Lazaros stepped into the spartan room and was mildly suprised to see a chaplain of all people waiting for him. He had meditated much on his previous few cycles within this fortress. Of the trials he endured that brought back memories of his first days within the Blood Ravens. Mental stress and physical endurance limits were pushed and pushed again. And now it seemed as if he had one further task ahead of him. But was this the last one? Or was this man here to declare his failure? 

“You have been tested, brother. The Apothecary made sure your body was pure. The Watch Captains confirmed your spirit. And we have scoured your mind for corruption. Now I am here to weigh your very soul.” Lazaros raised an eyebrow but said nothing He mearly gave a short bow of respect to the Chaplain and awaited whatever it that needed to be done. When he did not see any servitors, needles or other medical equipment enter the room as was common when one checked for the 'purity' of psykers. Lazaros was further suprised. And as the silence dragged on and Lazaros ran out of details on the Chaplains armour to take note of he decided to cut through the silence. “Can I assume that this test is already in effect?” Once more Silence filled the air. Eventually the Chaplain saw fit to speak. 

“Why are you here brother?” The way it was spoken was far from simple. That short sentance was layered thickly. “I am here because my chapter and Emperor wills it to be so.” He could tell even as the last word left his mouth the good chaplain was expecting something more. But he hardly wished to divulge his chapters reasoning for sending him here. It was only a matter of time before word reached of his chapters fate but he still had time. Or at least he assumed he had time. With the nature of the inquisition he couldn't be sure if rumours had already started to fly. By the stone cold stare and emotionless face he knew that at the very least snipits had begun to leak as they gunship brought him to this fortress. 

He sighed heavily and just decided to go out with it. “If I may be so bold brother chaplain. Please make whatever judgements you wish to make. I assume you already spoke to those who escorted me to this place?” The chaplain seemed to mull this admission over for an excruciating length of time before speaking again. “Your chapter lies in ruins.” he said bluntly and Harshly. “It was so deep with corruption it tore the Blood Ravens apart from the inside out..... There are those who are not suprised by this.” He spoke of the many thousands of rumours that filted around chapters about the Blood Raven's questionable history. Some suggestions were outright treasenous but they were mostly made by those chapters who feared psykers and intelligence as a whole on a truly staggering scale. 

“Have these accustations not been proven true? Will your chapter even survive or will the remainder mearly be consumed by chaos like the rest of your traitor brothers. That threatened to make Lazaros twitch in anger. But through sheer force of will he composed himself. “With all due respect brother. Unless you can prove to me that none of your chapter ever turned to the dark gods, Then I can make the same accusaitions of corruption can I not?” If this affected the Chaplain at all he did not show it. He mearly continued to ponder his questions and responses. “Is your chapter beyond hope brother? This is just the latest incident. In the last few centuries no less. Will this be the final blow for the Blood Ravens.... NO!” the last word was nearly roared by Lazaros. The the warp with decorum at this point “The Blood Ravens will rebuild and endure, We will accept a black mark on our banner but that does not condem the rest of us to damnation!” It as only during the silence that followed when Lazaros noticed how heavy his breath had become. He forced himself to calm his hearts and his breathing. “We will Endure, And we will Continue to fight in the name of the Emperor. IF he wanted the Blood Ravens to be no more, I would not be here now.” The chaplain seemed to accept that response readily enough. Or at least Lazaros assumed. It was impossible to tell what the Silver Skull was thinking as his facial expression had not changed at all during this exchange. 

After yet another eternity of silence the original question came back to him. “Why are you here.” He spoke calmly, As if the previous outburst had never happened. “To prove that my Chapter is still loyal and still capable of service to the Imperium. Just like you, And every other brother here.” With that the Chaplain simply turned on his heels as a servitor brought yet another new robe for him to wear. “Meditate on this coversation brother, When you are ready, you may follow the servitor.” And with that he was once more left alone. He sighed heavily and dropped his head into his hand. He wordlessly grabbed the fresh robe and changed himself before kneeling to give a quick prayer to the Emperor. “Take me.” he told the Servitor. 

He used the walk to think about his words with the chaplain. He hoped he did not damn his chapter or cement any of the rumours into that mans mind. Well, there was nothing to do about it now. 

The ceremony that awaited him was far more populated that he would have guessed. Until now everything he had done was done alone to minimize the chance of him killing everyone around him with a psykonicly induced killing spree. And to top it all off was the largest Space armine he had ever seen. And whoever did make his armour did a masterful job of constructing it to his size. He was almost as large if not on par with some of the rumoured brothers of the Black Dragons chapter. 

He took his place beside the Six other Brothers that he assumed because of their positions, were all applicants to the deathwatch like himself. He tried to take stock of their faces but the Massive Space wolf was beginning to speak. 

“One unbreakable shield against the darkness. One last blade forged in the defiance of fate…the All-Father spoke these words during the creation of the his legions. Heh, how have things changed. That whores-son Horus saw to that.” He said with a dark chuckle.

Heavy, resonating steps that send reverberations through the ground steps possibly the largest Space Marine you have ever seen. Even without his ancient Terminator armor he would have easily stood several heads above the tallest of the Astartes gathered. His head is shaved, save for a warriors-stripe of hair, grown long and braided back, left to dangle behind his shoulders. Faded runic tattoos pepper both sides of his head. A long white beard reaches down to his chestplate, framing a mouth featuring canines so large it never fully closes. In his gauntleted hands he casually holds a massive double-bladed Frost Axe. As he speaks his fingers gently move across the rune work engraved on its haft. 

“The Second Oath, brothers, is more significant than you can yet comprehend. Your individual trials have been intense – a time of testing mind, body and spirit. Our doctrines are a hard thing to learn, old grudges not easily forgotten. 
But it is today that you are truly Deathwatch! Take pride in what you are: first amongst equals! You were Space Marines, Angels of Death, but now we surpass even that. Think on how few, even among the greatest ever known, get to bear this honor.
All-Father willing, we will all return to the Chapters we hail from; ready to strengthen our brothers from what we have learned, more adaptable to their needs, all because we were Deathwatch!
You will have stood as a bulkward against the never ending dark. It is in our strength that mankind finds it salvation. They will never know, there will be no thanks. We have stood the Watch for over ten thousand years, and if the Throne needs, ten thousand more. Accolades should matter little to us, for we fight in the shadows and so in the shadows we must remain.” 

“Once you pass through these doors,” - gesturing to a set of massive doors behind him-“there is no going back. You will be bolted into power armor. You left shoulder will bear the icon of our holy order. The right will remain the icon of your Chapter. Your service honors both and betrayal is a betrayal to both. The rest of your armor is black, expect for left arm, made silver. You don the black to cloak yourself in darkness, for the shadows are your ally. Think on that a moment.”

Two servitors shamble in from the shadows. One is carrying a tripod stand of black iron, the other a dish filled with red-hot coals. They placed these things nearest Chaplain Archomedes before disappearing back into the dark. From his belt, Chaplain Archomedes pulls out a steel rod with the skull-and-bones icon of the watch and rests the tip in the fire.

The Watch Commander continues to speak, his golden eyes locking with yours…
“Do you swear your loyal service to the Deathwatch for so long as it is needed?
Do you swear to stand tall beside your fellow Space Marines, no matter their Chapter, no matter the scars of the past, to fight against the xenos threat side-by-side at the cost of your life?
Do you swear to pledge your soul to the holding of this order’s doctrines, laws and secrets?
Swear now and hold these above all else, or lose all memory of your time here and returned to your Chapter a disgrace…”

When it was Lazaros's time to give his oath He offered his forarm, raised up to accept the brand willingly and happily. “In the name of the Imperium which houses me, In the Name of the Chapter that binds me, In the name of the Primarchs who Sired me and in the name of the God Emperor who Rules me I do swear serve loyally and without fail to the Service of Deathwatch which will guide me and my actions until it no longer needs me.” Though not his first Branding it was definatly no more enjoyable. Still he kept his face straight and simply starred down at the newest mark of service to be added to his body. When the Brand was finished his chest swelled with pride as the steam faded and the symbol could be clearly seen. He stopped admiring the mark and proudly returned the salute given to him by his new brothers before Moving to be donned into his new armour.

Like the Massive greatwolf outside Lazaros was also accustomed to having difficulty being equipped with the appropriate amrour and wargear. Though while it was because of the Greatwolf's massive size that he had trouble. It was Lazaros's shorter than normal stature that was his problem. He asssumed his old armour was stored if not already taken back to the chapter, he hoped so. The Blood Ravens could scarce afford to lose any piece of wargear at the moment.

 He waited patiently, tapping his foot as the Techmarines and servitors were still bringing out a suit that they said would fit his frame. He wasn't expecting anything new, or really anything was wasn't going to be a complete cannabalism of various parts. What he did receive oddly enough was an old suit of corvus armour that was brought before him. It was perfect for his size he had to admit. And it was well used, that was plain as well by the battle scars that dotted its otherwise smooth surface. He slowly ran his hand over the black paint for this last chance to observe exactly how different he would be looking as opposed to his usual chapter hereldry. It would be a strange change. He noticed that the shoulder pad was already painted into his chapter symbol. Whether it was repainted from its previous colour or taken off a different suit and fitted to this one was hard to tell. And the Helmet was re-painted into the familiar blue that marks all Astartes Psykers apart from their brothers. It was the only part of his armour apart from the shoulder pad and his knee caps which were also painted the Psykonic blue and embolsed with the Horned skulls of the Librarium. 

Wether it was because as a techmarine he could respect the admiration of such a fine display of Imperial ingenuity, or because He was sympathetic to the thoughts and senses that were overwhelming Lazaros so soon after accepting the mark of service that he came up behind him silently and laid a hand on his shoulder. No words were said but Lazaros knew that he must move on and don the suit instead of starring at it. “I am ready Brother Techmarine.” 

He had to admit. The suit was very comfortable. He felt the familiar surge of superhuman strength and fortitude pump into his veins and went through the opening targeting displays of his helmet as it became adjusted to its new wearer. 

Maybe it was the machine spirit or the suit was just made a little bit lighter but it moved easier, There was less of the resistance that one usually encountered with a suit fo power armour. But the suit itself seemed willing if not, Well eager to get itself moving. The joints and muscle responses seemed to adjust and compensate for even the smallest of movements. Anything form simply shifting the wight from one foo to teh other while standing or full on running. The suit just moved smoothly. 

While he was marvelling at his suprising dexterity the Armourer and his servitors came bearing his new weapons that would be used in the near future if he had any guesses. Nothing out of the ordinary, A Brand new bolt pistol fresh from the forge worlds and some basic munitions. He fitted each of the grenades the his belt as well as the pistol. 

What was next was as breathtaking as the suit of armour. The plain force staff that rested in the hands of the servitor. Its shaft of precious wood that was undoubtedly centuries old and was worn smooth by the grip of a dozen different hands over those venerable years of service. The head of the staff was carved from the rare probably illegal ivory of a beast he could not hope to name from some corner of the Imperium he would probably never see in his life. But the craftsmanship was marvelous all the same and it had the tests from his Chapters Librarium that he first brought with him to this place, wrapped around the staff just underneath the horned skull. It was the Same Ram horned skull as he wore on his armour's chest and knee pads. He picked up the valued staff and let its power course through him as he did when first donning the armour. The dapening implant was already lifted from him during the giving of his oath. SO now he felt whole again with his mind and his talents back at his finger tips. He breathed deeply through his Helmet's grill and Bowed to the Master of the forge. With his new weapons it was time to gather with the rest of his brothers in the gunship.