THE TRIALS
Ten lunar months had passed since the new recruits first arrived at Watch Fortress Erioch – a speck of time for a Space Marine. For ten months they trained in the ways and traditions that is Deathwatch. Ten months of grueling, relentless training unlike anything they had experienced before, as the Watch Captains oversaw their progress through discriminating eyes. To be selected - to be a chosen champion of their own home Chapters was not enough. Not nearly enough. Only after enduring the mind-numbing procedure of hypno-indoctrination – only after surviving barehanded and armorless combat trials with fearsome alien creatures – only after successfully completing the Kill-team cohesion assessments tests – then, and only then, were they finally accepted as one of the elite of the elites – a Deathwatch Space Marine.
Most succeed, but not all. It was the cohesion assessments that proved to be the most challenging – the obstacle that impeded even the most glorious champions across the Imperius Dominatus from assailing into the hallowed ranks of the Deathwatch Kill-teams. While Space Marines of all Chapters share one unified oath, to serve the Emperor of Mankind until death, they often do not share the same doctrines, beliefs, or traditions. Pride – arrogance – stubbornness – are mankind’s Achilles’ heel. Space Marines are not men, not anymore. They are glorious killing machines - perfected specimens created in the image of the God-Emperor himself - yet they too are not entirely immune to these mortal short-comings inherited by their human ancestry.
Fights broke out often and combat challenges were thrown down with reckless abandon amongst the newly recruited, as egos and ideologies routinely clashed – a circumstance veteran Deathwatcher’s were all too familiar with. Foolishly, even Watch Captains were challenged. Notably, Watch Captain Tarran Cearr - a Storm Warden veteran who consistently went out of his way to goad fresh blood into duels to teach them a thing or two, but mostly to prove his superiority.
MAKING THE GRADE
On the morning after the trials ended, the recruits gathered in the great meeting hall in the belly of Watch Fortress Erioch, their mighty ceramite statures lined up shoulder to shoulder in ranks of five by four. Twenty of the twenty-six recruits made the final cut - a good showing even by Deathwatch standards.
Facing the Marines, seated in a half-circle upon a raised dais that nearly consumed the entirety of the great hall’s far wall, sat the Watch Commander and his retinue. The Master of the Vigil, Watch Commander Mordigael took center stage, his impressive throne extended to the apex of the dais. A Blood Angel by heart, the Watch Commander’s inspiring presence was palpable and undeniable as his fiery gaze enveloped the Marines, silently studying each one in turn. Previously serving three terms as a Watch Captain himself, Mordigael was astute and decisive when assembling Kill-teams to serve Deathwatch. Now, it was the Watch Captains serving under him that bared that burden, though history showed that he would not hesitate to speak out should their merits meet his disapproval.
To his right, hailing from the White Consuls Chapter, sat Epistolary Axineton, Jericho Reach’s Grand Librarian and Psyker. His demeanor was cool and confident, and he exuded a manner of power that left a chill on the bones. The chair immediately to the Librarian’s right held Forge Master Harl Greyweaver of the infamous Space Wolves. Though his dedications to the Watch Fortress were pure, Greyweaver made no apologies for his blatant loyalty to his Space Wolf clan, and had a nasty reputation of clashing with anyone who had the audacity to call him on it.
Flanking the Commander to his left sat a vacant chair, and to the left of that sat Inquisitor Adrielle, the only female stationed on Watch Fortress Erioch. As lead Interrogator in the sector, her tenacity and judicious deportment rivaled any Space Marine that dared challenge her place amongst the iron warriors of the Imperium. Little escaped her prying eyes.
