After settling things at home, Castle immediately took John—who insisted on staying close for extra protection—to his "war room" and connected with Moz and Benjamin in Washington. After a thorough discussion, the four of them finalized the plan.
Once he had reached an agreement with the U.S. government, Castle also made private calls to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and the DuPont family, informing them of the trap they were about to set and securing their full support.
This time, Castle was done playing nice.
Not only did he want to capture live operatives from the three-nation alliance trying to steal his technology, but he was also prepared to take drastic action if necessary.
If push came to shove, he was willing to personally fund and orchestrate operations to sabotage Turkey's Bosporus Bridge, or stir up chaos inside India, making them suffer their own political and economic crises.
After all, wasn't this the same tactic the U.S. and Britain had been using for centuries?
Funding opposition groups? Supporting insurgents? Destabilizing foreign governments?
Castle had plenty of money—who said only the U.S. and the British could play dirty?
As for Japan?
Castle had prepared something special for them.
He planned to hand-deliver their humiliation straight to Tokyo after Benjamin publicly exposed the entire scheme.
Moz was relieved when Castle confirmed that John would be accompanying him for added security, and even more relieved when Castle decided to move the battlefield off the U.S. mainland and into Hawaii.
As long as the trap was sprung on American soil, there would be zero room for the three conspiring nations to deny their involvement.
Moz also knew about Castle's "deep friendship" with Hawaii's special task force commander, Steve McGarrett. Since Steve had left a strong impression on Benjamin during the White House attack, he was confident the plan would work.
With top-secret coordination between the U.S. government, Castle, and defense corporations, the ambush was set.
Castle and John would be the visible bait, while the U.S. would deploy over fifty agents from:
CIA Special Activities Division (SAD)
FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT)
A SEAL Team unit—operating under the name Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), aka SEAL Team 6.
Their sole mission?
To capture the enemy operatives alive.
DEVGRU was no ordinary team—this was the same unit that took down Osama bin Laden.
Though officially labeled as a SEAL detachment, these were the best of the best—the top-tier, black ops, Tier 1 operators of the U.S. military, alongside Delta Force.
But why was such an elite team deployed?
Because Northrop Grumman personally requested their presence.
The company lobbied the Naval Special Warfare Command in Virginia, arguing that their valuable shareholder, Castle, was putting himself in direct danger.
This wasn't misuse of military assets—it was an officially sanctioned deployment under the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
The mission objectives were clear:
Ensure Castle's safety.
Work alongside CIA and FBI to secure live captures.
Hand over the prisoners to the U.S. government for diplomatic leverage.
The U.S. wanted those captured agents badly—this was their ticket to launching an aggressive campaign against Turkey, India, and Japan.
One thing had become painfully clear to the U.S.:
Britain was far better at "playing dirty."
Despite having unmatched military power, the U.S. still lagged behind Britain in the art of political manipulation.
For hundreds of years, Britain had mastered the art of subtle sabotage.
Take 1963, for example:
Britain deliberately split Malaysia and Indonesia to undermine Indonesia's nationalist leader, Sukarno.
By 1965, Britain covertly backed a military coup against Sukarno.
Result? Sukarno was overthrown, and Britain secured dominance over Southeast Asia.
They barely lifted a finger—just a few words, a couple of empty promises, and they toppled a government.
This was political manipulation at its finest—a textbook example of "divide and conquer."
And yet, America—despite its military strength—still couldn't match Britain in this game.
Instead of clever maneuvering, the U.S. always relied on brute force.
Even in Turkey, where they were supporting Kurdish militants and Syrian forces against the Turkish government, their efforts were clumsy and obvious—to the point where Turkey already knew about the operations.
Britain, on the other hand?
They could sabotage entire nations without ever getting caught.
No wonder the U.S. was frustrated.
Why was the "leader of the free world" still playing second fiddle to Britain in the art of deception?
Now, the U.S. was determined to prove a point.
They wouldn't let Britain take all the credit for messing with Turkey.
This time, America would take the lead.
With Castle as bait, they would:
Catch the enemy red-handed.
Launch diplomatic and economic retaliation.
Destroy Turkey's influence in the region.
And if it escalated into war?
Even better.
After all, the U.S. military-industrial complex stood to make billions.
As for Japan and India?
Japan would be kept in check as a loyal "dog."
India would be used to counterbalance China.
But how these two nations would be handled…
That would depend on Castle.
For some reason, Moz had long suspected that Castle held a deep respect for China.
In fact, before Moz became National Security Advisor, Castle specifically asked him not to get too involved in operations targeting China.
Why?
That, Moz still didn't know.
But he did know this:
If they were going to punish Japan and India, Castle's input would be critical.
For now, though, the immediate challenge was baiting the enemy into the trap.
With the entire battlefield pre-set in Hawaii, the key was drawing the three-nation task force there.
Castle wasn't going to wait for them to act.
He was certain they were already monitoring his movements.
All he had to do was board a flight to Hawaii.
And when that happened?
They would have two choices:
Abandon the mission, fearing a trap.
Follow him to Hawaii and attempt the kidnapping.
Either way, Castle was ready.
Now, it was just a matter of waiting a few days before making his move…
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