I tender to you my resignation from the position of Training Officer and Dean of the Imperial Weapons and Tactics School. I also wish to relinquish the position of Minister of Education within the Imperial Senate. With the Grand Master and Executive Officer?s approval I shall retain ? for the moment ? the position of Headmaster of the Dark Brotherhood.

I shall not ascribe the obligatory plethora of my accomplishments. Nor will I list those Officers and members to whom I owe much during my tenure as a Command Officer; those that I wish to thank will already know.

I have come to the decision to resign because I am far too embittered and cynical to remain in a position where fresh ideas and a complete dedication to the reinvigoration of the Emperor?s Hammer is a necessity. Plays of politics; the growing tendency toward factional conflict; the inability of some Officers to identify their own weaknesses; the exploitation by others by these Officers are all factors in my desire to step down. As Training Officer I can do no more than attempt to be a voice of reason and reform. My voice is not heeded.

I am not a stupid man. Nor am I a particularly young man. I have recently completed my second Doctorate on the ?Interpretations of Law and Moral Ethics in Modern International Politics?, I hold an unrelated Doctorate and two First Class degrees from Oxford. I am a serving member of Her Majesty?s Royal Air Force. Yet in all my life, I have yet to meet an unofficial organisation of the calibre of the Emperor?s Hammer. It has the ability to make one smile and to make one cringe. It exhilarates and infuriates. Yet, it is only a Star Wars based internet club.

I am not resigning from the Emperor?s Hammer. I simply believe ? honestly ? that I can no longer serve to the benefit of the membership as Training Officer. I may look for another posting where my attitudes may be more suitable. I may not.

My recommendation for my successor is not as difficult as I imagined. Obviously, it lies with my current Command Attaché, Rear Admiral Drako. A very talented graphic designer, a talented programmer, his flaws lie in a general aura of naivety found in many new commanders (and being Polish, but one must be prepared to look beyond such partisan predispositions :P). This should not influence the decision of the Fleet Commander and Executive Officer. I implore you to appoint him without hesitation. He will quickly learn what he does not already know, and I shall remain close by to assist him should he need it.

I will take the opportunity to apologise to the Executive Officer for the timing of my resignation. At a point where consistent and fair administration of the core responsibilities of the Command Officer is paramount (take a note of this, those who think themselves holier than thou) I have now shirked mine as Training Officer. This is for the reasons I have stated, and those reasons alone.

Good day to you all,

Your obedient servant, &c.,

Fleet Admiral, Dark Adept Keldorn "Mad Buck" Cochrane
Training Officer, Dean of IWATS, Headmaster & Minister of Education
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