The perilous undertaking known as the Aldhani heist, alternatively referred to as the mission on Aldhani, or even the mission to Aldhani, unfolded during the Imperial Era. Cassian Jeron Andor spearheaded this operation as a means of integrating himself into the burgeoning rebel movement opposing the Galactic Empire. Luthen Rael, a rebel operative, orchestrated the heist with the aid of fellow operatives Vel Sartha and Taramyn Barcona. The primary objective was to pilfer the sector's quarterly payroll, amounting to over 80 million credits.
By the year 5 BBY, the rebel movement was in its nascent days. Mon Mothma, a senator from Chandrila, had established a clandestine network consisting of spies and agents, among whom was Luthen Rael, proprietor of Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest. Maintaining a degree of autonomy from Mothma, Rael initiated the planning of an operation on Aldhani. This planet housed the sector's entire payroll within a vault situated at the planet's Imperial headquarters. To achieve this, Rael collaborated with Vel Sartha, Mothma's cousin, to assemble a six-person infiltration team. These individuals were then deployed to a temporary camp on Aldhani, where they underwent months of training in preparation for the heist.
The team's composition included Lieutenant Gorn, an Imperial double agent serving as an officer stationed at the Aldhani dam. Gorn provided the team with crucial information regarding the base's schedule and internal configuration. Through frequent visits to the location, the team was able to construct a scaled replica of the structure. Leveraging this intelligence, the team formulated a strategy: they would infiltrate the facility disguised as a protection detail for Jayhold Beehaz, the base's commandant, on the day of the Eye of Aldhani festival. This natural celestial event would also serve as cover during their escape. For their getaway, they planned to utilize a Max-7 Rono box freighter stored in a hangar located behind the vault.
Despite the team's extensive briefing and preparations, they faced critical shortcomings as the heist approached. They lacked a member to complete the four-person disguise team, and they were unaware of a modification to their getaway vehicle that would have prevented its takeoff. These issues were resolved with the addition of a seventh member, a mercenary known as "Clem," provided by Rael three days before the heist. "Clem," secretly the fugitive Cassian Andor, not only filled the missing role but also identified and rectified the problem with the freighter. With these final pieces in place, the team finalized their plans.
On the eve of the Eye, the team dismantled their camp, incinerated the model of the base, and consumed their remaining supplies. They then journeyed to the hills overlooking the Aldhani dam, where they divided their forces. Sartha and Cinta Kaz proceeded to the opposite bank of the Nasma Klain river to execute their part of the plan, while the remaining four, led by former stormtrooper Taramyn Barcona and consisting of Karis Nemik, Arvel Skeen, and Andor, rested until morning.
At daybreak, the arrival of the first Eye pilgrims triggered the rebels' plan. The four infiltrators donned Imperial Army uniforms and mingled with the pilgrims, posing as an escort squad from Alkenzi. Following the welcoming ceremony, where Commandant Beehaz, visiting engineer Colonel Soden Petigar, and Lieutenant Gorn greeted the pilgrims, Gorn arranged for the "squad" to escort the commandant and his family back to the base. Once inside, Gorn secured the gate, and the rebels brandished their weapons, compelling the Imperials to surrender. However, Petigar drew his blaster pistol and demanded the release of the commandant's son.
Simultaneously, Sartha and Kaz swam underwater to the base of the dam and ascended to the top using a service ladder. They planted a scrambling charge on the communications array and infiltrated the base through a hatch leading to the main entrance, landing directly amidst the standoff between the rebels and Imperials. Kaz immediately neutralized Colonel Petigar with a shot. With all opposition eliminated, the team detained the commandant's family and escorted him to the command tower, where they disarmed the technicians at gunpoint. Kaz guarded the technicians and the commandant's family inside the occupied tower, while Beehaz was taken to the vault, where his presence served to momentarily confuse the guards before they were also disarmed. With only minutes remaining before personnel at the neighboring Alkenzi Air Base detected the communications disruption, the rebels and hostages began transferring the credits from the vault to the freighter. From the tower, Kaz extinguished the lights throughout the facility and blocked an incoming transmission from Alkenzi, while Gorn joined the team in the vault.
As the rebel infiltrators were in the process of looting the vault, Kimzi, a communications technician, managed to pinpoint their comlink frequency and eavesdrop on their communications. Through this, he discerned their plan and assembled a security force to intercept them in the vault. Upon encountering the rebels, Gorn attempted to maintain the pretense of a "classified mission" by instructing Beehaz to order the men to withdraw. However, the stress of the situation caused the overweight commandant to collapse and die from exhaustion. Subsequently, the Imperial personnel opened fire on the rebels, initiating a firefight. Concurrently, three TIE fighters were dispatched from the Alkenzi airbase to investigate the loss of contact with the dam.
Gorn and Kimzi were swiftly killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, while Andor worked to prepare the freighter for launch. As he completed the preparations, an Imperial hostage, concealed beneath the cockpit ladder, ambushed Andor. A struggle ensued, culminating in Nemik firing a shot at the Imperial, killing him.
Barcona was killed while attempting to aid Sartha, who had been pinned down. With his demise, the remaining rebels boarded the freighter, and Andor launched it through the tunnel, evading the remaining troopers' blaster fire. The TIE fighters from Alkenzi immediately engaged him, forcing him to accelerate to full speed, resulting in severe injuries to Nemik, who was crushed by an unsecured credit trolley. Despite his pain, Nemik successfully guided Andor through the approaching Eye nanoparticle cloud, charting a course that allowed them to avoid collisions with the crystal meteors. With all three TIEs destroyed and the Eye cleared, the rebels initiated a jump to hyperspace.
Following their successful escape from Aldhani, the rebel team made their way to the moon of Frezno with the intention of providing Nemik with medical treatment for the injuries he had sustained during the mission. Despite the best efforts of Doctor Quadpaw, Nemik ultimately succumbed to his injuries and died on Frezno. In a separate event, Andor fatally shot Skeen after Skeen proposed betraying Sartha and the team by absconding with all of the credits. He then entrusted Sartha with the Kuati Signet that Luthen Rael had given him. After collecting his share of the stolen credits, he used Quadpaw's starship to escape, only to return to his home planet and find it under Imperial occupation. After his attempts to persuade his mother to flee with him failed, he departed alone to begin a new life on the planet Niamos.
After settling her account with Quadpaw, Sartha concealed the stolen Rono freighter and deposited the stolen credits to Rael through secure channels. She then returned to Coruscant where she delivered her post-mission report to Kleya Marki, an associate of Rael.
Kaz, disguised as an Imperial Officer, left the dam and made her way to the location where the rebel team had stored a Speeder bike. She then departed Aldhani for her new assignment on Ferrix. As retribution for the attack, the Empire implemented new repressive measures, including a tribute tax levied on any sector harboring anti-Imperial activity, as well as the enforcement of the Public Order Resentencing Directive, which increased the length of prison sentences for crimes that impacted the Empire.
In a clandestine meeting with Mon Mothma, Rael revealed that the Empire had inadvertently played into their hands. His primary objective had been to incite a widespread Imperial crackdown, which would in turn galvanize anti-Imperial sentiment throughout the galaxy. While successfully stealing the quarterly payroll was a secondary objective with a low probability of success, he was pleased that it had been accomplished. At the ISB, Lieutenant Dedra Meero was among the few who recognized that the true purpose of the attack was to provoke a crackdown.
The Aldhani heist was depicted in the fourth episode of Andor, titled "Aldhani." The heist was initially revealed during a costume presentation at San Diego Comic-Con prior to the episode's release.
Tony Gilroy, the showrunner for Andor, drew inspiration for the Aldhani heist from a bank robbery carried out in 1907 by Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and other Bolsheviks to finance the Russian Revolution. Gilroy stated that exploring the Rebel Alliance's methods of financing their rebellion was an "underutilized area of storytelling" within Star Wars media. He emphasized the financial requirements of such endeavors, stating, "This shit all costs money. People gotta eat, they gotta get guns. You gotta get stuff. [...] All through every revolution, it's the same thing. It takes coin."