The Plasma Refinery Complex was a large, triple-domed structure erected on the cliff face next to the Royal Palace of Naboo, in the city of Theed. Built to draw vast quantities of rare plasma out of the planet’s core, the refinery complex included the Theed Hangar and the city’s main power generator, as well as the headquarters of the Royal Naboo Security Forces.
During the reign of the Naboo King Bon Tapalo, Damask Holdings, an entity within the InterGalactic Banking Clan, approached the Naboo with an offer of mining and exporting the plasma that was abundant in the planet’s core. Despite trepidation at using primarily offworld businesses to jump-start the plasma industry, Tapalo agreed to the terms of Magister Hego Damask, as the Muun was planning to back the king’s bid for reelection.
When construction commenced, existing parklands just east of the Royal Palace were removed, and the adjacent Solleu River was rerouted to make room for the triple domes of the new refinery complex and the hangar facility. Constructed by Outer Rim Construction and Assembly, the complex was eventually fully operational and began producing plasma at an incredible rate. By King Ars Veruna’s reign, Naboo had become a major player in the interstellar plasma energy market. However, the planet’s plasma exports became a source of dispute with the Trade Federation, and a strenuous relationship with Magister Damask began to take its toll.
Following the ouster of King Veruna, the citizens of Naboo and Senator Palpatine rallied behind a young girl named Padmé Naberrie and gave her the title Queen Amidala. The young monarch had just ascended to the throne when the Trade Federation invaded, blockading the system and taking the planet’s populace hostage.
After fleeing, the Queen did return to the planet, where she and Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi led an infiltration mission to retake the planet. Amidala’s forces used hidden tunnels to covertly enter Theed, emerging alongside the hangar building. While the security forces and the Jedi cleared the hangar, Sith apprentice Darth Maul stepped out of the refinery complex to challenge the Jedi. As the Queen and her loyal forces found another way to access the palace, the Jedi began to duel the Zabrak assassin, chasing him through the massive generator facility. After exchanging several blows, the Jedi forced Maul back through a series of laser gates and into the chamber housing the generator’s core. However, unknown to the Jedi, Maul had been in this complex before; he had studied every service platform and checked the timing of the laser gates, while bringing them to the melting pit for the final part of their duel. In this small rotunda, Maul killed Master Jinn before being bisected at the waist by Qui Gon’s lightsaber. But even as the Sith Lord fell into the melting pit below, he managed to survive this ordeal through the Force and his hatred, vowing revenge on Kenobi. He went down the reactor shaft and landed in water. He was then 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 site was the arena of another deadly lightsaber duel, this time between one of the Galactic Empire’s highest ranking Inquisitors, Malorum and a former member of the now-extinct Jedi Order, Ferus Olin. During the duel, Olin was able to dislodge Malorum’s lightsaber and send the Inquisitor down the melting pit to his death.