Battle of Taanab / Legends The Battle of Taanab was an engagement in 0 ABY between the Norulac Freebooters — a pirate gang — and the Taanab defense fleet , led by Lando Calrissian . While a minor engagement by galactic standards , had a great effect on Calrissian ' s career : his impromptu command of the Taanab fleet and utter defeat of the Norulac Pirates earned him a heroic reputation that would later see him promoted to the rank of general in the Rebel Alliance . Prelude . Taanab was an Inner Rim planet from which cargo was transported to resource - poor worlds through stardocks that were administered by the local Banthal Company . The Banthal docks suffered annual raids by the Norulac pirates , who ravaged Taanab every year without exception , typically stealing food and attacking vessels docked in orbit . They would also randomly select settlements where they would loot valuables and conduct acts of brutality . The Galactic Empire was too preoccupied to defend a small , insignificant farm world , and the pirates were careful not to take too much stock destined for Imperial use . In the month of 35 : 8 GrS in the year 0 ABY , a roughly two - dozen - strong group of the pirates , including four Z - 95 Headhunters , a badly - upgraded Action VI transport , a large number of painted gunships , and two corvettes , one of which was a decommissioned " Marauder " - class , were inbound for Taanab , intent on collecting their annual tribute . When word reached Taanab that the pirates had attacked an outgoing rhuum convoy on the system perimeter and were heading sunward , the small and obsolete orbital defense fleet scrambled to defend the Banthal docking array in near orbit , where the massive cargo ships favored by the pirates were docked . While the pirates were poorly equipped , they easily outmatched the Taanab Defence Fleet and its small , weak array of Z - 95 Headhunters . Lando Calrissian , a young merchant captain in seasonal residence in the Taanab system who was shipping a denta bean cargo to the planet , was confined to Taanab , as the pirates had attacked while his cargo was being unloaded . Calrissian , who had no knowledge of the pirates prior to his arrival on Taanab , passed the time by observing the situation and watched the pirates intercept the rhuum convoy via holovid in the spaceport bar in Pandath . Seeing the pirates as amateurs who could be defeated by a sufficiently skilled pilot and irritated by the refusal of the pilots present to intervene , he boasted that he could easily set the pirates back . Gathal Danager , a skeptical fellow free - trader , drunkenly offered Calrissian the deed to one of his breweries on Clendor if Calrissian could actually repel the pirates , prompting others to laugh at Calrissian , who would later recall being offered the Imperial Palace and the Sceptre of Nopachi as well . Amid much cheering and jeering , Calrissian lifted off in a freighter , the " Mama Tried " , which he had borrowed . Anager had made the bet under the belief that Calrissian wouldn ' t be able to do it . The battle . Calrissian , who had been transporting several hundred Conner net s to Socorro for an acquaintance , quickly passed the orbital defense ships that were assembling around the docking array and hid in the ice ring that orbited Taanab ' s moon . After Calrissian waited there for some time , the raiders approached and began their run on the cargo ships at the docks . When the Norulac pirates were within range , Calrissian shot the Conner nets into the midst of their formation . The pirates were flying in a tight formation , and when combined with the speed of Calrissian ' s maneuver , their proximity resulted in them being caught by surprise . Roughly half of the pirates immediately hit their jets , flying directly into the nets and shorting out their systems , while three or four of the others collided with each other . At least six vessels were enveloped in the nets and forced into a single tangled mass . The pirates slowed their snub ships to extricate themselves from the entangling webs of the nets , but before they could regroup , Calrissian activated the tractor beam of the " Mama Tried " and began to launch chunks of ice from the moon ' s ring into the pirates ' cockpits , making multiple runs to the ring . The Taanab Defence Force eventually joined the battle ; Calrissian rallied the Taanab pilots , and under his leadership , the orbit defense fleet then engaged in a mop - up session in which Calrissian alone destroyed nineteen of the remaining pirate craft in about as many minutes . Calrissian then crippled the pirates ' two supporting corvettes by shattering the dorsal coolant pipes on their engine pods , taking their engines offline . He also secured the corvettes ' escape pod bays with his remaining Conner nets , preventing the pirates from escaping , and Taanab contacted Imperial forces , who arrived a few days later and captured the pirate corvettes along with the entirety of their crews . Aftermath . The incident at Taanab , which was reported in the newsnets as the " Battle of Taanab , " was considered to be among Lando Calrissian ' s most famous exploits . The Norulac pirates ' collection of their annual tributes ceased following the battle , and the Taanabs offered Calrissian the position of marshal of their defense fleet . Calrissian refused , taking into consideration the salary of a planetary militaman , and politely declined an offer of employment from Taanab portmaster Daniil Captane , who praised Calrissian ' s maneuvers and his ability to command the Taanab pilots . Calrissian also accepted the brewery deed from Danager , though he intended to wait a few weeks to visit the facility , as he still had unspecified business to attend to locally . Although Calrissian was a hero on Taanab , his fame failed to spread beyond the sector ' s borders until TriNebulon News picked up the story months later and broadcast it across the newsnets , publishing a report on the battle on 36 : 2 : 17 GrS . Their coverage of the events made Calrissian a minor celebrity in the Inner Rim for a few months . Shortly after Calrissian became the Baron Administrator of Cloud City , Ars Fivvle questioned Calrissian about the battle during an interview on an early installment of the news program " Action Tidings " , but Calrissian avoided providing any details and insisted that they move on to another subject . Calrissian ' s role in the Battle of Taanab helped him obtain a general ' s commission in the armed forces of the Rebel Alliance , and Voren Na ' al would eventually persuade Calrissian to provide a personal account of the battle , which he later included in his work " Oral History of the New Republic " . Calrissian frequently told people about his involvement in Tanaab as a means to get favors , which eventually culminated in Reggi banning that sort of tactic 15 years after the battle . Behind the scenes . The Battle of Taanab was first alluded to in " Return of the Jedi " , when he explains to Han Solo that the reason for his promotion to General in the Rebel Fleet had to do with a maneuver he pulled during that time . According to Tag Greenley in the non - canon comic " Tag & Bink Are Dead 2 " , Tag fought the battle in Lando ' s stead in order to provide him an alibi and to cover his cheating on his sister , De - hoff . Tag was victorious and Lando used " his " victory to pick up women ever since .