Janek Sunber

"You've made me proud, Janek. On my best day I couldn't have matched what you've done..."

- General Ziering

Lieutenant Janek Sunber, also known as Tank, was an officer in the Imperial Army and one of Luke Skywalker's childhood friends.

Biography


Born on Tatooine around two decades before the Battle of Yavin, Sunber grew up among the children of moisture farmers, many of whom spent their leisure hours in Anchorhead. These included Biggs Darklighter, Luke Skywalker, the future married couple Laze Loneozner and Camie, Deak, and Windy. At the appropriate age he left his homeworld behind, joining the Imperial Academy at the same&mdash;or close to the same&mdash;time as his friend Biggs. After graduation, he joined the Imperial Navy, hoping to prove himself as a starfighter pilot. While he was an above-average pilot, his skills were not up to Imperial standards, but rather than return home and face humiliation, Sunber enrolled in the infantry. Hard-working and dedicated, Sunber made officer rank within a year.

Stationed on the jungle world of Maridun, Sunber proved himself as a credit to the army, remaining level-headed and calm as the Imperial presence on the jungle planet came under attack by numerous Amanin warriors. Although he earned the ire of his commanding officers, Captain Gage and Commander Frickett, he impressed General Ziering enough to receive a field promotion to captain, and shortly afterwards, commander.

It was thanks to Sunber that the Imperials on Maridun were able to battle the Amanin to a standstill, but General Ziering was killed during the battle, leaving the jealous Captain Gage as the only one who could verify Sunber's promotions to the Imperial leaders on Carida. Gage did not, and Sunber was made to surrender his rank insignia, returning to the position of lieutenant. He went on to aid in the capture of Jabiimite rebels, and would eventually be reunited with Luke Skywalker when the Alliance staged an infiltration of an Imperial prison on Kalist VI where Sunber was serving as a prison guard.

Skywalker and Sunber conversed about their days on Tatooine and their new lives, but, despite their friendship, Janek was shocked when Luke implored him to join the Rebellion. Sunber quickly realized Luke was part of the Rebel infiltration team that had by now launched its assault, and Luke was forced to knock his old friend unconscious to continue with his mission.

When he came to he alerted the base to the Rebel presence, ordering the troops to try and take Luke alive. He caught up to Skywalker as the base's prisoners were being loaded onto a transport for escape; Luke attempted to talk to his old friend, saying that Janek knew what was right and that the prisoners were slaves, just as his grandfather had been. Sunber refused an offer to join the Rebellion but appeared to be resigned to letting them leave, until the rest of the Rebel team arrived with Jorin Sol.



Angry that Luke had apparently lied to him and that the Rebels were really here to rescue the 'spy', he attempted to shoot Sol but the laser bolt was deflected back into his own shoulder by Luke's lightsaber. As the Alliance team left Luke informed Sunber that Biggs had also been part of the Rebellion. In the aftermath of the attack Sunber dwelled on the fact that in the space of a day he had found that two of his oldest friends were now gone forever.

Later, when he learned Luke was a major hero for the Rebellion and the one who had destroyed the Death Star, Sunber decided to tell Darth Vader everything he knew about Skywalker, despite his personal misgivings. It was decided that he would infiltrate the Rebellion. He sent a coded message to the Rebellion that he wanted to defect. When Luke reached the coordinates in the message, he found that Sunber had been tortured by the Imperials. After he kept his story straight in debrief, the Rebels reluctantly accepted him into their ranks.

Behind the scenes

 * Unusually, although Tank was named in the very first film as one of Luke Skywalker's friends on Tatooine, the character went completely unexplored for almost twenty-nine years of Expanded Universe literature.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Empire: To the Last Man
 * Star Wars Empire: The Wrong Side of the War
 * Star Wars Rebellion 0: Crossroads
 * Star Wars Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy