Through the holographic sight mounted on his modified HK-416 assault rifle, Jason could clearly see the two Chevrolet Suburban SUVs accelerating toward the estate's main gate. He spotted the drivers and, more importantly, the figure of Kenichi Miura sitting in the front passenger seat of the lead vehicle. The intelligence on Miura—this Japanese intelligence officer from CIRO—had long been committed to memory by everyone present.
Instead of targeting the lead car, Jason shifted his aim toward the rear vehicle's tires. The moment both SUVs burst through the main gate, he squeezed the trigger.
John, standing beside him and armed with one of Jason's spare rifles, immediately followed suit. He unleashed a controlled burst at the lead vehicle—Miura's SUV—just as the occupants reacted to the initial gunfire.
Inside the vehicle, Miura instantly realized that their reckless approach had triggered a response from the estate's security. However, judging from the way the defenders fired, he remained convinced that the attack had not been anticipated in advance.
According to reports from the strike team landing on the beach, there was no evidence of a pre-arranged ambush. With no immediate signs of enemy resistance on the shoreline, Miura made a decision that he would regret for the rest of his life.
Despite his intelligence and skill, Miura had one major weakness—he had never fought in a full-scale battle before. Over ten years in CIRO had made him an expert in espionage and low-intensity conflicts, but he had no experience with charging into heavy automatic gunfire. His judgment was clouded.
At the same time, Malatika's group was approaching the beach without encountering any resistance. This further reinforced Miura's belief that the gunfire was merely a warning shot from Castle's bodyguards, meant to deter their advance.
There was no turning back now.
If the bowstring had already been drawn, there was no reason to hesitate—execute the plan as scheduled.
Thus, Miura issued the full assault order to his twenty operatives, sealing his fate.
—
As the three speedboats reached the shore, the twelve operatives aboard them prepared to disembark. After receiving Miura's assurance that Castle's security force appeared unprepared, Malatika exchanged a glance with the Turkish team leader and motioned for their men to disembark.
And then all hell broke loose.
A sudden storm of bullets rained down on them, cutting down their operatives like dogs.
Simultaneously, precise sniper shots obliterated the heads of the three boat pilots in rapid succession, leaving the remaining attackers stranded.
In that instant, both Malatika and the Turkish leader immediately realized that they had walked into a trap.
Miura was an absolute idiot!
He had assured them that this was a surprise attack against an unprepared target—when in reality, the enemy had been waiting for them the entire time.
What kind of bodyguards systematically cut off an attacker's escape route like this?
What kind of "civilian estate security" deployed squad-level machine guns for suppressive fire?
And what kind of "accidental defensive fire" resulted in three sniper rounds executing their boat pilots before they could even react?
This wasn't a counterattack—this was an ambush!
They had walked straight into a carefully laid kill zone.
Their boats were now useless. After taking out the pilots, the unseen sniper had methodically destroyed the engines, ensuring that no one could escape by sea.
Realizing that retreat was no longer an option, Malatika gritted his teeth and charged toward the estate, urging his men to fight their way forward.
Over the radio, he furiously cursed Miura, his voice seething with rage.
—
Miura, on the other hand, had finally begun to understand his mistake.
As soon as he and his seven operatives burst into the estate, he noticed something strange—there were only two active gunmen engaging them.
Yet, despite that, in the first few seconds of combat, three of his men had already been taken out.
In one instant, nearly half of his assault force had been neutralized.
Reality hit him like a truck—his absolute certainty that Castle had been caught off guard was a complete miscalculation.
Now, Miura's only thoughts were:
How do I turn this around?How do I warn the New York team before it's too late?
But when he tried to contact his logistics and communications team, there was nothing but silence.
His men, who had been perfectly fine just minutes ago, were completely unresponsive.
What Miura didn't know was that, the moment his assault began, Castle had given the go-ahead for Steve McGarrett's SWAT team to storm the safe house that served as the communications hub between Hawaii and New York.
Within minutes, McGarrett's men had arrested ten personnel—all intelligence agents posing as "technicians"—effectively severing all connections between the two operations.
After securing the safe house, McGarrett didn't stop. He immediately moved to intercept the escape helicopter and seize the Panama-registered freighter waiting at Hilo Port. The goal was to eliminate all escape options before the enemy could regroup.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard and a naval warship were pursuing the Indian cargo ship that had smuggled weapons into Hawaii.
However, this left Suzuki Mitsuhiro and his New York infiltration teamcompletely blind to the unfolding disaster in Hawaii.
Their last message from Miura had been "Operation commencing".
Thus, unaware that they had already lost, the five operatives continued toward Castle's estate via the sea route—walking straight into a trap that had been waiting for them the entire time.
—
As the battle raged on in Hawaii, Beckett, Gianna, and Joe leisurely monitored the invisible drone hovering 300 meters above Suzuki Mitsuhiro's boat, tracking their every move.
Inside the estate, Bob Lee Swagger and Seeley Booth—two of the deadliest snipers in the world—watched the live feed from the surveillance cameras, alongside FBI agents Maggie and Omar Zidan, and ten massive Russian bodyguards.
They weren't just prepared for battle.
They were watching a reality TV show.
For now, they merely observed.
Suzuki Mitsuhiro and his four-man team had to land first before action could be taken.
Once they set foot on the beach, Little Fatty would command the drone to eliminate "Trigger," the sniper positioned on the boat, ensuring that no long-range support was available.
Then, once their retreat was cut off, the remaining four infiltrators would be rounded up like trapped rats.
Even Bob and Booth hadn't bothered setting up in sniper nests yet—that's how one-sided this battle was going to be.
—
Back in Hawaii, Miura was panicking.
His carefully planned covert mission had turned into an open firefight.
Worse still, he was completely cut off from command.
But here was where the difference between him and Malatika became clear.
Malatika and the Turkish leader had no choice but to fight their way forward—there was no retreat.
Miura, however, realized that the mission was beyond salvageable.
Rather than fighting to the death, he immediately began looking for an escape route.
As the gunfire intensified, Miura ordered his remaining four operatives to hold off Jason and John while he searched for a way out.
But the moment he made that decision, Hines and his FBI team moved in from behind.
______
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