Morlana One was a planet in the Outer Rim Territories' Free Trade sector. The principle world of the Morlani system, it featured lowlands and oceans with coastal industrial cities. The Consolidated Holdings of Preox-Morlana Corporation operated out of Morlana One and governed the Free Trade sector, acting as an extension of surveillance for the Galactic Empire. In 5 BBY, the thief Cassian Andor visited a brothel in Morlana One's Leisure Zone to investigate a lead on a Kenari girl. He was harassed by two sentry guards from the Pre-Mor Authority Security Forces, leading to a fight which led to the guards' deaths.
The deaths were investigated by Deputy Inspector Syril Karn of the Pre-Mor Security Inspection team, who was able to trace the deaths to Andor on the neighboring planet Ferrix despite orders from Chief Inspector Hyne to leave the case and forge a story that made the Pre-Mor forces look better. Karn's attempts to arrest Andor on Ferrix led to the deaths of four Pre-Mor corpos and a civilian, prompting the Empire to step in and take permanent authority over the Morlani system. Most staff in Preox-Morlana were removed, save for a handful that help with the transitions of power.
Morlana One was a terrestrial planet in the first orbital position of the Morlani system, located in the Outer Rim Territories' Free Trade sector. It was the principle world in its star system, neighboured by the planet Ferrix and astronomical object Four. Appearing relatively blue-colored from afar, the world had a diameter of 11,236 kilometers (6,982 miles) and was orbited by one moon. Morlana One's landscape was characterised by oceans, coastal lowlands, and plains, along with its industrial waterfront cities. Considered by some to be a dreary planet, Morlana One had a type I atmosphere breathable to humans and other species and its climate included rain.
The principle world in the Morlani system, Morlana One grew an industry that dominated the world, with cities rising from commercial housing. By the time of the Galactic Empire, the planet served as the headquarters for the Consolidated Holdings of Preox-Morlana Corporation, a company that acted as a de-facto government and law enforcement agency for the Free Trade sector while being an extension of surveillance for the Empire.
In 5 BBY, Cassian Andor, a thief and salvager from Ferrix, visited a Preox-Morlana Corporate Zone on Morlana One at nighttime, parking a starship just beyond a causeway and making his way to a brothel in the Leisure Zone. The man approached a hostess about information on a Kenari girl that had formerly worked at the place, whom he believed could be his sister Kerri. The hostess was unable to provide any information, and in the meanwhile, Kravas Drezzer and Verlo Skiff, two sentry guards from the Pre-Mor Authority Security Forces began trying to intimidate Andor, choosing to follow the man as he departed back to his starship.
Drezzer and Skiff stopped Andor in at a plaza entrance to the causeway and held him at gunpoint, making excuses to fine the man of his possessions. Andor then attacked the two, quickly subduing Skiff before wrestling Drezzer to the ground and taking his blaster. Skiff was dead by this point, and Andor dispatched Drezzer shortly afterwards despite the sentry guard's pleading. The thief then fled back to his ship and departed back to Ferrix.
The Pre-Mor Security Inspection team probed the deaths of Drezzer and Skiff, and Deputy Inspector Syril Karn made a report on the incident overnight, taking it to Chief Inspector Hyne in the Corporate Security Headquarters and summarizing the situation to him. While Karn wished to solve the case, Hyne stopped the Deputy Inspector as he did not want to let the details get out of Drezzer and Skiff flouting rules, particularly as he was about to attend an Imperial Regional Command review to report on their crime rates. The Chief Inspector told his subordinate to instead make up a report that painted a better light on the Pre-Mor Authority's part.
Despite Hyne's orders, Karn proceeded to keep following leads on the murderer, Andor, and with an Astro-Traffic Control Officer he was able to spot a starship passing through Morlana One's checkpoints without identification on some starchart records. He had the control officer track the ships journey to Ferrix. Karn then liaised with three other officers to try and find a "Kenari male" on Ferrix. The officers could not find anything on the censuses, so he made them put out a bulletin, despite their doubts that the Ferrixians would help them.
The bulletin was responded to by the Ferrixian Floor manager Timm Karlo who turned in information on Andor over jealousy that he was getting close to his partner. The officers working with Karn processed the tip-off pulled up a file on Andor. The Deputy Inspector arrived with the hostess from the brothel to confirm that Andor was the man she saw on the night of the murder. With his suspect confirmed, Karn called in Sergeant Linus Mosk from Pre-Mor's Corporate Tactical Forces, the pair discussed the situation and put together a team of twelve corpos to find Andor on Ferrix.
Karn, Mosk and their team went to Ferrix on a mission to apprehend Andor. This mission went disastrously, however, leading to the deaths of four of the corpos as well as Karlo. The Pre-Mor Security's embarrassing defeat quickly came to the attention of the Empire's Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), with the Free Trade sector's ISB Supervisor, Lieutenant Blevin, reporting what he knew of it during a meeting with the ISB board on the Imperial capital of Coruscant.
The Empire moved in to the Morlani system the day after the incident on Ferrix, imposing permanent authority there and relieving the majority of the Pre-Mor Authority staff from their posts. Blevin personally dressed down Karn, Mosk, and Hyne at the latter's office making them sign off an detailing their involvement in the Ferrix incident and sending them to the transfer center to receive any personal possessions they were allowed to keep. While Karn returned to his mother on Coruscant, Mosk begun work at a smelter on Morlana One.
In the meantime, a handful of Pre-Mor Authority holdouts remained at the offices, helping with the Imperial transition there. One of them, a former partner of Mosk, was working at the headquarters night desk and learned from Imperial communications that Andor's mother had died and a funeral was being planned on Ferrix. Having been asked by Karn to pass on any information on Andor, Mosk contacted him and passed on his suspicion that Andor would be attending the funeral. Karn subsequently met with Mosk and the pair attempted to find Andor at the funeral on Ferrix.
An industrial world, Morlana One was settled with industrial waterfront cities along its coasts that grew out of commercial housing, the Preox-Morlana Corporate Zone having a illuminated causeways that passed over bodies of water. There was also the Leizure Zone, which featured brothels. Some areas were off limits to visitors.
Concept art of Morlana One by Peter McKinstry
Morlana One was first teased in the sizzle reel for the first season of Tony Gilroy's live-action Disney+ Andor television series, which was released on December 10, 2020. It first appeared in "Kassa," the first episode of the season which was directed by Toby Haynes and aired on September 21, 2022. Concept art of Morlana One was created by concept artist Peter McKinstry. Composer Nicholas Britell created an edgy, textural rumbling sound to match the dark and gritty atmosphere of Morlana One. He also created the club music heard in the Leisure Zone brothel in the episode "Kassa."
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