Chapter 5 - The Commander’s Last Order
Pike came onto the firing line shouting for everyone to freeze.
Sarah had just opened the ammunition box.
She had seen the taped drive beneath the lid and recognized the same encrypted storage model used for secure telemetry backups.
Pike ordered her to step away.
Sarah asked why range evidence had been hidden inside an ammunition container.
Miller and the others looked toward him.
That audience changed the situation.
Pike could no longer quietly remove the drive and rewrite the report.
He moved behind Sarah and struck her shoulder with the handgun, forcing her down without firing.
Her cheek hit the concrete.
The recruits recoiled.
Then Pike aimed the weapon.
He told them Sarah was under investigation for theft and unauthorized weapons access.
Nobody challenged him at first.
He wore command rank.
She wore a logistics badge.
The old story almost worked.
Then Sarah identified the box.
She described the altered target files before opening the drive.
Pike’s hand began shaking.
Miller noticed.
He had spent the morning humiliating Sarah because he believed Pike approved.
Now he understood Pike needed their silence for something larger.
When Miller kicked the box away, he did more than help Sarah reach the evidence.
He rejected the commander’s version of reality.
Other recruits moved away from Pike.
Not toward Sarah.
May you like
Away from the handgun.
The distance left him standing alone.
