(2361 Starfleet Academe)

Jon took a nervous ragged breath as he prepared to go on stage and give his valedictorian speech he had everything prepared he took one final deep calming breath and made his way to the podium, the graduation annex was nowhere near as big as the Archer Arena but right now it may as well be, he looked out into the crowd and saw a mass of reds blues and yellows interspersed between a wide rainbow of clothing and peoples, he was committed now this was his final decision and there was no backing out now.

He adjusted the collar of his command red dress tunic and then he began

"When I was made valedictorian I was honoured, I felt that it was a culmination of my hard work and dedication to excelling, it was justification to my Father that I could be every bit the man he was and every bit the man my Grate Granduncle was, as a child I was pushed to succeed as far as my family was concerned second place was first looser, I made sacrifice after sacrifice to get to here," he took another deep breath "but as I stand here today I come to realise that the grate gilded halls of Star Fleet Academe was just a building, a hollow building, as I read the histories of Star Fleet I realised that the men that are held up as the paragons of the Federation grate heroes and world changers where just men" a mummer began to wash over the assembled crowd as he continued, a few of the teachers and officers assembled began to squirm.

"and the farther I read the more horrified I became, but I pushed it down believing that orders should be followed without question but then I discovered the log of one Captain T'par from 2319." Another murmur came over the crowd but was shushed down by other cadets and parents "and you can find copies of this within the fleet library just two buildings down from here" he said pointing in the general direction of the library "but to shorten it down for you she commanded the Starship Orion a Constellation class vessel who was patrolling the edge of Federation territory, where she came across a ship fleeing the Bajor sector, she hailed the ship and asked if they needed assistance but as she did so a vessel form the then unknown Cardassian union appeared,... the Bajoran ship begged for help pleaded for assistance only for the Cardassian ship to order them away witch the Captain obliged as it was deemed an internal matter, her sensor officer then reported that as they moved off the refugee ship was fired on and destroyed". Jon ran a hand through his mouse blond hair before continuing he could see out of the corner of his eye the commandant and the fleet admiral began lean over and speak to each other.

"Many of you may not believe me but this is far from an isolated incident and I wish that was the case but it is not, I went into that library to prepare a speech of gratitude and humbleness, a speech that would at least I hoped it would leave an impact on the lives of each of us who are leaving here today, that somehow when we changed from the cadet uniform to the fleet uniform that we would all be better than what we are now."

"But the truth is that we won't be as long as Orders are followed as dogmatic law, that it is to never question them, because one day we will have to answer for them and on that day the defence of I was just following orders will not be enough, it wasn't enough of the Nazi's in Nuremburg or Coronal Green in Geneva and it is not enough now and that is why that effective immediately I resign form Starfleet, as I cannot be a part of an organisation that violates everything that I have come to hold dear, an organisation that gives succour to its vilest enemies, while it turns a blind eye to the suffering of innocents while convincing itself that it has the moral high ground" Jon then took his fleet badge off followed by his graduation ring and paper diploma "may you go boldly into a better tomorrow" he turned and walked back the way he came as an avalanche of whispers and murmurs erupted out of control, but Jon felt so light like a great all encompassing weight had been lifted from him and he could breathe free for the first time, then as he walked down the steps he got this feeling rising deep within his stomach 'what have I done' he felt week as he reached for a chair and sat.

'what am I going to do now' he thought he had done what he had thought was right, but what now all he had ever done was try to get into Starfleet but he had become so disillusioned, he tried to push past it but even as he had tried it became more and more apparent that he didn't belong he would miss the structured order of Star Fleet but he just could not exist here, he had graduated just as his father had wanted, he had gone to command officer school like he wanted, completed the security proficiently school like his mother had wanted, he had excelled like they had wanted but what did he want? It had been so long since he even considered what he wanted that he could not think of anything.

He knew that his father and mother would be back here in a few minutes so he decided it was best if he made tracks now, getting to his feet he suddenly felt faint and crashed back into his chair he waited a few more moments before trying again this time he was successful and made rapid pace to his dorm room.

As the door opened he saw his roommate sitting on his bed, he scowled as Jon past through the threshold.

"Why?" his voice rumbled deeply from within his chest, the door whooshed shut behind him and he took a few moments to respond as he considered the response that his friend would understand.

"Honour demanded it" he knew that as a Klingon Worf would understand maybe more than his own family would

"Is it true" he asked standing, he folded his arms and glared at Jon who moved passed him to his side of the shared living space

"Yes" he sighed as he opened his draws and grabbed his go bag "unfortunately it is"

"She acted without honour" Jon could pick up the inflection of shame in his voice

"But had approval of the admiralty of the day and is an admiral now" he said as he took off his Starfleet dress uniform tunic

"What will you do now?"

"I honestly don't know" he said as he sat down on his bed "for most of my life I have been told what to do, I was told to join Star Fleet I was told to go for Command but I have never thought of what to do for myself"

"Perhaps it's time you started" Worf always was a plain talker he would tell you this as they were not as people wanted them to be

"Yes, but where do I begin" he sighed and dropped his head into his hands "Worf we have been friends since we began at the academe I would welcome any advice you can offer me loDnI"

"Very well" he smiled "you should go out and find yourself, discover what you want to do and do it"

Jon smiled then chucked

"Never change Worf"