The massacre at Terrina Square took place around 3 ABY on the planet Quellor during the Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire. While Imperial forces were initially ordered to refrain from using deadly force, they ultimately cleared Terrina Square by killing hundreds of peaceful demonstrators who had been protesting the atrocities perpetrated by the Empire in the Outer Rim Territories, as well as calling for an end to superweapons such as the Death Star. The massacre was then promptly censored from all regulated media outlets by the Empire's Commission for the Preservation of the New Order.
Prelude[]
The Battle of Yavin saw the destruction of the Galactic Empire's Death Star I superweapon by the Rebel Alliance. Due to their humiliating defeat, the Empire, which ruled much of the galaxy, let go of all its pretense of being benign and began to respond to any manner of resistance with fearsome might.[2] Nevertheless, the planet Quellor became a site of peaceful anti-Imperial rallies in the battle's aftermath.[3]
Almost three years after the battle, as the Galactic Civil War between the Rebels and the Empire intensified in 3 ABY, hundreds of citizens of many species gathered at Quellor's Terrina Square to protest reported Imperial atrocities in the Outer Rim Territories, as well as to rally for the banning of superweapons similar to the destroyed Death Star.[2]
Burning Emperor and blaster fire[]
Censorship by the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order (logo depicted) came into effect after the massacre of the peaceful protestors at Terrina Square.
While the protest was peaceful, the governor of Quellor, Moff Toggan, commanded a legion of stormtroopers to oversee the demonstration and maintain order; Toggan specifically told troops not to employ deadly force unless he said otherwise. However, when the crowd at Terrina Square burned a facsimile of Emperor Palpatine to demonstrate their disapproval of Imperial policies, the troopers pushed through the demonstrator lines and opened fire with their blasters, clearing a path toward the burning effigy. Whether they acted on their own accord or on orders from someone more influential than Toggan,[2] the stormtroopers' actions resulted in extensive civilian casualties.[1]
Aftermath[]
For thirty minutes, the massacre at Terrina Square was major news, yet at the end of the day, the Empire's Commission for the Preservation of the New Order censored further news of the subject under all the regulated media outlets.[2] Emperor Palpatine was killed and the Empire was fractured by the Rebellion with the attack on the Death Star II battlestation about one year later.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The massacre at Terrina Square was first mentioned in Rebellion Era Sourcebook, a 2001 supplement to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game published by Wizards of the Coast.[2]
Sources[]
- Rebellion Era Sourcebook (First mentioned)
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. III ("Quellor")
- The Essential Atlas