The Aldhani dam, also known as the Aldhani outpost, functioned as an Imperial installation situated on the planet of Aldhani, established circa 18 BBY. It accommodated both the planetary garrison and the vault that secured the entire sector's quarterly payroll. This base was built within the valley of Akti Amaugh, effectively creating a dam across the Nasma Klain river. The complex included a variety of structures, such as the dam itself, a communications bunker, barracks, and hangar facilities.
In 5 BBY, the dam became the focal point of a significant attack executed by a group of rebel saboteurs. These attackers successfully infiltrated the facility on the day of the local festival celebrating the celestial event known as the Eye of Aldhani, and they stole a substantial sum of eighty million credits, representing the majority of the sector's payroll. The magnitude of this attack prompted the implementation of Empire-wide countermeasures to address the escalating insurgency, including the Public Order Resentencing Directive, which targeted civilians, and the military Imperial Emergency Act.
The Aldhani dam served as a military installation, functioning as the central hub for the Galactic Empire's military forces stationed on the planet of Aldhani. The location was constructed atop a hill nestled in the valley of Akti Amaugh, adjacent to the remnants of the Nasma Brani temple, effectively serving as a dam that restrained the waters of the Nasma Klain river. The river and the surrounding valley held significant spiritual importance for the planet's indigenous natives, the Dhanis, as the Brani temple was the site of the important Mak-ani bray Dhani festival, a celebration of the celestial phenomenon known as the Eye of Aldhani. The Alkenzi Air Base was situated 52 kilometers away, as was the exclusion zone of the Stone Valley; these three locations worked together as a comprehensive defense system. The dam functioned as a storage facility for supplies, weapons, and the Imperial sector payroll, while the air base provided air support with its TIE/ln starfighters capable of reaching the dam in a mere nine minutes in case of an attack.
The dam complex consisted of an elevated command and observation tower with three legs, a garrison building and barracks situated on the eastern bank of the river, the dam wall itself, and a bunker positioned atop the dam housing the site's independent communications facility. Additionally, the dam featured a small underground hangar bay that housed a Max-7 Rono freighter, which was mounted on an overhead rail system enabling its launch through a tunnel leading to the base of the dam. Turret emplacements and sentry defenses were strategically positioned near the dam to safeguard the crucial runway opening, while roadblocks and armed pillboxes manned by Imperial Army troopers secured the routes leading to the complex. A rifle was also mounted on the dam's parapet railing near the communications bunker to defend the valley below. The facility was guarded by a mere forty troopers and a communications technician.
Beyond its military functions, the base also contained the vault where the sector's quarterly payroll was stored, along with living quarters, including a living room and personal suites, for the commandant and their family. The vault was located underground, directly behind the hangar, and was secured by a steel gate that could be opened using the commandant's handprint. The vault held up to eighty million credits stored in large decagonal cylinder crates secured to the walls with remotely controlled fasteners.
The Aldhani base was established around 18 BBY after the Imperial occupation of the planet. Imperial units, after liberating the Alkenzi airbase, quickly recognized the unique storage potential of the caverns beneath Nasma Klain and proceeded to dam the river to exploit these caverns, creating a substantial reservoir in the process. Imperial forces forcibly displaced the local Dhanis from the sacred valley and demolished the temple located there, leaving behind only a small tri-arch structure that was littered with debris and used for target practice by Imperial troopers.
In 5 BBY, a team of saboteurs under the leadership of Senator Mon Mothma's cousin Vel Sartha, operating under the direction of spymaster Luthen Rael and with the assistance of a disgruntled Imperial Lieutenant named Gorn, executed a heist on the complex with the objective of stealing the sector's quarterly payroll stored within its vault. The team, which included former stormtrooper Taramyn Barcona and fellow rebels Arvel Skeen, Cinta Kaz, and Karis Nemik, established a temporary camp in a location similar to the dam site and began training in infiltration and sabotage, aided by inside information provided by Gorn. Gorn also assisted Nemik, who was tasked with observing the dam from a nearby hill, in matching his notes on the fortress' exterior with the interior floor plans and constructing a scaled model of the entire facility. This model enabled 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, at Rael's insistence. Andor successfully resolved the remaining issues in the infiltration plan, including how to start the getaway freighter, and was ultimately accepted into the group.
The team's plan was set in motion when they successfully gained entry to the complex's premises disguised as an escort squad for Commandant Jayhold Beehaz, who was scheduled to attend the Eye celebrations. After the commandant left, the team followed him, proceeding to capture his family as hostages and killing Colonel Petigar, a visiting engineer, in the process. 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, they had the Imperial troopers stationed there load eighty million credits onto the Rono. Despite being discovered by troopers led by Corporal Kimzi and an ensuing firefight that resulted in the deaths of Barcona and Gorn, the team ultimately managed to board the freighter and escape through the tunnel, leaving the vault partially empty and the base in disarray.
The heist's success had disastrous consequences for the Empire's public image, marking the first instance of a military installation being directly targeted in an insurgency strike. As a direct consequence, all surviving personnel at the dam were interrogated by the Imperial Security Bureau, while 106 Dhanis who had participated in the festival were detained as part of the Imperial Emergency Act. The incident was widely reported on the HoloNet throughout the Empire, eliciting reactions ranging from shock to enthusiasm as civilians on both sides viewed it as the beginning of a more active rebellion.
The Aldhani dam was initially depicted in the teaser trailer for the 2022 Disney+ series Andor Season One, which was released on May 26, 2022. It was first mentioned in "Aldhani," the fourth episode of the series, which aired on September 28, 2022, and made its first appearance in the subsequent episode, "The Axe Forgets," which was released on October 5 of the same year. The exterior scenes of the Aldhani dam were filmed at the Cruachan pumped storage hydro plant in Scotland.
Concept art for the dam was developed by concept artist Chester Carr during the later stages of production, drawing inspiration from the appearance of the Cruachan facility, which had been identified earlier during the scouting phase by production designer Luke Hull. Hull stated that he was drawn to the structure due to its resemblance to Darth Vader's mask. Director Tony Gilroy described the dam as "massive."