And so, the day of the meeting between President Benjamin and the South Korean Prime Minister arrived. Steve and his team, having prepared in advance, were posing as bodyguards for Benjamin's political advisor, Mozzie. With the approval of Benjamin's chief protector, Banning, who was already aware of the impending attack on the White House and the President himself, and with special authorization granted by Benjamin, the three of them managed to avoid raising any suspicions from the LockSat mole embedded within the Secret Service.
Thanks to these arrangements, Steve, along with Bob and Booth, had already set up various contingency measures for when the attack occurred. In their division of labor, Bob naturally took the best sniper position on the roof of the White House. Knowing the steps of the enemy's attack plan and that Castle had specifically gone to Andrews Air Force Base to prevent the gun-laden aircraft from reaching the White House, Steve felt confident that the roof, which would normally be vulnerable to aerial attacks, was now a safe and strategically advantageous sniper position.
For Bob, as long as there were no aerial threats, he would be the god of the battlefield once he had his sniper rifle in hand. So, Bob set up his sniper position on the curved section of the White House roof.
Meanwhile, Steve and Booth, now a senior FBI special agent, stayed close to Mozzie, waiting for the signal to apprehend the LockSat mole within the Secret Service and neutralize the internal threat.
Then... the attack happened. Shortly after Steve and Booth, following Benjamin's暗示 (hint), arrested the LockSat mole just as the South Korean Prime Minister's delegation was about to arrive at the White House, explosions echoed in the sky. It was clear that the fighter jets responsible for defending Washington, D.C.'s no-fly zone had shot down the intruding gunship. The implanted communication earpieces in Steve's ears allowed him to receive real-time updates from the girl back at Castle's estate in New York, who was providing information support. Before the Secret Service agents inside the White House even knew what was happening outside, the girl named Ramsey, monitoring the situation via a stealth drone over Washington, had already seen everything and relayed the details through a secure satellite link to everyone wearing the smart wristbands designed by Castle.
What followed unfolded exactly as Castle had predicted. The core figure of the attack was none other than the South Korean Prime Minister's translator. However, since both Benjamin and Banning were aware that this man would strike during the attack, and knowing that the Secret Service would follow standard protocol to take the President and the Prime Minister to the underground bunker, Benjamin prevented his agents from taking him and the Prime Minister underground. This caused the disguised translator to realize his cover was blown, and he quickly took the unfortunate Prime Minister hostage, retreating to their bulletproof limousine.
This was where Steve's role became crucial. Although he wasn't a Secret Service agent—and while all Secret Service agents had military and combat experience—Steve, who was still actively leading his team in Hawaii against violent criminals and terrorists, had a level of readiness and aggression that the Secret Service agents, more focused on defense, lacked.
Seizing the opportunity with Benjamin still present, Steve temporarily took command of the Secret Service agents and organized them to establish a defensive line at the entrance of the White House, countering the unidentified armed assailants who had already stormed the lawn.
To be honest, while the Secret Service agents were no longer as heavily armed as they had been during their military service, they were still elite operatives from various special forces units. The Secret Service's first requirement for its agents was military and combat experience, so these agents, despite only learning about the attack shortly before it happened, were still highly capable. The heaviest casualties were among the security personnel stationed outside the White House and the unfortunate members of the South Korean Prime Minister's delegation, caught in the crossfire between the attackers and defenders.
As an American, Steve felt no sympathy for the South Korean delegation. In fact, the mission that had led to his father's death and his own retirement had taken place in South Korea. So, expecting Steve to feel sorry for the South Korean entourage, who had been caught in a hailstorm of bullets from both sides, was laughable.
That said, Steve couldn't help but admire the attackers. He was genuinely curious about where Aamir had found these people, who were so fearless in the face of death. Even after the initial surprise, the White House's outer security personnel had quickly rallied and begun returning fire, not to mention Steve and his team inside the building. Armed with an automatic rifle, Steve didn't follow Banning's lead in escorting Benjamin deeper into the White House. Instead, he took command of the Secret Service agents and positioned himself on the front lines. He knew exactly how intense their firepower was.
Yet, despite this, the unidentified attackers outside displayed remarkable combat resolve, inflicting significant casualties on the defenders.
Fortunately, these attackers were isolated and had no reinforcements. Within five minutes of the attack on the White House, National Guard armored vehicles and support personnel stationed around Pennsylvania Avenue arrived on the scene, cutting off the attackers' retreat.
Amidst the chaos, it was almost surreal to see countless reporters with cameras capturing every moment. These journalists truly feared nothing—except missing a story.
With the National Guard's support, the Secret Service agents, already holding the terrain advantage, began to relax. Under Steve's bold leadership, they managed to eliminate all the attackers on the White House lawn in less than ten minutes.
This led to Steve's second realization: not a single attacker had surrendered or attempted to flee. Every last one of them had fought to the death.
Steve couldn't help but wonder where Aamir had found these people, whose combat resolve far surpassed that of the U.S. military. It was clear that only a deep, burning hatred for the U.S. could drive such determination.
Unfortunately, Steve had no time to dwell on this. After eliminating the attackers, there was still the matter of the South Korean Prime Minister being held hostage by the core figure of the attack, who had been supposed to strike from within the White House's underground bunker.
If it were up to Steve, a "stray bullet" during the firefight would have taken care of the Prime Minister. But unfortunately, the U.S. had sent a high-level bulletproof limousine to pick up the Prime Minister as a sign of respect. While it might not withstand a rocket, it had no trouble deflecting the 7.62mm or 5.56mm rifle rounds and 9mm or .45 caliber pistol rounds used in the firefight.
This created a serious problem. With the attack over, the reporters' cameras were now focused on the White House, particularly on the Prime Minister, who had been taken hostage by someone linked to the attackers. No matter how powerful the U.S. was, it couldn't resort to "Russian-style counter-terrorism" to rescue the Prime Minister in front of so many witnesses, could it?
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