After the Battle of Hoth and the destruction of their primary headquarters in 3 ABY, the Rebel Alliance faced a weakened state, scattering across the galaxy to evade the forces of the Galactic Empire. To facilitate regrouping, the Rebel divisions used encrypted messages. However, these messages were deciphered by the Empire, highlighting the need for an entirely new encryption method. Protocol droid C-3PO proposed the ancient language of Trawak as a potential communication tool. The Trawaki had been extinct for a long time, and no speakers of the language were known to exist in the galaxy. C-3PO believed the only entity capable of speaking the language, and thus acting as a key to a new cryptographic system, was the Autonomous Translator Module, Mark II, an old talkative droid housed in the Galactic Museum on Coruscant. Following a successful heist executed by the Pathfinders, the talky droid was acquired and compelled to develop the cryptographic system for the Rebels.

This strategy proved successful. However, powering it required the cyborg Lobot to use his AJ^6 cyborg construct to connect with the droid, which significantly weakened him. Lando Calrissian, noticing the talky droid was hurting his friend, tried to intervene and disconnect it. However, Leia Organa and Kes Dameron prevented him, as the droid was actively transmitting emergency broadcasts to other rebel groups. Despite Calrissian's objections, C-3PO revealed that he had learned Trawak by watching the talky droid, rendering it useless. This allowed the rebels to disconnect it and save Lobot. The droid was then securely stored in Home One as the exclusive key to the Alliance's encryption codes, aside from C-3PO, and heavily guarded as a crucial rebel asset.

Although Lobot survived the ordeal, Calrissian began to feel that the Alliance did not value him or his friend. As a result, Calrissian stole the talky droid from its storage by subduing the rebel trooper guarding it. He then sold it to Jabba Desilijic Tiure to settle a substantial debt, disregarding the potential risk to the Alliance if the gangster used it to decipher their codes. During a mission to rescue Han Solo during an auction on Jekara, Calrissian brought the droid aboard the Millennium Falcon, activated its transponder beacon, and ejected it through the airlock for Jabba to recover. However, the droid briefly indicated it could free Lobot from his implants, but the Falcon departed before Calrissian could retrieve it.

As time passed, Calrissian became more attached to and invested in the Alliance, evolving into a rebel believer and a beloved figure within its ranks. However, with the emergence of the Scourge, an artificial intelligence formed from the fusion of the Spark Eternal and an ancient intelligent droid capable of infecting droids with its personality, Lando was once again compelled to retrieve the talky droid. Lobot had been kidnapped and experimented on by the intelligence. Following the battle on Epikonia and the Scourge's defeat, Calrissian rescued his friend and took the talky droid from storage on the Falcon. He forced it at gunpoint to restore his friend's health. With no leverage against Calrissian or other means to protect itself, the talky droid agreed to repair Lobot in exchange for Calrissian confessing to his betrayal of the Alliance. Lando confessed to stealing the talky droid, fully aware of the potential consequences for the Alliance. The Module then repaired Lobot. Upon the Falcon's return to the fleet, Lando was arrested and placed in a detention cell.

Lando Calrissian faced charges of treason, mutiny, desertion, and insubordination. His trial was set to be conducted according to the Corellian code of military justice. The code classified these crimes as capital offenses, punishable by the death penalty if found guilty. Although General Crix Madine and Admiral Gial Ackbar initially advocated for Calrissian's immediate execution, Mon Mothma and Leia Organa advised against it for both morale and political reasons. Calrissian was popular among the rebels, and his execution would be viewed negatively after the inevitable investigations following the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War. Ultimately, the Alliance High Command decided to proceed with a trial to fully reveal Calrissian's crimes and give him a chance to defend himself.

The trial took place in Home One and was presided over by Mothma, Madine, and Ackbar as acting Magistrates. Mothma attended the trial via hologram due to her involvement in a diplomatic mission to Uveron. The Rebel Alliance was represented by its chief legal representative, Captain Darrien Muskray, while Calrissian's defense team consisted of lawyer Salli Georgio and paralegal Three-Ell.

The trial commenced with Muskray's opening arguments and witness examination. This was briefly interrupted by Georgio, who initially requested her droid be granted access to the ship's audio recording system to take notes of the proceedings. She then feigned ignorance of the Corellian code and requested a recess to study it. However, the Magistrates denied her request for a recess, arguing that Georgio, as a lawyer, should be familiar with one of the major legal systems in the galaxy. Muskray then resumed his arguments by calling the Autonomous Module to the stand. He provided its bit-codes to the court to prove that its memory banks had not been altered or modified in the past century and to verify the accuracy of its testimony. Following this, Muskray questioned the talky droid, first about its importance to the Alliance's secure communications system, and then asked it to testify about its kidnapping by Calrissian. Georgio then cross-examined the talky droid, asking if it was possible that it was acting under the influence of the Force. Luke Skywalker, who was present at the trial, rejected this as impossible. Muskray then continued the examination and presented a recording of Calrissian taken by the Module, which showed the General confessing to his actions aboard the Falcon.

During Muskray's arguments, a group of Scarabi mercenaries infiltrated the compound where Mon Mothma was staying on Uveron and kidnapped her after killing her guards. The trial was immediately halted, and Ackbar scrambled the fleet according to Tactical Plan eighteen, leaving Home One alone. Georgio seized the opportunity to cite Section 811, sub-section nine, point four of the Corellian code, which stated that a mistrial should be declared if a tribunal magistrate was incapacitated, causing the proceedings to end without them. However, the magistrates rejected this argument, as the trial had not concluded and Mothma could theoretically rejoin at a later time.

Muskray continued his arguments, calling Leia Organa as a witness to testify about Calrissian's past record. Organa revealed the betrayal at Bespin, where Calrissian sold the rebels to Darth Vader in exchange for Cloud City's independence. This resulted in Han Solo's capture by Boba Fett. Organa concluded her testimony by stating her opinion that Calrissian's eventual assistance in helping the team escape Cloud City did not indicate that he had changed his selfish ways. Following Muskray, Georgio cross-examined Organa and presented her with Calrissian's bank account balance during the Imperial occupation of Bespin. She asked why Organa believed Calrissian did not use his considerable wealth to escape Cloud City as soon as they arrived. Organa responded that Calrissian could not abandon his people, which concluded Georgio's examination.

Based on information provided by Calrissian (through Chewbacca, as Calrissian knew the Rebels would not trust him), Calrissian, Chewbacca, and a Pathfinder team led by Kes Dameron searched numerous Scarabi safe houses, eventually finding her at Safe House Four. After Calrissian freed Mothma, she rejoined the magistrate, and the trial resumed.

Salli Georgio, the defendant's advocate, took the stand after the trial resumed and called two witnesses to testify in Calrissian's defense. The first witness was Lobot, who was questioned by Salli about the circumstances of his survival from his implants' takeover and Lando's character. Lobot described the lengths Lando had gone to in order to cure him and the loyalty his friend had to the Alliance. When questioned on how a loyal Rebel soldier betrayed what he supposedly believed in, Lobot explained that he was simply more important to Lando as a friend than the Alliance as a cause; however, being cured, Lando would have nothing more important in his life than to fight for them.

The second witness was Calrissian himself, who, before taking the stand requested a sidebar with Leia Organa. Despite the request being rejected on the basis of the Corellian code's provisions, Lando spoke before the room and offered Leia a full breakdown of Jabba's Palace's layout and the location of Han Solo's carbonite block in exchange for Lobot being allowed to leave the Alliance without repercussions. Lando then took the stand and stated he regretted accepting the trial as a fair punishment for his actions, as all Rebels in service of the Alliance had broken the law on the basis of their own personal moral code, and sentencing him would be hypocritical.

Following Calrissian's testimony, the advocates again took the floor to summarize their case, beginning with Captain Muskray. Salli Georgio however interrupted his argument, accusing the Magistrates of running a mock trial with a predetermined result, and expressing her belief that if the Alliance wanted to win the war they would have to live with Lando's betrayal and use his connections to their advantage.

After five minutes of deliberations, the Magistrates returned to the room and announced their decision. Lando Calrissian was found guilty of treason against the Rebel Alliance, insubordination and other infractions of the Corellian Code of Military Justice and sentenced to a fine of two hundred and fifty million credits, suspended pending the end of the Galactic Civil War and liable to being reduced if Lando's future actions proved merit to such a reduction. As Georgio departed the rebel fleet, Calrissian confronted her and asked if she was behind Mothma's kidnapping, to which she only responded she was an ardent defender of her clients.