Professional Exorcism

Imperial Territory, Ketill IV

Ketill IV was a massive planet with a magnificent ring system. Countless dust and ice fragments formed a thin ring around it, refracting icy blue light that danced like sprites of flame beneath the starlight. This incredible ring was dreamlike and enchanting, like a brilliant bridge of light.

In this vast, empty region of Imperial territory, Ketill IV was like an indigo gem lost among grains of sand, utterly overlooked. Like most planets in the universe, Ketill was far too barren and desolate for human habitation, with an excessively high concentration of ammonia in its atmosphere.

Long-range vessels that occasionally strayed into the Ketill system always turned around in haste, never noticing that this barren world housed the largest secret weapons laboratory in the Terran Empire.

Skygeirr Platform was hidden within layers of heavily encrypted Imperial top-secret files, mentioned only a few times by codename over the highest-clearance channels.

The station was of extraordinary importance to the Terran Empire. Constructing this awe-inspiring complex alone had taken more than two years and drawn upon the manpower and resources of three nearby Imperial colony worlds. The Empire had even established a small colony on another planet in the Ketill system to house the builders who had signed nondisclosure agreements.

To further ensure that Skygeirr Platform would not be discovered by the Empire's enemies, the entire vast research complex was shrouded in interference fields and maintained absolute radio silence.

"Dr. Narud is truly a pillar of the Empire. Without him, we might still be taking countless detours." Augustus had just stepped down from his private shuttle when a fierce gust carrying the faint scent of ammonia struck him head-on.

Beyond the protective force field surrounding Skygeirr Platform's landing pad, terrifying hurricanes screamed and howled, releasing piercing shrieks. It seemed