In these days of streaming there seems to be no end to the new directions that franchises can branch off in, and Star Wars is no exception to the new rule that every story must be told. With that in mind, by the end 2016's Rogue One, we had been shown the long unanswered question of how the Rebel Alliance managed to get their hands on the blueprints of the Death Star but also discovered that the story didn't end well for the protagonists who had all been killed by the planet-destroying space station by the movie's credits. But four years later, Disney announced that Cassian Andor, one of the central characters of Rogue One, would be getting a spin-off prequel series.

So that leads us to Andor, the new series coming to Disney+ next year featuring Diego Luna reprising his role as the title character, in a story set five years before the events of Rogue One which fills in another small gap in the Star Wars timeline. In the series, Andor is working as a spy for newly formed Rebel Alliance, and it will chart his journey towards the end we have already seen. With production of the series well underway, we have seen a few images and videos emerging from the set, and now a new leaked image gives a first look at the Empire's mighty weaponry that will be on display in the show.

"Star Wars returns with all guns blazing - as a galactic blaster is spotted on set in Scotland. The sinister tank was wheeled out for filming of TV spin-off Andor - rumoured to star Ewan McGregor, 50, below, in his role of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. A huge production hub was set up for the shoot at Cruachan Dam on misty Loch Awe, Argyll, 60 miles from Ewan's hometown of Crieff, Perthshire," read the post on instagram, with an image from The Scottish Sun newspaper.

Looking at the set photos seen so far, it would appear that the impressive weapon will be part of an imperial base that Cassian Andor will likely try to breach in order the learn the Empire's secrets. Whether these tanks will be show to use their full might in the series, or will instead be a foreshadowing of what is to come later down the line is unclear, but either way, it is a solid reminded of what made the Empire such a formidable force in the original Star Wars trilogy.

The entire Star Wars series has in fact shown time and time again that the Empire has a huge range of bases and destroyers capable of devastating entire planets, whether the Starkill Base of The Force Awakens, the Star Destroyers of The Rise of Skywalker or the iconic and all powerful Death Star of the original movies. With these new images it looks like the new spin-off series will continue this tradition and keep very much in line with the Empire's firepower of old - or the future in the case of Andor' s place in the overall timeline.

With the first episode of Andor not arriving until next year on Disney+, there is still a lot to be learned about the new addition to the Star Wars franchise, and no doubt many more sneak peeks to come.