Moreau entered the dimly lit Command Room.
A long oak conference table stretched before him.
Around it sat eleven people.
Delacroix, Bellec, Mercier, Duret, Courbet, Vautrin, Gaudin, Montagne, Coulombe, Rousse.
Renaud stood beside him.
All eyes turned when Moreau paused at the entrance.
In his hand were ten sealed leather envelopes stamped with the Republic's seal decrees of command prepared for each man.
Moreau set the envelopes down.
He spoke
"Gentlemen… we gather to end antiquity's thistle and establish accountability. Paris has watched us move in the dark. Now we move in daylight. Today, you will not be ghosts, but guardians."
Silence hung until Delacroix leaned forward.
"Aren't we handing them soldiers in civvy jackets?"
Moreau nodded, meeting his gaze unflinching:
"Yes. And with those badges come transparency. This is not martial law it's civic stewardship under a new Republic."
He turned slowly to Renaud and waved him toward a large map pinned to the wall.
