Aldhani dam

"The Empire […] dammed up Nasma Klain, the sacred river. Now, the Aldhani garrison is a depot for supplies, weapons, and the payroll for the entire Imperial sector."

―Vel Sartha describes the dam to Cassian Andor^[2]

The Aldhani dam, also known as Aldhani's outpost, was an Imperial base established on the planet Aldhani in around 18 BBY that housed the planetary garrison as well as the vault where the entire sector's quarterly payroll was stored. It was located on the valley of Akti Amaugh, damming up the Nasma Klain river, and comprised of several facilities including the dam, a communications bunker, barracks, and hangar facilities.

The dam was the site of a major attack by a group of rebel saboteurs in 5 BBY; the attackers managed to infiltrate the facility on the day of the local festival for the celestial event of the Eye of Aldhani and stole eighty million credits, the majority of the sector's payroll. The severity of the attack led to the implementation of Empire-wide measures in response to the growing insurgency movement, including the civilian-focused Public Order Resentencing Directive and the military Imperial Emergency Act.

Description[]

"Garrison, observation tower, sentry defenses, all to protect this runway opening here."

―Vel Sartha briefs Cassian Andor on the dam's defenses^[2]

Aldhanidam-comms-center — The dam's communications center was manned by Corporal Kimzi.

The Aldhani dam was a military facility which served as the headquarters of the Galactic Empire's military presence on the planet Aldhani. The site was built on top of a hill in the valley of Akti Amaugh, next to the remains of the Nasma Brani temple as a dam, holding back the waters of the Nasma Klain river. Both the river and the surrounding valley had a great spiritual significance for the planet's natives, the Dhanis, as the Brani temple was the site of the important festival of the Mak-ani bray Dhani, a celebration of the celestial phenomenon known as the Eye of Aldhani. The Alkenzi Air Base was 52 kilometers away, as was the exclusion zone of the Stone Valley; all three sites functioned as a complete system of protection, the dam functioning as a depot for supplies, weapons and the Imperial sector payroll and the air base providing air support in the event of an attack, with its TIE/ln starfighters being able to reach the dam in just nine minutes.^[2]

The dam complex was comprised of an elevated three-legged command and observation tower, a garrison building^[2] and barracks on the eastern shore of the river,^[3] the dam wall itself,^[2] and a bunker^[4] housing the site's independent communications facility on top of it.^[5] The dam also included a small underground hangar bay where a Max-7 Rono freighter was stored,^[2] mounted on an overhead rail^[3] allowing it to be launched via a tunnel leading to the base of the dam. Turret emplacements and sentry defenses were positioned next to the dam to protect the vital runway opening,^[2] while roadblocks^[5] and armed pillboxes^[6] guarded by Imperial Army troopers were located along the treks leading to the complex.^[5] At least one rifle was also mounted on the dam's parapet railing near the communications bunker to defend the valley below.^[4] The facility was guarded by a mere forty troopers^[2] and a communications technician.^[3]

Beehaz-quarters — Commandant Jayhold Beehaz lived in his personal quarters with his wife and son.

Apart from the military facilities, the base also housed the vault where the sector's quarterly payroll was stored and living quarters—including a living room and personal suites—for the commandant and their family. The vault was located underground, right behind the hangar^[2] and was protected by a steel gate,^[4] which could be opened with the commandant's handprint. Up to eighty million credits were stored in large decagonal cylinder crates secured to the walls with remotely controlled fasteners.^[5]

History[]

"Akti Amaugh, the Valley of Caves. The sacred valley. The Empire came in 13 years ago and liberated the Air Base Alkenzi 50 klicks west of here. They quickly discovered the unique storage possibilities of the caverns, claimed the land for the Emperor and dammed up Nasma Klain, the sacred river."

―Vel Sartha narrates Akti Amaugh's history to Cassian Andor^[2]

AldhaniGarrison — The dam was located on a hill in the Akti Amaugh valley.

The Aldhani base was established^[7] sometime around 18 BBY^[1] following the Imperial occupation of the planet. Imperial units liberating the Alkenzi airbase quickly realized the unique storage possibilities of the caverns under Nasma Klain and dammed up the river to begin exploiting them,^[2] forming a massive reservoir in the process.^[4] The local Dhanis were driven away from the sacred valley by Imperial forces and the temple located there was demolished, leaving behind only a small tri-arch structure^[3] which was littered with debris^[4] and used for target practice by Imperial troopers.^[3]

In 5 BBY,^[8] a team of saboteurs led by Senator Mon Mothma's cousin Vel Sartha, working under spymaster Luthen Rael and with assistance from disgruntled Imperial Lieutenant Gorn, performed a heist on the complex in order to steal the sector quarterly payroll stored in its vault. The team, consisting of former stormtrooper Taramyn Barcona and fellow rebels Arvel Skeen, Cinta Kaz, and Karis Nemik, assisted by inside information provided by Gorn set up a temporary camp in a location with similar properties to the dam site and began training on infiltration and sabotage. Gorn also helped Nemik, who was tasked with observing the dam from a nearby hill, match his notes on the fortress' exterior with the interior floor plans and constructing a scaled model of the entire facility, which allowed the rebels to formulate their final plan. After five months of preparations, the team was joined by mercenary Cassian Andor three days before the attack, on Rael's insistence; Andor was able to solve the final problems that persisted on the infiltration plan, including how to start the getaway freighter and was ultimately accepted into the group.

The team's plan kicked into motion as they successfully entered the complex's premises under the guise of an escort squad for Commandant Jayhold Beehaz, who would be present in the Eye celebrations. As the commandant left, the team followed him, proceeding to capture his family as hostages and killing visiting engineer Colonel Petigar in the process.^[5] Sartha and Kaz joined the main force after jamming the dam's communications and occupied the command tower, leaving their hostages inside. The team then proceeded to the hangar and after forcing Commandant Beehaz to open the vault had the Imperial troopers stationed there load eighty million credits to the Rono. Despite being discovered by troopers led by Corporal Kimzi and an ensuing firefight which cost the lives of Barcona and Gorn, the team was eventually able to board the freighter and escape via the tunnel, leaving the vault half empty and the base in disarray.^[5]

The heist's success proved to be disastrous for the Empire's public image, being the first time a military installation was directly targeted in an insurgency strike. As a direct result, all of the dam's surviving personnel were interrogated by the Imperial Security Bureau, while 106 Dhanis participating in the festival were detained as part of the Imperial Emergency Act. The incident was widely reported on the HoloNet around the Empire, where reactions varied from shock to enthusiasm as civilians from both sides saw it as the beginning of a more active rebellion.^[9]

Behind the scenes[]

The Aldhani dam was first pictured in the teaser trailer for the 2022 Disney+ series Andor Season One, released on May 26, 2022.^[10] It was first mentioned in "Aldhani,"^[2] the fourth episode of series, released on September 28, 2022.^[11] and first appeared in the following episode, "The Axe Forgets"^[3] released on October 5 of the same year.^[11] Exterior scenes for the Aldhani dam were filmed at Scotland's Cruachan pumped storage hydro plant.^[12]

AldhaniDamConceptArt-Andor — Concept art of the Aldhani dam was created by Chester Carr.

Concept art of the dam was created by concept artist Chester Carr during the late production stage^[13] based on the appearance of the Cruachan facility, which had been discovered earlier during the scouting phase by production designer Luke Hull. According to Hull, he was attracted to the structure due to its similarity with Darth Vader's mask. Director Tony Gilroy described the dam as "massive."^[14]