Niamos

"Get out of the cold and damp. Find somewhere warm and easy. I can make it happen."

―Cassian Andor, to Maarva Andor^[5]

Niamos was a world in the Vorzyd sector of the Outer Rim Territories dominated by oceans and beaches. Initially a place for those lying low to gravitate to, it soon fell under the occupation of the Galactic Empire, which laid down new laws. The fugitive Cassian Andor traveled there in 5 BBY, posing as the tourist "Keef Girgo," but soon found himself trouble when he was falsely accused and arrested by Imperials, sentenced to six years at the Niamos Courthouse. Andor was imprisoned offworld but eventually escaped with inmate Ruescott Melshi and returned to Niamos to retrieve valuables he had left behind. After making a call to the planet Ferrix, Andor parted ways with Melshi.

Description

"You look like you're sweating."
"Well, it's hot."

―A shoretrooper confronts Cassian Andor^[5]

Niamos was a terrestrial planet located in the Vorzyd sector^[1] within an intersecting portion of the Outer Rim Territories^[3] and the Slice regions.^[2] Situated at the coordinates R-6 on the Standard Galactic Grid,^[3] it lay along the Salin Corridor hyperspace route^[4] between the astronomical objects Veelo^[3] and Columex, the latter being a junction with the Perlemian Trade Route^[7] super-hyperroute.^[8] Niamos had a type I atmosphere,^[6] breathable to humans and various alien species.^[5] Decorated with oceans and beaches,^[9] the planet hosted a warm climate, with palm trees growing on the surface and fauna including birds.^[5]

History

Bounty betrayals

"Ugghh! Aurra Sing! Guess you're still angry over that job on Niamos."
"Oh, did you abandon a partner in the middle of a job on Niamos? Forgot about that."
"Good. Not healthy to carry a grudge."

―Jango Fett and Aurra Sing^[10]

Sometime no later than 33 BBY,^[11] the bounty hunters Jango Fett and Aurra Sing did a job on Niamos. In the middle of the job, Fett abandoned the other hunter, an act neither of them forgot about. Around 33 BBY, Sing crossed paths with Fett on the mining planet Roxuli. As the pair initially fought, they remarked about a grudge being left after Niamos.^[10]

Attempted tourism

"I'm just going to the store. It's right there."
"You need to calm down, sir. Droid assistance please."

―Cassian Andor is arrested by the Empire^[5]

By the time of the Galactic Empire, Niamos was a hotbed for tourists^[1] as well as felons who needed to avoid attention and authorities. However, it was later occupied by the Empire, which brought new laws to the world.^[9] In 5 BBY,^[12] the fugitive Cassian Andor traveled to Niamos to lie low after having been involved in a major heist on the^[5] planet Aldhani.^[13] Posing as the tourist "Keef Girgo," he stayed in a^[5] large airy hotel suite with a woman^[14] named Windi. One day, Andor was checking a box of valuables he was hiding above the suite's shower, intending on going for a walk afterwards. When he let Windi know upon her waking up, she asked him to stop by the beachfront store Arkie's for several items.^[5]

Andor made his way along the beachfront to Arkie's when a group of people running from Imperial shoretroopers darted past him, prompting him to nervously rush aside from the area. The fugitive then approached Arkie's at Pier Nine when a shoretrooper noticed him looking aroud. The trooper began questioning him, falsely accusing him of being one of the runners^[5] and flexing his authority^[15] over the "tourist." Andor was subsequently grabbed by a KX-series security droid and arrested.^[5]

Imperial injustice

"I… I'm sorry, there's something wrong."
"I wouldn't. You've got enough trouble without a Resisting Judgement charge."
"I'm just a tourist."
"Oh, apologies all around then. This used to be a six-month sentence. Six years."

―Cassian Andor argues with the Imperial judge^[5]

At the Niamos Courthouse, Andor joined a queue of sentencings under a judge and prosecutor. When called up, "Girgo" was given several^[5] exaggerated charges^[16] which he attempted to protest to. However, he was sentenced with six years in prison, an increased sentence due to the Empire's recent Public Order Resentencing Directive that had come as a response to the Aldhani heist.^[5] Andor and the other sentenced people were then taken away and transported to different Imperial penal facilities. Andor went on a transport taking convicts to the prison complex on^[17] the moon Narkina 5^[13] while another transport took convicts to the^[17] astronomical object^[7] Belsavis.^[17]

Eventually Andor escaped from the Narkina 5 prison complex, along with the inmate Ruescott Melshi, and managed to get a ride to Niamos with a couple fishers. Andor recovered his box of valuables at the hotel suite, which was since occupied by an alien couple. He then made a call to his friend Xanwan on^[18] his adopted homeworld of Ferrix^[13] to send a message across to his adoptive mother, Maarva Andor. Xanwan, however, informed Andor that his mother had recently died. The call ended thereafter, and "Girgo" spoke with Melshi, who parted with him to spread the message about the prison they were in.^[18]

Inhabitants

"Pier Nine, Pier Nine, runners heading south!"
"I can wait for you here, if you want."
"Friends of yours?"

―A shoretrooper, and Cassian Andor^[5]

Niamos was inhabited by numerous humans and other species,^[5] notably those who wanted to lay low from authorities.^[9] The fathier jockey Sanna Kale was native to Niamos and rode in the Canto Cup, a fathier race on the planet Cantonica^[19] that took place in 3 ABY.^[20]

Locations

"I'm gonna take a walk."
"Well, we need stuff. Arkie's up the beach. He'll be open."
"I was planning to go the other way."
"Mmm, Arkie has the new flavors."

―Cassian Andor and Windi^[5]

Niamos has seafronts with shallow stairs along them for seating as well as piers. Just up from the beach were walkways, lines of palm trees, and large buildings like stores, such as Arkie's, and hotels. During the Empire's occupation, there was a large courthouse where sentences were delivered out to dissidents^[5] and a landing pad to take convicts offworld on transports.^[17]

Behind the scenes

Filming and teases

Niamos first appeared in "Announcement,"^[5] the seventh episode of the first season of Tony Gilroy's live-action Disney+ series Andor. Directed by Benjamin Caron, the episode premiered on October 19, 2022.^[21] The location was initially teased in a special look for the series on Disney+^[22] on September 8 of that year.^[23]

The filming locations for Niamos included two locations in England. The beach and promenade was shot at the North Promenade of Cleveleys on the Fylde coast, with the local Café Cove posing as Arkie's. The courthouse was filmed at Carmel College, a closed college in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. The indoor scenes there were shot in the Grade II listed buildings known as the Boathouse and the Julius Gottlieb Memorial building. The starship courtyard in "Narkina 5" was filmed at an open-air amphitheater.^[24]

Cleveleys was scouted for Andor's production after Location Manager^[25] Jason Allen,^[5] who was in fact local to the area, pointed the location scout to the place. The production there itself took place within the time period between April 28 and May 11 of 2021, with residents in the vicinity receiving letters around mid April about closures taking place and subsequent notices being put up around the area. The purposes of the film were undisclosed to anyone that saw, but various observers were able to deduce that it was for Star Wars by the time the set was finished. Production staff reportedly had a good experience with the locals and thank you letters were sent to the residents after the filming was finished.^[25]

Non-canon stories

"A beach planet?!"
"Yeah, isn't it great?"

―Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine^[26]

Niamos appeared in "Vader's Vacation," a LEGO animated short part of the LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season series which was released on the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel on July 11, 2023. In the short,^[26] canonically set between 3 ABY and 4 ABY,^[27] Emperor Palpatine takes^[26] his apprentice^[28] Darth Vader for a booked private trip to the planet. Vader was immediately repulsed by the beach planet due to his dislike for sand and continued to be distracted by his decryption of a stolen datacard with the locations of every Rebel Alliance base. However, he eventually stopped decrypting and joined Palpatine in various beach activities, with different Imperial troopers on vacation around them too.^[26]

Meanwhile, the rebel droid R2-D2 had been sent by Princess Leia Organa to recover the datacard and proceeded to follow Palpatine and Vader around the beach. R2-D2 eventually stole it out of Vader's pocket that evening while he sat on the beach voicing his satisfaction to Palpatine. The droid then reprogrammed the flight path of Vader and Palpatine's ship to take them to the ice^[26] planet^[28] Hoth. Organa congratulated R2-D2 over hologram, telling him he earned a vacation for his success.^[26]