The Imperial research station, also known as Itani Base, was a secret but much-rumored Imperial space station/shadowport hidden in a pocket of open space within the Itani Nebula. It was full of labs where scientists and weapons technicians studied local gases, magnetic storms, and ion storms to come up with new gas explosives and more powerful ion weapons. The station was protected by a GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat and a hidden minefield. It was eventually destroyed by a Rebel Alliance strike team.