Attack on Tuanul

"The First Order. They're horrible. Rumor has it an attack squadron of theirs destroyed a sacred village right close to here, over near Kelvin Ravine."

- Rey

The attack on Tuanul, also known as the Massacre at Tuanul, was an assault carried out against Tuanul, a spiritual village on the planet Jakku, by the First Order during the cold war. The assault was led by the dark enforcer Kylo Ren, who had been seeking a map that would lead to the location of the missing Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. As four elite First Order squadrons descended on Tuanul with a force of eighty stormtroopers, the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron received the map from the Resistance ally Lor San Tekka. Dameron attempted to flee prior to the assault but his T-70 X-wing fighter was disabled by the attacking stormtroopers, despite his droid BB-8's warning just before the assault began.

Prelude
The First Order knew Lor San Tekka was hiding on Jakku with a piece of the map containing the location of Luke Skywalker, whom they wanted to find and destroy. Kylo Ren wanted the map and ordered Captain Phasma to lead some stormtroopers and flametroopers to Tuanul.

The assault
During the battle, the stormtrooper FN-2187 witnessed the violent death of his fellow soldier FN-2003 at Poe Dameron's hands, which led to an awakening of his conscience and opened his eyes to the brutality of the First Order, which would eventually lead the stormtrooper to abandon the First Order. Meanwhile, at Dameron's urging, BB-8 successfully fled with the map in tow from Tuanul as the pilot joined in the battle. The villagers of Tuanul were overwhelmed by the stormtroopers and captured before Tekka was brought to Ren himself, who requested him to turn over information on the map. Tekka claimed that Ren could not deny the truth that was his own family, causing Ren to slay the old man via decapitation after sarcastically telling the latter that he's correct in his claim. Dameron fired on Ren in retaliation, but the dark warrior caught the blast and subsequently captured the man, who was then taken aboard Ren's Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Finalizer, meanwhile Phasma and her stormtroopers&mdash;except for FN-2187&mdash;executed the remaining villagers on Ren's orders.

Aftermath
Disillusioned by the brutality of the First Order forces at Tuanul village, FN-2187 decided to defect from the First Order. He freed Dameron from his cell and convinced him to escape together on a stolen TIE/sf space superiority fighter. Their TIE/sf fighter was shot down by the Finalizer weaponry and crashed landed in Jakku's Goazon Badlands. After being separated from Dameron, Finn encountered BB-8 and the local scavenger Rey. Rey likewise had heard rumors about the attack, and also had distaste for the First Order from their more brutal methods. They were pursued by First Order forces but managed to escape on the Millennium Falcon into space. After encountering Han Solo and Chewbacca, they convinced Solo to help them get BB-8, who was carrying the map, back to the Resistance.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens novelization
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel
 * Rolling with BB-8!
 * The Force Awakens Read-Along Storybook and CD
 * The Force Awakens Golden Book
 * Finn & the First Order
 * Rey Meets BB-8
 * Finn and Poe Team Up!
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens Graphic Novel Adaptation
 * The Force Awakens, Part I
 * The Force Awakens, Part III
 * BB-8 on the Run
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens: New Adventures
 * Finn's Mission
 * The Adventures of BB-8

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens