Secundus Ando is the largest of two habitable worlds orbiting Secundus Ando Prime, and due to its more favorable distance, life prospers on its surface. A stony crust of figured granite, marble, and ghostly quartz lies beneath a deep bed of rich topsoil deposited by ancient forests. The surface is dominated by enormous hardwood conifers, whose twisting branches weave an emerald lid over the sky and bathe the timberland in shadows. The planet's climate is relatively stable and temperate year-round. This is owing to the effect of the vast planetary forest, which traps moisture and heat closer to the surface and continually regenerates the planet's thick atmosphere. Renowned for its spectacular caverns and freshwater ocean, this is the habitat which fostered the Harch race.
Secundus Ando was invaded by Aqualish rebels in 59 BCGT during the uprising against the Spiverelda regime. Many Harch perished, but casualty rates among Andoan forces were much steeper, and the attack was soundly repelled. Republic support for the Andoan Free Colonies resulted in the Harch joining the Separatist movement during the First Galactic Civil War. Secundus Ando once featured several advanced industrial cities, each governed by a noble ruling nest, but only two of these have survived. The others were dismantled when the Harch discovered that their society had been deceived by the ruling nests, who hoped to establish a Great Harch Prosperity by drawing them into galactic conflicts that otherwise could have been avoided. The Harch continue to refuse diplomatic overtures from foreign nations to this day, and the patches of bare rock and desert where important cities once stood remain as monuments to the dangers of political exploitation.