The Mesan Atrocity was the detonation of eighty-four nuclear devices on and in orbit of the planet Mesa and across the Mesa System.
The detonations resulted in the death of an estimated 5.32 million casualties, though Captain Cynthia Lecter believed the total could increase to over 6 million.
The detonations, named the Final Flourish, were meant as the final act of Operation Houdini to erase all evidence of the Mesan Alignment and were supposed to occur over a thirty-six hour period. However when Admiral Michelle Henke and the Tenth Fleet of the Royal Manticoran Navy arrived in system, Albrecht Detweiler choose to activate the devices nearly simultaneously once the Manticoran forces entered orbit.
The final count of detonations was 41 on planet, 20 in orbit (including on the Lagrange One habitat), and 23 in the outer system, many of which occurred in locations were Mesa Astro Control claimed there was nothing to explode. All detonations on planet and in orbit happened within ninety seconds of each other. (HH14)