No, I don't need a dance partner so put your collective pants back on.

Why is the retired trooper lurking in this ComNet.

Well, I'll tell you why. I've read some many logs and PMs and have had sometimes lengthy conversations with a few of you in the past couple weeks that I feel I need to earn a free ship of my own these days.

And that's fine. There's controversy afoot and those of you who served with me in the Corps know I like to talk shit out.

And so we've collectively have had some discussion on the direction the navy is going, the leadership of it, some beefs about both the prior issues plus the concept of the Vast Empire in general.

Debate is good, but debate - and the Vast Empire - has some rules. More than a few of those have been broken.

If you haven't said your peace, well, it isn't like you haven't had time to do so.

Since I'm not Navy, I've been asked to ask the collective whole of you to take this all down a notch. The Corps has already been asked to keep their noses out of your internal business, no matter how much it has spilled out of your home.

There's probably blame to spread around to most of us and we can all address that later. But, seriously folks, let's take a breather here.

There are real issues of debate, real plans that should be tested before resorting to discussing every little step.

And then there have been some real episodes of overblown and asinine behavior. Things that could and should have been handled better.

I'm just asking you to give the process a chance to work itself out. I don't really have a dog in this fight; I don't have any particular desired outcome. I imagine that whatever happens, some of you will be pissed and disappointed. That's natural.

I'm just asking all of you to handle it as best you can. I've seen some logs that none of you probably ever will. At least I hope so. People with real legitimate grounds have killed their own arguments by some pretty loathsome behavior and words. It ain't what we strive to be like here.

So, I make no promises and I plan neither to gloss over anything but also not to betray any confidences I feel I need to keep.

I merely am asking you all to respect what happens as the result of a sum total of events and not a vendetta or some failure of a system or an individual.

I also am hoping we can all refrain from commenting on things for a bit in such a public venue. As I've told others, it's fine to have an opinion, just know when and where to let it loose.

For those who have no frakking idea what I'm talking about: congrats! You're the lucky few.

For everyone, thanks for letting me say a few words. Hope they did more good than harm. First round's on me at the cantina.

That's cool man, I feel your frustration.

But, like I said, the sum total of events is what is key here versus one incident at a time.

I'm not saying anything that goes down in either direction is fair. I also know I'm trying to make light of serious situations. Serious situations in a volunteer hobby club where we roleplay. Passion is fine; passion for the sake of being passionate just isn't going to end well.

Just please take the debate offline for the time being, that's all my main point is.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN MAN!

Shazam, whether you like it or not, this club is a military organization that has rules, regulations, order, and a chain of command.  Those are all in place so that people don't get out of hand and cause problems with other members.

To upsert any one of those with different ideals is to go against the grain that the Vast Empire has stood for since we have begun and will not be tolerated.

Doing so will cause posts to be deleted, demotions, discharges, and/or expulsions or occur based on the severity of the actions witnessed in order to keep the club running within the boundaries set forth by the rules and the chain of command.  These are to be enforced by the command staff and the decisions made should be respected.

I consider this issue resolved.  If more communication needs to occur about this, do so in a private manner.

Bottom line.....this is a game.  So let's actually play it like a game and have fun!