The Grand Proving

It is no secret that the Black Stars, of all Legions, subject their aspirants to the most rigorous and thorough testing imaginable. The inductees, already limited in number as a result of the demanding preliminary physical and psychological examinations required for the selection, are further filtered by the First Proving, a non-standardised initial trial whose purpose is to weed out the weakest members of a batch. Following the First Proving are trials that will put their endurance, mental fortitude, combat training and sharpshooting among others under close scrutiny. Failure to meet the standards set by the examiners is punished by immediate expulsion, while many aspirants meet their demise during the trials, as they had been purposely designed to pose a threat to the lives of the recruits. In order to excise the tumours of weakness and mediocrity, no price was too big for the IIIrd.

During the end of their training, each aspirant is faced with the final test; the Grand Proving, a trial tailored to the specific skillsets of an individual aspirant, meant to test the specific areas of their training where they had been found wanting, taking place in the Legion's fortress on Skandra Prima and personally overseen by Absalom himself. The trial involves various scenarios from an all out assault to infiltration and puts the recruit up against well-armed servitors equipped to kill, Legion Auxilia or sometimes even full Battle-Brothers. Those youths that are deemed to possess insufficient skill at arms may find themselves forced in single combat against a seasoned Veteran marine, while others may be called to make the killshot that saves hundreds of hostages from the arms of maniacal terrorists. In the most extreme of cases, those unfortunate aspirants who face troubles severing their ties with their former selves may be forced to put down their families or former lovers, letting go of their past ties and showing their devotion to their new Father.

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