Cargo Bay Two had been emptied for the morning.

Most of the normal containers and handling equipment had been moved against the bulkheads or transferred elsewhere, leaving enough open deck space for nearly a hundred chairs arranged in rows facing a temporary platform at the forward end of the bay. It was hardly an auditorium, but it was large enough for what Wade needed, and more importantly, large enough to put every prospective member of Blackwatch in the same room at the same time.

Officers and enlisted personnel filled the seats in front of him. Tactical. Science. Engineering. Medical. Intelligence. Flight. Every uniform division was represented somewhere, along with enough different species that Wade stopped trying to count them after the first few rows.

Oksana lingered out away from the chairs and toward the side of the room in a way that signaled that she was not especially approachable at this particular point in time. She knew why they were there just as well as Wade. For her part, she had already put her name to the document, but she had chosen to attend this assembly simply for the fact she wanted to observe those who sat in the chairs and learn more about them than what their files would say.

Marn arrived early enough that most of the center rows were still empty. That suited him. He chose a seat several rows back and slightly off center, close enough to see the platform clearly without placing himself directly in front of it. His PADD remained untouched beside him while he watched the room fill, occasionally noting a rank, department color, or species without appearing particularly interested in any of them.

Jessica arrived a few minutes later and spotted Marn before she found an open seat. She gave him a small nod in greeting and took the chair beside him, settling her PADD across one knee. Her attention moved briefly toward the officers positioned along the walls before returning to the platform. Whatever this morning involved, somebody had clearly gone to considerable trouble to make sure it was done properly.

Khalil arrived alone and observed the entire room, although there were groups of people standing around talking, the majority were making their way to rows of seats placed around the dais. Each seat had a PADD waiting for an occupant, Khalil sat down near the back. Holding onto his PADD he awaited Kaelen and Jaxom's arrival

Reed came in without much ceremony and claimed a seat on Marn's other side. The Senior Chief looked around the cargo bay, taking in the rows of chairs, temporary platform, and steadily growing collection of officers and enlisted personnel.

"Nothing says voluntary like a hundred chairs in a cargo bay" he murmured.

Marn glanced toward him. "There are two hundred."

Reed looked at the remaining empty chairs, then back at him. "Of course you counted."

Solana arrived shortly afterward and slipped into the open chair beside Jessica, carrying a cup of coffee that she had apparently decided was worth risking this close to a formal gathering. She looked over the four of them, then toward the platform.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Chair inventory" Jessica replied.

Solana looked toward Marn.

"Two hundred" he said.

She nodded once. "Good. Glad I made it for the important part."

Jaxom and Kaelen had a chance to catch up at breakfast following their morning workout with Lt. Hoshino. Entering the cargo bay, they saw Khalil sitting near the back row. "I'd have never thought there would be so many in Blackwatch," Jaxom said taking in the collective energy of the room.

Kaelen smiled, "You'd be surprised how many of us they can pack on these ships. The Tecumseh had six four-specialist teams plus the pilots and support staff rotating through. This ship was purpose built for us so it stands that it can support twice that. We likely won't see everyone like this very often."

They approached Khalil, "Good morning again," he said "I think they're planning something serious, they rolled out the really red rugs. Do You want to sit here or get closer to the rest of the team?"

Jaxom piped up, "I love those guys, lets go sit right behind them!" He waved to Jessica, Marn, Reed, and Solana.

Several additional officers sat apart from the candidates along the sides of the bay. They wore the insignia of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, six in total, brought aboard specifically for the morning. None were part of Blackwatch, and none would be evaluating anyone's decision.

Pembroke had made his way in just as everyone else. Preferring to keep to his own council he found a seat towards the back of the room and sat down, making note of those around him but made more of a note that there was nothing set out to grab for a drink.

For the moment, none of that mattered as Wade stepped to the center of the platform and looked over the room.

"Good morning."

The low conversations disappeared quickly.

"For those of you I haven't met yet, I'm Captain Wade Samstone. I'm the commanding officer of the Rubicon, and while you're assigned to this ship, I also hold command authority over Blackwatch." He let his eyes travel across the room before continuing.

"Most of you have already been through more evaluations than you probably care to remember. Your departments have reviewed you. Intelligence has reviewed you. Medical has reviewed you. Someone has gone through your service record, your qualifications, your mistakes, and probably a few things you thought everyone had forgotten about."

A few quiet smiles appeared through the room.

"You're here because somewhere along the way, somebody decided you were very good at what you do. That's important, because Blackwatch isn't looking for a hundred people who all do the same thing."

Wade stepped away from the podium rather than remaining behind it.

"Blackwatch exists for missions Starfleet can't always conduct openly. Intelligence collection. Reconnaissance. Recovery operations. Infiltration. Counterintelligence. Sensitive diplomatic work. Operations where Federation involvement may have consequences far beyond the people actually carrying them out."

His expression hardened slightly.

"Some of those missions will be dangerous. Some may take you somewhere Starfleet can't publicly admit you were ever sent. There may be circumstances where this ship cannot simply fly in and pull you out because things went wrong."

That earned considerably more attention.

"You're still Starfleet. You keep your rank. You keep your professional responsibilities. A doctor remains a doctor. An engineer remains an engineer. A scientist remains a scientist. Blackwatch doesn't turn specialists into interchangeable soldiers."

He paused.

"But when you're operating under Blackwatch, you're accepting another layer of responsibility. You're accepting information that may never appear in your service record. You're accepting missions you may never be able to discuss with the people closest to you. And you're accepting security requirements considerably more severe than most Starfleet personnel will ever encounter."

The PADDs resting beside each chair illuminated almost simultaneously.

"The document that just appeared in front of you is the Blackwatch Covenant."

Oksana's bright blue eyes moved with a slow, methodical purpose as the document opened to those gathered in the room. She focused on their faces and expressions more closely now after having observed how a number of them had interacted before Samstone had brought the room to order. There were some relationships already at play. Relationships could be good to a point, but, especially in this line of work, they could also be dangerous for not only those involved, but their teams around them.

Jessica looked down immediately. She had read enough classified agreements during her career to know that the important language was rarely near the top. Her thumb moved steadily through the first page, then slowed as she reached the sections defining Blackwatch authority and information handling. The presence of six JAG officers suddenly made considerably more sense.