The Plasma Refinery Complex, a substantial structure featuring three domes, was constructed on the face of a cliff adjacent to the Royal Palace in Theed, a city on Naboo. This complex was designed to extract significant amounts of rare plasma from the planet's core and incorporated the Theed Hangar, the primary power generator for the city, and the headquarters for the Royal Naboo Security Forces.
During the time Bon Tapalo reigned as King of Naboo, Damask Holdings, a part of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, presented the Naboo with a proposition to mine and export the abundant plasma found within the planet's core. Despite some hesitation about relying on businesses from other worlds to initiate the plasma industry, Tapalo accepted the terms set by Magister Hego Damask, as the Muun planned to support the king's reelection campaign.
The construction phase involved removing existing park areas located just east of the Royal Palace, and the Solleu River that ran alongside was redirected to accommodate the three domes of the new refinery complex, along with the hangar facility. Outer Rim Construction and Assembly handled the construction, and the complex eventually achieved full operational status, producing plasma at a remarkable rate. By the time King Ars Veruna was in power, Naboo had risen to prominence as a major player in the interstellar plasma energy market. However, the planet's plasma exports led to disagreements with the Trade Federation, and the relationship with Magister Damask became strained.
After King Veruna was removed from power, the people of Naboo and Senator Palpatine united behind a young woman named Padmé Naberrie, bestowing upon her the title of Queen Amidala. Shortly after she took the throne, the Trade Federation invaded, blockading the system and holding the planet's inhabitants captive.
Following her escape, the Queen returned to the planet, where she, along with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, spearheaded an infiltration mission to reclaim the planet. Amidala's forces utilized concealed tunnels to secretly enter Theed, emerging near the hangar building. While the security forces and the Jedi were securing the hangar, Sith apprentice Darth Maul came out of the refinery complex to confront the Jedi. As the Queen and her loyal troops discovered another route to the palace, the Jedi began their duel with the Zabrak assassin, pursuing him through the massive generator facility. After a series of clashes, the Jedi forced Maul back through a sequence of laser gates and into the chamber containing the generator's core. Unbeknownst to the Jedi, Maul had previously explored the complex, studying every service platform and timing the laser gates, leading them to the melting pit for their final confrontation. In this confined rotunda, Maul fatally wounded Master Jinn before Obi-Wan Kenobi bisected him at the waist with Qui-Gon's lightsaber. Despite falling into the melting pit, the Sith Lord survived through the Force and his burning hatred, vowing revenge on Kenobi. He fell down the reactor shaft and landed in water. From there he was dumped into a container, which was taken via freighter to the junk world of Lotho Minor. He would not return to the known galaxy for twelve years.
Years later, the same location became the site of another intense lightsaber duel, this time between Malorum, a high-ranking Inquisitor from the Galactic Empire, and Ferus Olin, a former member of the now-defunct Jedi Order. During their duel, Olin managed to dislodge Malorum's lightsaber, causing the Inquisitor to fall into the melting pit and meet his demise.
The Plasma Refinery Complex, a structure with three domes, was positioned on the cliff face of Theed and comprised several distinct areas, each serving a specific purpose. Situated along the banks of the Solleu River and the Virdugo Plunge, the refinery complex showcased a Neo-Classical design, characterized by its simple yet elegant form. Constructed using large, sandstone-like stones covered by a ribbed roof, the stone was reinforced with a high-tensile durasteel support webbing, while the roof was lined with blast-proof green plates to protect the structure from potential attacks.
Adjacent to the complex was the city's main hangar, strategically located within the same complex to facilitate the easy transfer of plasma from the refinery to the N-1 starfighters of the Naboo Royal Space Fighter Corps. Although the hangar had its own separate entrance, a hallway connected the main flight deck to the complex's extraction shaft.
The first of the three domed structures, closest to the hangar, housed the seemingly bottomless extraction shaft. This hemispherical chamber, with its black paneled walls, continuously monitored and adjusted for pressure fluctuations. It was crisscrossed by several rings of catwalks. A series of twelve evenly spaced acceleration shafts extended from the bottom of the pit to the ceiling, containing the plasma that had been extracted from the core and drawn upward through vacuum suction. On the opposite side of the shaft was the city's power generator, situated beneath the ground floor of the first building. Above it was the facility's main activator and purification chamber, located beneath a corridor of laser gates. These gates, inspired by a Naboo legend about gates holding back chaos, would lock into place to contain potentially dangerous levels of power output. Beyond the corridor was the generator's core, a massive shaft plunging into the depths of the reactor. Along the sides of the smooth shaft were high-energy particle coils, used to manage plasma slough when needed.
The central building housed a massive drum-shaped holding tank, used to store large quantities of refined plasma. The Naboo, wary of shortages or potential betrayals by Damask Holdings or the Trade Federation, maintained a reserve of plasma in case of increased spacecraft usage. At the top of the tank, a recirculation lid reduced oxygen levels in the chamber to maintain the vacuum within the tank.
The Plasma Refinery Complex was first seen in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. The facility's layout differs across the film's 1999 video game adaptation, the 2000 video game Star Wars: Episode I Jedi Power Battles, and the 2001 video game Star Wars: Obi-Wan.