Week 50: A rather closed letter to a select group RE: Xu

This correspondence is encrypted to only be readable by Bell, Dusty, Han and anyone else who later decides they wish to be part of the operation.

We are going to do our best to get Xu back. This is clear. We are not abandoning him, however we need a plan of attack. Everything I said in the open letter is true, I do not feel anything should be done in or around the Exchange and I hold that our best way of getting him is to do it after the auction. We need information though. We don't know how he is getting in or out, where the drop is or anything. And we only have a single day to plan things.

How are we going to pull this off?

From: Dusty@wasteaway.eb

But Ace, How does that help bring Ban to justice!? Doesn't that mean his evil scheme is brought fully to fruition and now he is even MORE of a threat to Xu and the rest of our friends and families!? We can't let the bad guy win! Otherwise.... otherwise he'll never stop threatening Xu, and he'll have so much more stuff that Xu won't stand a chance against him and neither will we! Don't we have a duty to bring Ban to justice and make sure that he never hurts anyone again! Like by proving he's a villain and using that proof to get the UIG to throw him in jail. Or maybe commit him to an asylum or something!?

Besides.... I don't think Xu would like us letting Ban go. I would be so humiliating to get beaten like that, especially after Ban messed with him for so long. We have to stop the villain's evil scheme!

From: admin@wasteaway.eb

I worry for how hard it may be to get to him once a corporation has to protect their many million dollar acquisition. Perhaps we can wait outside, prepared to strike? Stealth and other weapons can be paramount. A large entourage would be obvious but harder to hit, but a smaller group could be harder to find but might be easier to enter. Unlike my brother, I have no interest in revenge or apprehension of Ban So Tzun.

From: DaryaDemeter@datavault.wdn

While I do not know the exact details of the case, and will likely be little help in the planning stages, I am willing to come along to assist you and avoid any further losses for us. Is it possible to arrange a teleporter for an emergency exit at such short notice?

Dusty, I promise you, on every last shred of remaining honour I might have, I will bring Ban down. But none of that is important as rescuing Xu.

Ace...you know me, I'm no good with plans. Teleport homers are essential, especially so we can retrieve anyone critically wounded during the rescue attempt.

Darya, I'm glad you're with us, it'll give us a fighting chance, I hope. I suspect our best bet is to get one man to Xu, and activate a teleport homer. Other then that...without knowing who is bidding what and with only one day to prepare, I don't know what else I can think of.

The way I see it there are two main ways for collecting Xu. Either Xu is being physicly braught to the Echange or he is in another place awaiting pickup.

If it is the second one then our job will be a lot harder as we will have to aquire that information and get there first, something which I think is going to prove impossible given the buyers can mearly phone ahead.

If it is the first one then we have two main angles of attack, either intercept Xu before the sale or afterwards. Getting him before the sale would be preferable as that way Ban doesn't profit from our friend, but afterwards might be easier. Any vehicle heading towards the exchange could bring him in so we need information as to routes into the Exchange, including any possible hidden entry ways the black market use. If possible we also need to catalogue who is entering the exchange and which vehicles they go in to so that one we have seen everyone in the auction room we can work out which vehicles they are likely to use to leave. In short we are going to have to make things up as much as possible, and we are going to have to split into teams.

I'll have the eyes in the sky searching for all available information. We'll need people to cover the entrances and approach routes as well as someone on the inside of the auction.

Getting him before the sale would be interfering in the business of the exchange. While I don't believe in Cyrus's melodrama of our actions destroying the interchange, it certainly is a very good way to commit suicide on behalf of ourselves, Xu, and probably the rest of Oracle as well.

Then we have some semblance of a plan. Does anyone have any ideas to contribute? Any hidden talents we were unaware of? Any obvious refinements?


We will have to get even with Ban later on.

Again I restate the difficulty of getting Xu after the sale, but in all likelihood he is already at the Interchange. They will have moved him there in the hours after your mission and after our discussion, to get him to the safety of the Exchange as fast as possible.

Regardless of the difficulty, we must still try.

I possess a skill with computers due to my mechanical nature. I am very agile and skilled in close combat. I am observant. These are my main skills.

From: Dusty@wasteaway.eb

I'm good at shooting things! Mainly thing's feet. Although I don't think that'll be very handy in the Interchange, since guns aren't allowed. I'm sure I can still be useful! Oh! I can keep up with Bell! And also sneaking up on people because of.... reasons!

And my sis is right! The auction is the bad guy's villainous masterstroke! If we can't bind his hands then we have to foil his plans at least! Otherwise I don't see how anyone could get Ban later on. He could do all sorts of things to disapear! And wasn't he so evilly elusive that Xu risked knowingly going into a trap, on the chance that Ban would be there? So he'd be even harder to catch with more resources!

If he's already there all we need to do is find out where and then we can free him, right!? Then Ban will come after Xu again and we can lay a trap for him!

Where shall we be? If we are inside to watch, it may be hard to catch up to her buyers if they make a fast escape. If we are to go outside where? If we are inside, how? Where shall we put our weapons?

I recommended one or two of us are inside, to gather Intel on who is there and to make a bid. I've got the cash and the facial recognition software, so I think that would be a good place for me. The others can position wherever but I think covering the exits would be wise. We need our most mobile people where they can respond quickly. Getting weapons into the exchange will be hard, but not impossible. We need one person to find a way in that bypasses the scanners, but that might not be nessisary.

My brother and I will be waiting outside. I will bring the required forms to change temporary ownership.