DEATHWATCH - FIRST AMONGST EQUALS
PROLOGUE

For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day so that he may never truly die.

Yet in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the Daemon-infested miasma of the warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomicon, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor’s will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds.

Greatest amongst his soliders are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever-vigiliant Inqusition and the Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, to name but a few. But for all their multitiudes, they are barley enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutations...and worse.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an enternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

The Deathwatch Space Marines serve the Ordo Xenos of the Imperial Inquisition as its Chamber Militant, the warriors of last resort when the Inquisition needs access to firepower greater than the Imperial Guard or a team of its own Acolytes or even Throne Agents can provide. Across the galaxy there are innumerable hostile alien civilisations that threaten Mankind, from the green-skinned Orks, to the monstrous Tyranids, sadistic Dark Eldar, spectral C'tan, and undying Necrons. It is the sacred task of the Deathwatch to stand sentry against all of these terrible xenos races. They are ready to act when such ancient evils rise to threaten Mankind once more. The Space Marines of the Deathwatch form the first, and often only, line of defence against these inhuman horrors. 

Those Chapters which undertook the great oath that created the Deathwatch provide their most experienced xenos-fighters to serve in the Kill-teams, as do many other Chapters whose masters were not present to take the original oath, but who have since undertaken it. Most Battle-Brothers are veterans of a hundred alien wars before being inducted into the Deathwatch, but selection is not made upon length of service alone. In the main, it is those Battle-Brothers who have faced a broad range of alien threats and not only survived, but prevailed, learning and passing on new methods of defeating such foes. 
These warriors have facedhordes of Tyranid creatures so vast they spill over the horizon, and never once given an inch of ground. They have stood face-to-face with such gargantuan beasts as Tyranid Carnifexes and walked away the victor. They are masters at hunting down such dread beasts as the Ambull and the Clawed Fiend, and know every deceitful ploy the Eldar are likely to utilise.
Aside from the obvious skill the warrior has displayed, perhaps more important is his purity of heart and his soundness of mind. To face the xenos is to bear witness to the most vile, depraved horrors that creation can produce, as if the universe had mutated and life itself turned against Mankind. 

The process by which a Battle-Brother is selected for service in the Deathwatch varies, but the most common is by recommendation of the Chapter’s Captains, Apothecaries and Chaplains. Each of these is uniquely placed in their field to pass judgement on the matter, and it is usual that all three must agree before taking the matter to their Chapter Master. The decision as to whether to advance the Brother further falls entirely to the Chapter Master. The Chapter Master’s responsibility in this matter is grave indeed, for the oath of service to the Deathwatch is solemn and terrible, and in it is vested the last, best hope for Mankind against the dire prophesies of alien apocalypse. To present a Battle-Brother not equal to the task would do great dishonour to the Chapter in question, and could have ramifications for entire worlds.

Another way a warrior might come to serve is for the Deathwatch to make a general request of other Chapters in the region. The Watch Commander might visit each of these Chapters and make his plea to the Chapter Masters in question, or if circumstances do not permit such a nicety, he may transmit astropathic communiqués encrypted with the very highest of cipher-seals, or dispatch trusted Brothers of the same Chapter if at all possible, to make the request on his behalf.

In some cases, the request for service might come not from the Deathwatch, but from the Inquisition. 

Service in the Deathwatch is understood by ancient convention to be limited to a single mission. In practice, however, a mission could be defined as a campaign or a vigil spanning an indefinite period of time. When chosen to serve in the Deathwatch, the warrior often bids his Brothers farewell as if he will never see them or fight by their sides again. Given the foes that he is likely to face, this may well be the truth. Some Chapters have developed highly formal rituals to mark a Battle-Brother’s departure for service in the Deathwatch. Some Chapters, such as the Storm Wardens, assemble the Brother’s entire company, or even the whole Chapter, to salute him as he leaves upon one of the Deathwatch’s blackpainted Thunderhawk gunships. Other Chapters convene a solemn service led by the most senior Chaplain, the massed ranks bowing their heads in prayer for their departing Brother. The Space Wolves engage in a raucous, night long celebration in which the Great Company’s cellar is drained, while in the Black Templars, the entire fighting company kneels in all night, silent vigil before a chapel dedicated to Rogal Dorn.

However the Battle-Brother’s departure is marked, he sets aside his service to his Chapter, if only for a short period, and turns his back upon his former comrades as he boards the waiting transport...

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