User blog:Decimus Aurelian/Daily Rituals of an Ordinator

0400 Morning Prayer':' '''Day is begun with morning prayer and contemplation within the Cohort Chapel, led by the Cohort Pontifex. The Cohort standard and relics are displayed and brethren repeat their oaths of loyalty to the Chapter and the Emperor. At this juncture, the Centurio may choose to address the brethren, issue orders, make any appropriate announcements (such as awards and promotions) and dispense summary punishments as necessary.'''

'''0430 Morning Firing Rites: After prayer is complete the brethren don armor and undertake the first firing rites of the day. A variety of weaponry is used but the emphasis is placed on practice with the Space Marine’s personal weaponry. Awards are made for consistently good marksmanship and punishments are inflicted for poor weapon discipline and accuracy. The firing rites may be undertaken in the ranges located within the Armorium Deck of Arx Numinex or a fleet vessel, or more often within the spacious and highly advanced Modular Training Halls within the Fortress-Monastery.'''

'''0630 Battle Practice: The first battle practice of the day is generally geared towards hand-to hand combat and close quarters battle. The exact procedures vary significantly on a day-to-day basis, but generally include numerous live-fire exercises and simulated battle conditions in a number of environmental conditions (underwater, in vacuums, hyper-gravity, etc.).'''

'''1200 Midday Prayer: The brethren are gathered once more to give praise to the God-Emperor. During extended battle practice, such prayer may be undertaken in the field, potentially while live-firing exercises continues .'''

'''1230 Midday Meditation: Brother-Initiates and Scout-Novitiates alike spend a full 30 minutes of each day alone in an act of personal contemplations upon an assigned subject or in flow-of-consciousness meditation. These types of meditation form the basis of the chapter’s week-long Ritual of the Cleansing used to purify the spirit after lengthy campaigns against the forces of Chaos.'''

'''1300 Midday Meal: The Space Marines partake of their first sustenance of the day at this juncture. Frequently whilst deployed in the field, this will take the form of hunted game killed during battle practice. While within the halls of Arx Numinex or the chapter fleet, it will typically feature relatively fresh sea creature protein along with large quantities of fortified rice (or rice-based starch products) and hydroponically grown vegetables. '''

'''1315 Tactical Indoctrination: Hypnotherapy and psycho-conditioning are used to rapidly assimilate the chapter tactical doctrines on a number of subjects. New battle languages are learned, alien weaponry, troops, and vehicles are studied. Contubernium (squad-level), Demi-Cohort (platoon-level),  fvand Cohort (company-level) tactics are reviewed and lessons learned from the morning battle practice are examined.'''

'''1445 Battle Practice: Afternoon battle practice usually revolves around contubernium- and cohort-level tactBattle-Brothers  from as many cohorts as possible coming together to study the area of lore that their respective Orison is dedicated to. The curriculum of each gathering is chosen by a council of the ranking members present. For Scout-Novitiates and for Brother-Initiates who have not yet been invited to an Orison, general education on the various threats facing humanity is given by the officers of Cohors X.'''

'''1945 Evening Prayer: Evening prayer is viewed as a time for contemplation and giving thanks for the day's lessons learned. Once more, praise is rendered to the God-Emperor and thanks is offered for His protection and guidance of humanity, and offerings are burnt to the martyrs of the chapter and of the greater Imperium. Gene-seed sampling may be undertaken at this time as it has been fully stimulated by the day's activities.'''

'''2000 Physical Training: Each cohort musters in a training area where alternating days of weight-lifting or high-speed endurance running is engaged in. Chapter doctrine maintains that physical training is important in cultivating strength of will. Individual performance is recorded daily and factored into consideration for promotions and unit transfers.'''

'''2130 Evening Meal: The second and final repast of the day is typically eaten at this time, with a greater focus on providing nutrition complementing whatever was available at the midday meal. Scout-Novitiates in particular are highly encouraged to consume large amounts of meat protein to allow their growing hypertrophic muscles to fully develop to the gene-seed’s potential.'''

'''2200 Night and Void Fighting Exercises: The final combat exercises of the day stress night- and ambush-fighting, involving air, armor, and infantry units coordinating complex assaults and counter-ambush maneuvers in low-to-no light conditions. Combat exercises in void exposure is sometimes conducted at this time depending on the location of the Cohort, with particular emphasis placed on boarding and counterboarding operations in actual and simulated voidships with various states of simulated structural integrity.'''

'''2330 Maintenance Rituals: The Brother-Initiates and Scout-Novitiates alike take this time to offer prayers of thanks and appeasement to the machine spirits of their weapons, apply sacred protective oils, and clean off accumulation of dirt, carbon, or blood. Blades are sharpened and disruptor fields and shields are re-tested and calibrated and any required maintenance rituals are conducted by either the Ordinator or the Cohort’s Machinator (Techmarine). Vehicles go through preventative maintenance checks and service.'''

'''0000 Rest Period Begins: The Astartes are given four hours of sleep. Though not strictly required due to their Catalepsean Node, it is known to maximize performance efficiency, as well as prevent degradation of morale and discipline from long term sleep deprivation. Hypnoindoctrination occurs via neural uplink during this period to solidify the day’s tactical and spiritual conditioning.'''

'''ics and reinforcement of the tactical indoctrination segment. Specialist squads such as Devastator and Assault troops will often use this opportunity to hone their particular skills while the Tactical brethren practice close support with Dreadnoughts, battle tanks, and transport or fire support vehicles. Pilots begin their flight and gunnery training for the day at this point when in a terrestrial environment, or in advanced simulators while aboard the fleet.'''

1815 Study Period: Orisons (chapter sub-cults dedicated to studying a specific segment of the fight against the Dark Gods and their daemonic servants) gather in the early evening, each meeting involving