As soon as the Librarian finished speaking Pontius dropped to one knee, bowing his head and gripping his bionic right hand into a fist over his primary heart, “I swear to uphold the secrecy of the Deathwatch, on my honour as an Ultramarine and in the name of the Emperor.” As his words hung in the room he rose to face his new Brothers and commanders. With his first Oath sworn the Librarian continued, but Pontius couldn’t help but recall the last Oath he had sworn on the day he had awoken after losing his squad. His Oath of Vengeance to his fallen Brothers. He was determined to master all the Deathwatch had to teach him and use it cleanse the galaxy of the vile xenos that had taken so much from him.

After staying in step with his escorts for a while, Ponitus broke the silence of the hall, “Brother Octavius, Which company do you serve in on Ultramar?” After an awkwardly long pause, Brother Octavius’ vox pinged on, “Focus on the trials ahead of you Brother, your past on Ultramar is just that…you past. Deathwatch is you future.” He understood the meaning behind his brother’s curt response. Duty before camaraderie, and with that he remain silent until his next destination was reached.

Upon hearing the Apothecary Pontius entered the Apothecarium. He could vaguely recall the medical procedures or the caddy remark he received from the half-corpse of an Apothecary for leaving his armor with his chapter. His mind was lost in thought. He could not shake Octavius’ words from his mind, nor the coldness he felt from his fellow Ultramarine as he drifted into unconsciousness from the injections. 

Pontius dedicated himself to his training, focusing on absorbing as much knowledge as he could from his superiors. He would inquire whenever possible in an attempt to get some piece of information, some hint or tip that would help him stand out amongst his fellow initiates. That ended abruptly with Watch Captain McGarrack. During his training with McGarrack, he hoped to glean some knowledge on the leadership of the Deathwatch, and how he might one day become Watch Captain himself. McGarrack took this for arrogance of an overly proud whelp, and worked Pontius past the point of exhaustion every session, meeting all further questions with silence. This had become the standard of his training. When not being worked to exhaustion, Pontius spent his time trying to see past the harshness of those around him. He accepted that this is what must be endured for when his training is complete he will be able to prove his worth through action, and continue his personal vendetta against the enemies of man.

Finally, his time has come. Time to prove himself worthy of truly being a member of the Deathwatch. As Pontius stepped into the slaughter-chamber, his genetically enhanced senses took stock of battleground before him. The arena itself was a small open circle with a loose sand floor with no distinguishing features other than smooth stone walls around the perimeter. “Good” he thought to himself, “Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.” Standing in the center of the arena, were six scrawny creatures with hooved feet and blue skin. All six xenos wore nothing but simple loin-cloths and wielded a myriad of primitive weapons. The group resembled a motley of feral world gladiatorial combatants. “T’au”, He grumbled under his breath, “This should be easy.”

He took a slow direct approach walking straight at the formation in front of him. Carefully analyzing each of the six T’au warriors. But as he moved so too did his opponents, speaking in their vile tongue to each other they formed a line in front of him. Once he was within 3 meters of the line he paused, to decide which was to be cleansed first. Directly in front of him, the T’au warrior wielded a single handed axe and small round buckler shield raised ready to defend, to either side its companions clutched combat knifes normally used by Guardsmen. The farthest xenos to Ponitus’ right held a long curved exotic sword in both hands. Of the remaining two remaining on his left, one awkwardly held a net and the other a trident pointed forward and at the ready.

With his decision made, Pontius gripped his combat knife and without hesitation, sprung to action. With a quick sweep of his back foot he kicked a cloud of sand at right three xenos and leap to the left directly at the one holding the net. Prepared for what was to come, the shield bearing T’au jumped in front of its allies and raised its shield, deflecting the bulk of the sand set flying at their faces. With his off hand, Pontius gripped the net of the enemy in front of him and spun to the right attempting to pull the T’au off its hooves and send it sailing into the one of its compatriots. To Pontius’ dismay the startled T’au simply let go of the net he was already struggling to hold. Unable to adjust for the change in weigh as he spun, Pontius suddenly found 
himself tangled in the net, pulling his own feet out from under him. 

Seizing their chance, the T’au surrounded Pontius, making stabs and slices wherever they could land them. Knowing he was surrounded, and feeling the blows made by his enemies, Pontius struggled to his knees, planted his weight the best he could in his current position and swung his combat knife at the torsos of the aliens in a wide arc. His cut made it almost a full circle around him before he lost grip of his combat knife. Feeling the hot spray of blood from multiple directions and left with no other options; Pontius took his chance to free himself of the 
net that had been cut to pieces by the T’au’s own strikes. 

On his feet once again, he saw only two T’au remaining, both reeling from the carnage that exploded around them. His wide cut had cleanly bisected all four downed xenos, and his combat knife remained lodged in the shield of the T’au who’s arm, severed just above the elbow, now lay a good meter away from its owner. Looking around for a weapon amongst the gore, Pontius spied the trident laying within arm’s reach. He grabbed it, without realizing that the upper half of its original wielder remained death gripped to its shaft. Seeing the remaining two xenos regroup and close in on him, he sent the trident sailing at them, realizing too late that the weight of the body that still clung to the weapon threw off the trajectory of his throw. The trident and paired corpse sailed just past the T’au leaving a visceral spray of gore which masked his attackers approach. Within seconds of losing sight of the approaching T’au, Pontius felt his bionic right leg give out, as the curved sword severed its hydraulic lines. Unable to support his weight, Pontius collapsed to one knee, giving the last T’au the chance buried its knife into his neck. His vision blurring from the wounds that covered his body. He raised he eyes to catch a glimpse of the bottom of the T’au’s hoof as it was driven into his face. That was the last thing he saw. Blackness followed, and with it the shame of defeat at the hands of such a pathetic enemy.