Natopian Abduction Crisis

Operation Prodigal
Part of War of Lost Brothers
Photograph of one of the Emperor's Xecha captors
Date 10 Tasneber 1653 – 10 Blumuar 1655 (25 October – 09 December 2017) Location Lindström, Flaventia, Eura Result Emperor rescued, Household Staff purged, militant group eradicated, Xechaspolis destroyed by orbital bombardment.
Belligerents
Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation	Xecha Crime Syndicate
Units involved
Natopian Army 1a Aurochssturm Division "Taurobolium" Natopian Spacefleet NSS Ariadne DE-001 NSS Damocles	9th Chapter Group
Strength
1 Damocles-class orbital bombardment platform; 1 Ariadne-class fleet support starship 1 Virgo-class scout ship 1 Zion-class survey ship 1 Dingo-class shuttle 96 naval infantry	approximately 250 militiamen
63,000 Xecha refugees 167,550 Babkhi
Casualties and losses
1 killed, 12 wounded	25 killed; 18 captured
23,720 killed; 9,420 injured
Destroyed in Xechaspolis: 6 medical clinics; 1 humanitarian relief centre; 18 schools and orphanages; 26 places of worship.

The abduction of Emperor Nathan II, Regent Christo Eucalyptos, and Secretary of Defense Marco Lungo, in late 1653 sparked a constitutional crisis in the Natopian Empire that paralysed its government and set the legislative body, known as the Frenzy at odds with the Supreme Court and delayed the entry of Natopia into the renewed war with Jingdao, placing the empire's alliance with Shireroth under immense strain.

Circumstantial evidence and the Emperor's own testimony hinted at the collusion of unspecified "external powers" in the abduction, which many had considered beyond the capacity of a small band of marginalised ethnic criminals located at a whole continent's remove from the Natopian seat of government.