The Midnight Massacre was the battle around Tatooine during which the Plant Allied Council colonies and military forces were wiped out with a modified space-fold weapon.
History
The Massacre was, in part a planned response by lunatic Edge Koenig to Paptimus Contrast's attempts to unify and solidify the Outer Rim under his rule. Koenig, who was blessed with the unique mix of psychic ability and charisma, had spent the better part of his military career arranging his men into key positions. After procuring a modified space-fold engine from Elusa Harkonnen, he put his plan into motion. It is largely thought that this massive terrorist attack was in response to the Contrast's Unification Wars and the Dread Conglomerate attack on Tatooine. It should be noted that this attack happened less than a week after a PAC-sponsored peace talk broke down into childish yelling.
Main Players
Edge Koenig in a privately owned mobile suit used the fold engine himself, while his fleet attracted the attention of PAC armed forces. Contrast saw the attack too late, and was only able to rally a force of Haweke Karbn, Toxic Marsh, Angela Bekker and a handful of others to stop Koenig. When they failed, the New Republic fleet bombarded Koenig's last known location with high yield proton torpedoes, leading many to believe they had killed both Koenig and Karbn. However, both survived.
Description
The attack began with a pronouncement made by an unknown individual, later revealed to be Edge Koenig:
Midnight Massacre! I cast final judgement on this planet! I hereby declare this world, Tatooine, free from all other invading countries! The Tragolites, the PLANT Allied Council, all of these forces wished for peace, and prosperity for Tatooine! But since when has Tatooine lived with Peace in order to obtain prosperity? This planet's livlihood was built on slavery and suffering. Look around you? You fight amongst yourselves for the right to destroy peace! Not to secure it! You fight about unification- -you squabble and yell over who will be civilized first! So I'll end it all! I'll kill every living thing in this solar system, starting with the damned colonies!
Due to Koenig's maniacal and lunatic rant, many believed the transmission to be a prank and gave it no thought. Only Paptimus Contrast himself called in Haweke Karbn, and Toxic Marsh of GWAM to warn them about this threat. However, after the speech was finished, Koenig's forces attacked front on. The terrorist forces, made up of four star cruisers and a small wing of mobile suits, succeeding in wiping out 10% of the massive 300+ New Republic fleet, almost the entire PAC Fleet, and extinguishing over 40 million lives. When the dust had cleared, the PAC was entirely gone, leaving only the infantile GWAM and the Anchorhead Militia.
GWAM itself had an integral part in the battle. The Massacre Forces were smart enough to take control of the PAC's Solar System Superlaser Weapon, and used it as a massive bait-and-switch to keep the Republic occupied while the real threat, a lone, fission powered mobile suit armed with a massive directed fold space wave device, destroyed whole colonies and fleets. GWAM wasn't fooled, however, and Toxic was one of the three to get close enough to attack the mobile suit.
The first colonies to go would be the ones of the Zeon, which had already been absorbed into the PAF following the Unification Wars. Next would be the PAF colonies near Third Moon, and then the other colonies on the other side of the planet. By the time the Massacre forces had reached the PLANTs themselves, all the planetary forces had been launched into space to stop the superlaser. The fold-space device was then used to destroy the combined fleet, along with the New Republic forces, around the superlaser, along with the massive weapon itself.
Despite being in close combat with Haweke Karbn, Angela Bekker, and Toxic Marsh, the mobile suit managed to fire and destroy the PLANTs. PLANT Allied Council Chairman Paptimus Contrast was in the middle of an open press conference to the Tatoo system when the attack occured.
"This is the flashpoint of human existance on the outer rim. This madman has attempted to destroy us all. But I promise you, he will not succeed. I urge you to remain calm, stay in your homes. We've identified the insurgents responsible for these henious acts-including that of the North Pole Massacre last week. I promise you, no harm will come to the people of the Tatoo Sphere. I give you my word, as a leader. Please, remain calm. This too, shall pass. The age of the newtype is upon us. Panic will get us nowhere. Only by-
Outmanouvered by an incredibly tiny force, the Republic launched a full bombardment at the mobile suit that had the Fold space device, turning miles around it into nuclear fireball. Unbeknownst to them, Angela Bekker had gravely damaged the machine, causing the Fold-Space weapon to fold in on itself by the time the missiles struck. It was this attack, however, that supposedly claimed the life of Haweke Karbn.
Aftermath
After the event, there were less than 200 PAC citizens known to be left in the galaxy. Many of them would follow Haweke Karbn when he would join GWAM later in the year. As of 22 ABY, the only known survivor of this attack was Captain Haweke Karbn.
