Chapter 4 - CEASE FIRE
Nathan laughed aloud, a sharp, dismissive bark of annoyance. "You’re giving orders on my range now, ma'am? Hand the weapon back before I have escort officers step in."
Margaret didn't waste a second arguing with him. She didn't look at Nathan at all. She pivoted her entire body toward the range safety officer in the elevated tower and shouted with maximum lung capacity, using a cadence that carried straight through the gunfire:
"CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE ON ALL LANES!"
The sheer authority in her tone was electric. It was a voice forged in places far beyond Fort Liberty's public ranges. The tower NCO instinctively hit the master safety horn before he even processed who had spoken.
BZZZZZZZZZT!
The crimson safety lights atop the firing lanes began flashing violently.
Down on the firing benches, the soldiers immediately dropped their forearms, removed their fingers from their triggers, and pointed their muzzles toward the ground. The roaring thunder of gunfire died instantly, leaving behind a heavy, ringing silence broken only by the whistling Carolina wind.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Nathan roared, his face flushing dark red with fury as he stepped directly into Margaret’s space. "You just disrupted a live-fire qualification cycle!"
Before Margaret could answer, Captain Daniel Reeves stepped between them. His face was deadly serious. He looked at Margaret, then directly at the weapon in her hands.
"Ma'am," Daniel said softly, his voice trembling slightly with sudden realization. "Give me the rifle."
Margaret handed it over instantly, muzzle pointed down, bolt locked to the rear.
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"Captain, what are you doing?" Nathan demanded, grabbing Daniel's shoulder. "Override that cease-fire now!"
Daniel ignored his superior officer entirely. He placed the M4A1 flat on the stainless-steel inspection table under the blazing daylight. Guided by the precise point Margaret had indicated with her thumb, Daniel pulled the rear takedown pin and swung the upper receiver open.
