Theed Hangar

During the time that King Bon Tapalo ruled Naboo, Damask Holdings, a part of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, approached the Naboo people with an offer to mine and export the abundant plasma found within the planet's core. Despite some initial hesitation about relying on outside businesses to kickstart the plasma industry, Tapalo ultimately agreed to the terms proposed by Magister Hego Damask, as the Muun intended to support the king's reelection campaign.

When construction began, existing parklands located just east of the Royal Palace were removed, and the adjacent Solleu River was redirected to provide space for the triple-domed Plasma Refinery Complex and the hangar facility. Constructed by Outer Rim Construction and Assembly, the main hangar became the headquarters of the Royal Naboo Security Forces' fighter corps. By the time King Ars Veruna reigned, Naboo had risen to become a significant 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 began to strain. Aware of the potential conflict with the Federation, King Veruna expanded the role of the fighter corps and increased its budget to acquire new N-1 starfighters.

Despite Veruna's efforts to alleviate his people's fears of invasion, the military expansion only intensified the growing dissatisfaction with his leadership. Seeing Veruna as corrupted and detached from the planet's peaceful traditions, the citizens of Naboo and Senator Palpatine rallied behind a young woman named Padmé Naberrie. Before demilitarization could take place, the Trade Federation launched an invasion, blockading the system and taking the planet's population hostage.

During the initial stages of the invasion, Queen Amidala, accompanied by her retinue of handmaidens, guards, and Jedi protectors, managed to briefly liberate the hangar, escaping into space aboard the Queen's royal starship. Accompanied by the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Queen journeyed to Coruscant to inform the Galactic Senate and request their intervention in the occupation. During the fighting that broke out in the city, Captain Kael of the Queen's Security Forces was trapped near the building's front annex by destroyer droids, but Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes rescued him.

Upon the Queen's return to the planet, she and the Jedi spearheaded an infiltration mission to reclaim the planet. Amidala's forces utilized hidden tunnels to secretly enter Theed, emerging near the hangar building. They swiftly gained complete control of the facility, liberating hangar personnel, including air traffic controllers and pilots from Bravo Flight, who then launched their starfighters and attacked the orbital Droid Control Ship. Among them was a nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker, who inadvertently flew an N-1 starfighter from the hangar to the control ship and destroyed it, disabling the droid army and securing an unexpected victory for the Gungan Grand Army in the Battle of Grassy Plains. During the battle for the hangar, Jinn and Kenobi aided the Resistance forces by cutting through the door's power cells to prevent Trade Federation reinforcements from entering. When the attacking party attempted to enter through the main gate into the Hangar's Great Hall, they were intercepted by the Sith Lord Darth Maul, leading to a confrontation with the Jedi. Amidala then utilized another secret tunnel via the Hall to access the Royal Palace. During the lightsaber duel, Darth Maul used a destroyed droideka to open the blast door leading to the Plasma Refinery Complex, where Jinn was killed and Maul was presumed dead after being defeated by Kenobi. Later, after the battle concluded, Kenobi and his new apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, were honored with a parade in the hangar before departing the planet. Nym, Vana Sage, and Reti, allies of the Security Forces, also launched from the hangar as they returned to their respective duties.

When Skywalker and Kenobi returned during the Clone Wars to investigate the mystery surrounding Separatist Doctor Nuvo Vindi, they landed in the hangar with their detachment of clone troopers. Shortly after the rise of the Galactic Empire following the Clone Wars and the destruction of the Jedi Order, the Empire began storing weapons within the hangar, particularly explosives. During a mission that brought a rebel group known as the Erased to Naboo, rebels Clive Flax and Ferus Olin destroyed the hangar by detonating the hidden explosives cache. The Empire temporarily withdrew from Naboo rather than retaliate and acknowledge their illegal weapons storage. Queen Apailana, while saddened by the destruction of the facility and the lengthy reconstruction process, supported the decision.

As a component of the Plasma Refinery Complex in the city of Theed, the city's primary hangar facility was situated in Theed's central district, along the banks of the Solleu River and the Virdugo Plunge. In Theed, even a military complex reflected the Naboo's profound appreciation for artistic and spiritual expression. Designed in a Neo-Classical style, the structure possessed a simple yet elegant form, blending functionality with grace and appearing far more elaborate than the austere, utilitarian military facilities found on other planets. Constructed from large sandstone-like stone covered by a ribbed roof, the stone was reinforced with a high-tensile durasteel support webbing, while the roof was lined with blast-proof plates to safeguard the structure from attacks.

The entrance to Theed Hangar was located in a small courtyard bordering the Solleu River. Accessible through a large curving archway, the building's interior was dominated by the expansive hangar bay. Twice as long as it was wide, the hangar space featured a curved ceiling that soared above a polished black floor; electrostatic grates embedded in the floor helped to reduce pollution levels within the room. Along the length of the room's walls were sixteen niches, eight on each side, each capable of holding three N-1 fighters. A unique feature of the N-1's allowed their tapered tails to connect to the walls, where computer ports received coded battle strategies from the palace battle computer, which were then downloaded into the starfighter computer banks. Energy ports within the docking bays delivered high-voltage charges to the N-1 fighters from the adjacent generator. On the inner wall of the hangar, a tall archway was sealed with a heavy blast-proof door, beyond which lay the city's generator and the Plasma Refinery Complex. Six power cells supplied energy to the three doors that led into the hangar. The generators could be deactivated from a control panel.

The polished floor of the main flight deck transitioned to a grey stone terminus at the hangar mouth, which overlooked the plunging cliff face. Stretching from the mouth of the hangar to the far inner wall was a set of electromagnet rails that generated a gravity field designed to decelerate all ships entering the facility. While the pilots of the Royal Naboo Security Forces relied on both on-board flight computers and air-traffic control to guide their fighters into the hangar, some experienced pilots told exaggerated stories, claiming they could visually align with the entrance by observing the wind's effect on the nearby waterfall. Four flight guidance beacons adorned the hangar mouth, along with two statues of the Naboo Goddess of Security and Safekeeping. The facility's main deck was retractable, allowing ships to be lowered or raised from the underground maintenance deck directly below.

The maintenance deck, a single-story level mirroring the main deck's architectural design, housed the Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps, responsible for the construction, constant servicing, and refitting of Naboo spacecraft. Overhead cranes moved along rails, and diagnostic stations enabled maintenance teams to assess the operating systems of any spacecraft in the fleet. Mobile maintenance and refueling vehicles navigated the floor, providing flexible support to spacecraft in any of the repair bays along the side of the maintenance deck. Along the outer wall was a holding area for the fleet's numerous astromech droids, where utility droids were prepared for onboard flight support assignments.

The highest chamber in the hangar was located above the flight deck, within the facility's large cupola. Smaller than the neighboring refinery, the domed structure housed the city's air traffic control nerve center, staffed by specialized members of the security force. The center of the chamber was occupied by a large array of dishes and computer equipment, surrounded by a ring of power transmitters capable of disrupting and disabling the radar systems of enemy craft. Along the outer wall were workstations where controllers operated the guidance system, which utilized traction mechanics. Embedded into the large lintel-like feature above the flight entrance, the equipment automatically guided spacecraft into the hangar by locking onto their flight coordinates.

Along the riverside of the complex stood two-story anterooms with large window panes overlooking the small parade grounds along the bank of the Solleu. The anteroom closest to the cliff's edge was known as the Great Hall; with marble floors and pillars soaring into the room's vaulted ceiling, the chamber was used by the Monarch for troop inspections during ceremonial parades. The other structure served as the headquarters of the Security Force and housed a pilot training academy, equipped with a simulator program that replicated the effects of an attack.

The Theed Hangar made its initial on-screen appearance in the 1999 release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Several diagrams of the facility later appeared in the source books Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I and subsequently in Star Wars: Complete Locations. Within both of these publications, the hangar is depicted as being situated to the left of the palace when viewing the city from the cliff side. However, the aerial view of Theed in the 2005 release of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith places the building on the right side of the palace when viewed from a similar angle. Given the precedence of the films, the hangars are definitively located on the right side of the palace.

In the 2000 video game Star Wars: Episode I Jedi Power Battles, the Jedi engage in a battle within the hangar that contradicts the events of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. They fight Plasma battle droids during their escape, but in the film, they only encounter standard battle droids.

While the aforementioned source books identify the hangar as the location of the Royal Naboo Security Forces' headquarters, the 2000 video game Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo portrays the headquarters as a separate, entirely stone building with a wide staircase at its front. It remains unclear whether this facility is intended to be a supplementary building or simply a result of game mechanics.