| “ | Winston Yu: By the time it hits Reef Island, a thirty-metre wall of water will have formed, travelling at about five hundred and fifty miles an hour - the speed of a jumbo jet. One cubic metres of water weights about one tonne, Alex. Imagine hundreds of cubic metres rushing in. There will be no warning. The island will be destroyed. It is low-lying; there will be nowhere to hide. Every building will be smashed. Every single person on the island will be killed Alex Rider: But the tsunami won't stop there. What will happen to it after that? Winston Yu: That's a very intelligent observation. No. The tsunami will unleash the same amount of energy as several thousand nuclear weapons. It will continue on its way until it hits Australia |
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—Winston Yu describes the devastation of Reef Encounter |
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Operation Reef Encounter (or Operation Royal Blue) was a project spearheaded by Winston Yu and created by SCORPIA. It was the second attempt by SCORPIA to make the world fear them.
Objective[]
It attempted to "accidentally" kill the eight celebrities on Reef Island trying to make the world a better place, for their client did not agree with their aims.
Method[]
Yu orchestrated the theft of a bomb prototype, codename Royal Blue, from MI6, which involved the death of various security guards, and planned to drop it on a fault line where the tectonic plates in the Earth's crust were most vulnerable, causing a tsunami. The celebrities had to be killed in a way which seemed totally natural, and a tsunami was the most efficient option.
Outcome[]
While on 'The Liberian Star', Alex Rider watched Major Yu scan his fingerprint into Royal Blue and then did the same, allowing him to override the security mechanism. Later on, a joint Australian-British military crew, with Rider, assaulted 'Dragon Nine', where Alex found Yu and Ash, the latter in fact secretly working for SCORPIA. Ben Daniels killed Ash, but was wounded himself. Yu tried to shoot Alex, but the SAS created a diversion, causing Yu to attempt to escape. He succeeded with this, but broke various bones. Alex Rider activated Royal Blue prematurely; the resulting shockwave caused the major's skeleton to smash apart due to his brittle bone disease.
Aftermath[]
After being beaten by a mere boy twice, SCORPIA had lost most of its reputation, especially considering the fact that a sniper hired to kill the child had failed. The organisation was desperate to regain the respect it had in the past and to that end a new member, Razim, was tasked with attempting to blackmail the British government by using the Elgin Marbles.
Trivia[]
- Before Major Yu's plan with Royal Blue was considered, SCORPIA had other methods of killing the celebrities, including Levi Kroll's offer of hiring an Apache assault gunship and Mr Migato's plan of using the R-5 virus to poison the island's water supply. The latter was suggesting the chemical agent that was given to Herod Sayle in Stormbreaker.