Mozzie left for Washington early the next morning, intending to inform President Benjamin Arthur about the impending attack planned by Amir Barkawi. The attack would take place during the South Korean Prime Minister's visit to Washington, where armed militants, led by Kim Yeon-ka, would infiltrate the Prime Minister's delegation and launch an assault on the White House. This attack wasn't just Amir Barkawi's revenge against the U.S.; it was also backed by the Japanese intelligence agency and internal traitors within the U.S., particularly members of the LockSat organization who were dissatisfied with President Benjamin's purge of the CIA, which had been heavily infiltrated by LockSat.
Mozzie's mission was to ensure that President Benjamin didn't react immediately upon learning of the attack. Castle and Mozzie believed that only by allowing Benjamin to take this risk could they lure out the Japanese government and the internal enemies hiding within the U.S. government, and then eliminate them all in one fell swoop!
Given the potential benefits of exposing the LockSat members embedded within the government, both Castle and Mozzie were confident that Benjamin would agree to the plan.
After all, there were still over ten days before the attack, and with advance knowledge, Benjamin could make some peripheral arrangements without raising suspicions. Although he couldn't mobilize large numbers of personnel, knowing about the traitor within the Secret Service allowed for some discreet preparations during the South Korean Prime Minister's visit. This wouldn't alert the LockSat members, as deploying National Guard units to protect the President and provide psychological reassurance to the South Korean Prime Minister was a perfectly normal measure.
Of course, Mozzie's mission didn't end there. Besides informing Benjamin of the intelligence Castle had gathered, he also had to convince the President to agree to Castle's somewhat unconventional plan. This included granting legal authorization to Castle, Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, and Master Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger, as well as providing Benjamin's personal protector, Michael Banning, with smart wristbands and implantable earpieces Castle had personally made. This would allow Steve and Bob to coordinate with Banning during the attack and strike the militants from behind.
Finally, Mozzie had to suppress Banning's anger upon discovering that his subordinate and friend was a traitor, to avoid jeopardizing the mission. So, Mozzie's task was indeed a heavy one.
Steve would arrive in two days, and now Castle needed to contact the big boss at Lockheed Martin. He needed to enter Andrews or Edwards Air Force Base under the guise of conducting experiments, bringing along the chubby kid and his private drones. This was the only way he could disrupt the LockSat members' plan to delay fighter jet takeoffs when the C-130, armed with Vulcan cannons and secretly stationed at an airfield near Washington by the Japanese government and LockSat, flew into the no-fly zone over Washington and strafed the White House's defenders.
If the White House's defenders, armed with automatic rifles, didn't suffer heavy casualties from the aerial attack as they did in the movie, the militants storming the White House wouldn't be able to breach it as easily as depicted.
In that case, no matter how skilled Kim Yeon-ka, hidden in the South Korean Prime Minister's delegation, and the traitor within the Secret Service were, they wouldn't stand a chance against a prepared Michael Banning.
As long as the assault by the militants outside the White House could be delayed, the National Guard, stationed not far from Pennsylvania Avenue, could deploy within five minutes and cut off the militants' escape routes.
At that point, Benjamin would only need to direct the National Guard soldiers, with Steve and Bob providing cover, to close the net and eliminate the militants.
However, during the attack, Lieutenant Commander Steve and Bob would be inside the White House, posing as Mozzie's bodyguards. They would assist Banning in repelling the militants' attempt to quickly capture the White House.
Banning's primary task wouldn't be to eliminate Kim Yeon-ka or the traitor within the Secret Service but to ensure Benjamin's safety and refuse to take him to the White House bunker. Banning shouldn't be the one leading the attack, as his main mission was to protect Benjamin's life. In the movie, he was alone and had no choice, but with Steve and Bob—two experts in close combat and long-range shooting—by his side, Banning wouldn't need to play the lone hero as he did in the original plot.
Moreover, since Kim Yeon-ka and the traitor could only take hostages and demand Benjamin's surrender once he entered the bunker, which was impregnable from the outside, knowing their plan, Castle couldn't let his most important political asset walk into a trap.
This was where Lieutenant Commander Steve and Bob would shine. Steve, as a close combat expert, would fend off the attackers, while Bob, as a long-range sniper, would take out the militants before they could breach the White House. Within five minutes, the militants would be trapped on the White House lawn, cut off by the arriving National Guard, and left at the mercy of the defenders.
Thus, Steve and Bob would be crucial in ensuring both close and long-range combat were under control.
Based on Castle's understanding of Steve and Bob, both patriots in their own right, they would undoubtedly agree to his plan to lure out the enemy.
At this point, Neal made a request to Castle. Given that this event would become a massive whirlpool, it also meant that many people, especially the LockSat members who had aided Amir's attack, would be implicated. Neal wanted to repay Peter Burke, the FBI agent who had gotten him out of prison and whom Castle's interference had prevented from successfully collaborating with Neal on cases. Peter was still leading the White Collar Crime Unit at the FBI's New York office, with only two agents under him: Diana Berrigan, a Black woman, and Clinton Jones, a Harvard graduate and former Navy officer.
Castle had no objections, as once the attack was thwarted and the aftermath dealt with, many LockSat members would face retribution. So, Neal's request to involve Peter wasn't unreasonable.
Moreover, based on his knowledge of Peter from his previous life, Castle had a favorable impression of the agent, who had a loving wife. Due to Castle's interference, Neal had prematurely uncovered Vincent Adler, allowing him to strike a deal with the Justice Department to escape the FBI's grasp. As a result, Peter, who in the original plot had risen to replace the current head of the FBI's New York office, Hughes, was still leading his elite crime unit with only two agents.
But Peter was someone Castle was certain wasn't a LockSat member, so he agreed to Neal's request without hesitation, only stipulating that Neal had to bring Peter to his estate before revealing the details of the operation.
Little did anyone know that Neal's idea would unexpectedly bring Castle another powerful ally.
When Peter, confused, was brought to the estate on Long Island by Neal and fully understood why Castle had sought him out, he was stunned. He couldn't believe that someone would dare to plan an armed attack on the President and the White House on U.S. soil.
Even more unbelievable was that such a covert operation had been uncovered in advance by a "writer," who even planned to convince the most important target of the attack—the current President of the United States, Benjamin Arthur—to agree to what Peter considered a foolish plan?
What shocked Peter the most was that, upon his arrival at the estate, Mozzie, who had gone to Washington with Bob that morning, had already reported that the President had agreed to Castle's plan.
This news left the usually by-the-book Peter Burke utterly flabbergasted…
(End of Chapter)
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