For the moment, she kept reading.

A Bolian ensign eventually stood, but rather than heading for the doors, he crossed the bay toward one of the JAG officers. A Tellarite lieutenant followed a minute later, PADD tucked beneath one arm. Before long, four of the legal officers had someone sitting across from them while quiet conversations began along the edges of the room.

Wade made no effort to listen.

Jaxom stood up and headed toward one of the JAG officers. He maintained his half smile as he crossed the dais. Khalil and Kaelen looked at each other for a moment and continued to read their PADDs.

The first person to leave was a Tellarite chief petty officer from Engineering.

He spoke briefly with one of the JAG officers first, returned to his chair, read another section of the Covenant, then finally picked up his uniform jacket and walked toward the exit. Wade didn't stop him.

A few minutes later, a Human lieutenant from Science rose from the opposite side of the bay and followed.

Then a Bolian petty officer from Operations.

A young Andorian ensign hesitated long enough that Wade could see the decision being made from across the room. Eventually she placed the PADD back onto the chair, stood, and headed for the doors.

An older Vulcan warrant officer was the fifth. There was no announcement. No explanation. The doors simply opened for each of them and closed again afterward.

Wade remained where he was. He hadn't expected everyone to stay. In fact, he would have been more concerned if they had.

Nearly a hundred people had walked into the cargo bay that morning because they wanted to become part of Blackwatch. Now they were deciding whether they actually meant it.

Marn watched the Vulcan disappear through the doors for only a moment before returning to the Covenant. Five had left so far. He didn't attach any judgment to the number. Different people assigned different values to the same risk; that didn't make the calculation wrong.

Jessica barely looked up. If anything, seeing people actually leave made Wade's claim of voluntariness more credible. Nobody had stopped them, questioned them, or tried to change their minds.

Reed watched the doors close and rested the PADD against his leg. "Five people with enough sense to know their own limits" he said quietly. There wasn't any mockery in it.

Solana nodded. "Better now than halfway through a mission."

That earned a brief glance from Marn. "Significantly."

Solana looked over at him. "I walked into that one."

"You did" the Zakdorn confirmed.

Jessica's mouth twitched slightly before she returned to the final page of the Covenant. Around them, the cargo bay remained filled with the low sounds of people reading, questioning, and deciding.

The four of them did the same.

Adrian however made his decision rather quickly. It was calculated, and something he had anticipated and wanted. This position would force him to further sharpen his skills and be amongst the best in his field. Blackwatch was a natural choice. Without any further hesitation, he pressed his thumb to the signature field, affirming his enrollment and becoming a member of Blackwatch officially. He was the first medical officer to actually sign.

It wasn't long before Jessica followed in kind, finally signing herself. She had decided she was ready. Reed took a few more moments considering all of the implications thinking of his family back home and finally signed as well.

Marn finished weighing both sides of the options and based on pure statistics alone, signed too. He was damned good at his role and wasn't going to allow something like this to get in the way of him continuing his field work.

Solana scrolled back up to review the section with the implant one last time before Marn looked across at her. "There's no shame in deciding this may not be for you."

His voice caught her off guard "No, it's okay. Just wrapping my head around the implant." She pressed her thumb to the bottom of the PADD before setting it under her chair so she didn't have to look at it anymore. She as anxious to move forward and take the oath.

Jaxom returned to his seat without his PADD. "What's up? " asked Kaelen. Jaxom smiled and with his thumb, pointed to the JAG Officer "Oh he said he'd take it after I signed."

"Congratulations, Ensign Joker," Khalil shook his hand. "This is the scary part for me, and the counseling."

Kaelen looked up a Khalil, "Counselor T'Lara wasn't so bad!"

"Speak for yourself, I thought I felt myself aging during her forty-hour long meditation sessions, you know I don't handle boredom well!" Khalil whispered then put his fingers on his temples in mock pain.

Oksana's eyes moved and lingered on Khalil and those around him; there was a brief wavering in her expression and just the slightest observant narrowing of her gaze, but she didn't linger on them too long. Instead her eyes moved over those who signed and barely even glanced to those who left; as promised, they did so without judgement and that included from her. This life was a hard life, and there was no shame in not wanting it for oneself.

Wade remained at the center of the platform as the room settled around him. He let the silence hold for a moment, then looked across the candidates who had signed the Covenant.

“Those who have signed, please stand.”

Across Cargo Bay Two, chairs shifted back. Marn rose beside Jessica, Reed, and Solana. None of them looked toward the others this time; their attention stayed on Wade.

“Say each part after me.”

“I, state your name,"

Everyone followed accordingly

"Volunteer for Blackwatch of my own will, knowing what it asks and what it may cost. Let this be the last time my name is spoken in this work, for from here I am known by another.”

The candidates repeated the words in unison.

“I serve for my skill, and I place my expertise in the hands of my team as they place theirs in mine. In the field I answer to the mission and to those who lead it, for we are bound together in the work.”

Again, their voices answered Wade’s, steady and joined.

“I will hold what I know in silence. I will carry no name but the one I am given, wear no mark that betrays us, and leave nothing behind that can be traced to my ship, my people, or the peace we are sworn to keep.”

The words carried through the cargo bay, leaving no room to mistake what each of them had accepted.

“And should I fall where I cannot be brought home, I accept that I will be let go — that my name will be unwritten and my service unspoken — so that the line holds and the war does not come. I would rather cease to exist than be the reason it begins.”

For the first time, the response came back a fraction slower. It still came back together.

“I give myself to the team, to the mission, and to the peace, and I ask nothing in return but to be counted among them.”

“This I swear, knowing it may be the last thing I am ever known to have sworn. From this moment, I am Blackwatch.”

The final line filled the bay in a single voice.

“From this moment, I am Blackwatch.”

Wade held their gaze for a moment, then gave a single nod.

“Welcome to Blackwatch.” Wade said, stepping away from the front to give everyone a moment to absorb the impact of their decisions.

Chill had ran down Solana's spine as she said the words, but she remained steady. Pembroke had felt as if he were taking the Hypocritic oath once more, the seriousness and importance not being lost on him. Marn had spoken everything with his father in mind, his intent to show him the man he could become as a top strategist in a very high performing environment.