The Imperial research facility was an Imperial installation. Located in the capital city of Trid, of the Mid Rim planet Danuta, essential for the development of the superlaser of the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station.
When the existence of the station was discovered, and that part of the technical data of the Imperial superweapon was kept there, the base became one of the targets of the Alliance Intelligence, and hired Imperial defector Kyle Katarn to infiltrate it.
Located on the western side of the city, it had tight security with fences, , and guards. Nevertheless, agent Katarn, with the help of Meck Odom, successfully entered the and stole the bluebrints. The feat proved vital for the course of the Galactic Civil War.
A security buffer separated the Research Complex from the town proper. Surrounded by a chain fence topped by razor-wire four meters above the ground. It was guarded by cameras, recon droids, and emplacement weapons. The main gate was guarded by a station, stormtroopers, an AT-ST and armored ground cars. The buildings were low, fortified externally and leading to underground installations.
From the city, one had to pass a ravine and a maze of boulders to reach the southern side of the perimeter, three hours away.
Besides the main gate, the rectangular outer perimeter had for convenience four or five openings on each side, covered by three-meter tall durasteel gates, designated with aurebesh letters and numbers; for example the Northern gates had the letter N. At night, the perimeter was covered by widely spaced blue-green lights, cameras and patrolling floating security droids.
The main facility looked like a low building, as most of it was underground; the roof was broad and flat and could easily climbed; on it were some antennae, a landing pad and an air duct.
The Imperial garrison on the outskirts of the city was expanded into a full military installment, home to a sprawling yet secret research facility visited by the Imperial Security Bureau and scientists such as Bevel Lemelisk. A partial set of plans to the first Death Star was hidden there by Atour Riten. The curious visits tipped off a Rebel sympathizer, who in turn informed the Alliance. They managed to rig a maintenance droid which provided videos from the interior of the facility and the memory matrix: a vaguely T-shaped construct, suspended in a U-shaped frame.
Around the time Kyle Katarn visited the planet, the facility suffered a security problem: a software glitch triggered the heat and motion detectors inside the air shafts; the officers submitted repair requests, and for the week they were waiting for them, they ignored the falsely triggered alarms.
Striking from a hidden base, the Rebel Alliance attacked the Imperial facility with starships and soldiers while Katarn would proceed with his mission to visit the place where the Death Star plans were hidden.
Katarn found a red banded key which gained access to the lift and led to a security room. The security room contained a control panel which opened the staircase leading into the control room. Aiming to preserve Odom's anonymity, Katarn wounded Odom with a careful nonlethal shot that incapacitated him. After retrieving the memory matrix, Katarn then met Jan Ors and the Moldy Crow at the rendezvous point on the roof, escaping with the plans that ensured the obtainment of a complete layout of the Death Star.
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