially troubled him , as his grandfather had been a slave , but he faithfully saw through his orders nonetheless . He attempted to rationalize Imperial slavery as a fate brought on by those who resisted , but he remained unconvinced of its justice . When he witnessed a fellow officer attempt to rape a prisoner and treat it as a matter of custom , Sunber furiously drew a blaster on him , determined to prevent an injustice . When Sunber realized that Skywalker and Darklighter had joined the Rebellion , he was heartbroken and betrayed , confused by having his friends as his enemies . He remembered the good times he had had with them , but that only made him feel all the more betrayed by the fact that they had taken a stand against the Empire , killing its soldiers and standing in the way of order . He sometimes wondered if Skywalker and Darklighter had made the right choice — but quickly quashed that thought , as he could not deal with the idea that he might have dedicated his life to the wrong side , desperately rationalizing the Empire as the bringer of peace and stability to the galaxy . Instead , Sunber came to believe that he was somehow destined to stop Skywalker . However , Sunber was never quite able to kill Skywalker when given the chance , and ultimately decided to rescue Leia Organa before he plummeted away from Skywalker in their confrontation , robbing him of the need to make a clear choice . Behind the scenes . " Tank " was first mentioned in and its comic adaptation as a friend of Luke Skywalker who left for the Academy , but despite that distinction was given no attention in the Expanded Universe for twenty - seven years . In 2004 , the comic arc " " was released . Written by Welles Hartley and illustrated by Davidé Fabbri , it featured a character identified as Janek Sunber as its protagonist . Mention of Sunber ' s backwater origins , desire to be a pilot , and piloting friends were made , but no explicit connection was made between Sunber and " Tank " . In the later arc " " , also by Hartley and Fabbri , Sunber was revealed as " Tank " and set up as in conflict with Skywalker . This was not a retcon , but rather a connection which had been intended since Sunber ' s creation . " " became " " after that arc , and Sunber ' s story was continued in " " , which saw Sunber confront Skywalker but ended with Sunber ' s fate and allegiance unresolved . " My Brother , My Enemy " was the first Sunber story not featuring Hartley and Fabbri ; instead it was written by Rob Williams and illustrated by Brandon Badeaux and Michel Lacombe .