-Yukiyama, after she was chosen to be the next Kaigun-Taisho
Character Overview
Yukiyama after the battle of Kyushu
Name:Yukiyama Minako
Origin:Imperial Kusari
Occupation:Admiral of the Imperial Navy
Height:1.82m
Affiliation:Imperial Kusari Navy
Rank:Kaigun-Taisho
Status:Alive
Born:May 1st, 796 A.S.
起源 - Origins
Yukiyama was born on the 1st of May. 796 A.S. during the 花見 - Hanami on Planet Kyushu, which is a traditional Kusarian festival, where the people celebrate the beauty of the 桜 - Sakura or Cherry Blossom. Her family was a highly traditional but also militant one, her father, Fujimoto, was a soldier for the Kusari Naval Forces since he was 18 and, to this day, a very proud member of Kusari's army. Yukiyama's mother Mitsuha, was a housewife, though, even though Kusari has always been a more chauvinism house, her mother was happy not to be the one struggling with fights and violence and was pleased to only look after the kids and the house. The fact that her husband has always been very loving and caring for his family, has made her an equally caring mother, the Minako family was not a very rich one, but due to the good money Yukiyawa's father made, they never had trouble with money.
Kyushu had a wonderful facility for children which was consisting of a kindergarten, a preschool, and an elementary school, all of which were located on a hill which had a perfect view on the Umegase Valley. Yukiyama was a playful girl and always did her best to involve everyone around her in fun, which was mainly consisting of playing catch and hide & seek. She showed a great interest in ancient Japanese culture due to the influence of her family, which taught her a lot about Kusari's history and the history of ancient Japan, resulting in her getting very good grades since national pride and knowledge was happily seen amongst children.
Even though her family was all loving and caring, she got pressure in school, her father saw potential in her, even though she was to become a woman, he could see her becoming a high ranked soldier in the Kusari Naval Forces if she would put enough effort into her work. Luckily to his will, she agreed with his thoughts, she aspired to become a female soldier,
something rarely seen in the relatively chauvinistic Kusari but admired if it would succeed by one side and despised by the other side. She was sometimes bullied for her dreams, the boys and teenagers never believed that she would make it at all and would, just like her mother, end up as a regular housewife. Yukiyama never really listened to those arguments and concentrated on her education.
外観 - Appearance
Yukiyama in a lighter armor
Yukiyama is, from the looks, a complete opposite of what a traditional imperial everyday woman in Kusari would/should look like. She has long dark hair instead of short one which she proudly wears like this almost all the time. She also carries a bit of makeup which is supposed to hide a few little scars and make her skin look cleaner, although, at the end of the day, it mostly is useless. She rarely wears normal clothes unless she is done with her work, then she is clothed very normally and barely recognizable at all. Her everyday clothing, which was below her armor, would mostly consist of short tops and shirts without long sleeves that would fit her so nothing would hang on her body. She wears comfortable pants that are very elastic so they don't cause complications while she wears her armor.
The armor itself is more of a traditional way, of course, in space, everyone has to be equipped with the necessary gear to survive, she uses special gear that blends in with the kind of armor she wears, even though it gives her no advantage in space combat. Her heaviest armor is made out of a special material that is light but yet very strong and has all kinds of intimidating things on it that also make her look wider and stronger. She mostly wears it if she commands a capital ship or on special occasions. Her other armor is a lighter variant which she wears mostly during the piloting of smaller vessels, it has steel plates around chest and shoulders and is approximately half as heavy as her traditional armor.
Yukiyama also has many tattoos on her torso which reach over to her arms, they show orchids and other flowers, as well as traditional kusarian symbols and a Koi fish. They are not visible when she wears her armor though and can only be seen if she wears short tops. Most of her soldiers don't even know she has any.
人格 - Personality
A silent moment of peace after a fight
Yukiyama is a traditional woman who values what Kusari stood for and what the imperials are trying to achieve. She has a rather calm but also serious attitude, in no way trying to seem rude but rather trying to be seen as an authority. She would be able to stand straight and look forward, not saying a word, if she would have to. Honor is a strong word for her, it usually marks many of the things she does, she also is very respective and tolerant in certain ways. Even her "enemies", the Naval Forces never receive a very insulting word from her, as she sees them as her blind brethren.
Is she amongst her soldiers in a calm environment, she remains a rather mysterious and silent person, often meditating while listening to others, she tries to find her inner peace when she can. She is, despite her rank and title, respectful to others as well, following the tradition to bow to others even if she, technically, wouldn't have to, such characteristics usually go back to her childhood and especially her military training.
In a Kusari, where men are often being considered worth more than women, Yukiyama had to fight for her own sake often enough to defend the position of women in the Imperial Navy. Chrysanthemums might see this as an invitation for their propaganda, but the truth is that Yukiyama simply thinks that men and women are equal in power, this kind of thinking caused her to be opposed by a few people in the empire, which she is aware of. On the other hand she tries to protect her title and prove that she is worth it, she likes to make bigger successes public so that the people that reach her see what she has accomplished. A Kusari where men and women are equal, radical organizations like the GC would loose power and be defeated more easily. Their argument of defending equality would be nullified and they would be nothing but terrorists, a silent goal she aims for.
闘争 - Struggles
Although seeming very strong and obligated to the cause and its goals, Yukiyama considers herself far from perfect and struggles with proving herself that she was made for this. Since the choice of Hitomi came so unexpected and fast, Yukiyama was run over with responsibilities and duties, it is not rare that she feels like it is too much for her to handle. A lot of things about leading are still like a new world for her and she feels like a child having to find its own way there, it was certainly not easy, especially if the cause is in a state of war. The piles of paperwork alone keep her up at night sometimes, then there is the issue of feeling like she has to provide a sense of communication and understanding between her ronins and herself, which again might be rather against the traditions. Since Kusari is more mistrustful against female leaders, she fears the yet silent opposition, her current close circle of ronins seemed like they don't see it as an issue, it might seem like everything is fine, but the constant fear of getting strongly opposed as well as overthrown is there. She knows that the day her people decide to go against her, she would fall, the close circle of commanders and above even would be enough to ensure her downfall, she was young and inexperienced with leading, despite her current successes, she would probably be replaceable. Every mistake she does is being looked critical upon, not by her ronins, but by herself, as it was a proof of her wild thoughts, a proof of her being weak she thought. It would certainly take some time until all of those thoughts would be eradicated completely and disappear in the back of her mind.
トレーニング - Training
東京 - New Tokyo, east coast and military academy
In the year 814 A.S. when she was 16 years old, Yukiyama decided that she was ready to join the Naval Forces and traveled to New Tokyo. Due to the her being a young female adult, the recruiting officers were heavily skeptical about Yukiyama's capabilities as a soldier. Her father had to vouch for her loyalty, as well as her capabilities and referred to her cousin, Sakuma Hitomi, who was a mid-ranked soldier already, under those circumstances, the recruiting officers let her inside the New Tokyo military academy.
She knew that it would definitely not be easy to become a soldier, not only was the job hard and exhausting, but the expected mockery was probably also not harmless, for her own luck, the years of mocking over her dreams have made her immune to this childish behavior, she only concentrated on her goals. The first four weeks in the training facility were the pure hell for her, it seemed like all kinds of activities were made twice as hard and exhausting for her than for the others, either that, or she was treated like a lesser being, she was given the task of cleaning more times than her comrades, which seemed to team up against her from time to time. Not that any of them dared to hurt her, although she was treated very roughly, she pretty much always managed to do the tasks she was assigned to.
After 2 years of hard work and training, even the very skeptical and critical recruitment officers had to accept that Yukiyama was not a little princess in distress but a very loyal and hard working woman which deserved its place in the of men dominated Naval Forces. Meanwhile, her cousin Sakuma gave her all hope she could get, she achieved the rank of a Captain and was a role model for her, if Sakuma would manage to climb those ranks, then she would too.
亡命者 - The Exiles
As she was a full member of the Naval Forces, Sakuma told Yukiyama about a special division she was in, the Dai 343 Kaigun Kokutai, a battlegroup which consisted of loyal soldiers that were guards of the Shogun. Yukiyama wanted to step into the footsteps of her cousin and applied for this division as well, due to Sakuma's positive feedback about her, she got accepted 2 years later, when she was 20 years old, having to prove herself first, which succeeded. Fighting by the side of her cousin was something she loved to do, it was as if a dream would come true, she also gained a lot of respect amongst other soldiers due to her showing tremendous successes within the Naval Forces.
After the Gallic attack on Kusari, the 343rd, together with Sakuma and Yukiyama, was tasked to bring the Tenno to refuge from the attackers. In a bloody fight, the 343rd, together with the rest of the Imperials were cut off behind the Gallic lines and away from Kusari. Yukiyama and Sakuma were both on the Yamaguchi together with the Tenno. The ship got heavily damaged and they had to flee to Roussillon. The Gallics have brought the Kusari Naval Forces to a surrender but decided to ally up with them instead of annihilating them, thus, the Gallics began to make trade deals with Kusari, which slowly turned into a republic, instead of an empire.
The 343 re-emerged after it was heavily hit by the attack, Sakuma was chosen to be the new leader of the Exiles and they started to operate behind the lines in the Taus, aiming to take over Kyushu and making their way back into Kusari. Yukiyama was shattered inside, she was raised to be loyal to the Kusari they had, seeing how it would have to bow down to the far superior Gallia forces, was heartbreaking and yet encouraging, after a week of trauma, she chose to fight for the empire of Kusari and for the Tenno.
After a few years, the 343rd, as a leading squadron within the Imperial Navy, managed to take over the Kyushu system, as well as its planet, which was chosen to be the capital for the empire as long as New Tokyo was unreachable, the Tenno got a palace on the planet and the people on the planet gave the Imperials their support to the largest extent. Sakuma decided that she was not capable of leading the Imperials anymore, the battles left scars inside but not deep enough to make her stop believing in the cause. She told Yukiyama an old secret, that only her family knew, the Tenno was a far relative from both of them, it was a shocking message for Yukiyama but it made her happy at the same time, it was a great honor, she was told about everything that Sakuma lived through in her time as an Admiral. Finally, she told her that Yukiyama would have to lead the Exiles back into their well deserved Kusari, she didn't want to accept at first, the opposition she would have would probably be too big for her to resist, but Sakuma insisted on it, Yukiyama didn't want to disappoint her and the Tenno and accepted this fate with mixed feelings, she knew it would be a very harsh life but in the end, it would be what she alway shad worked for.
As a matter of honor, and in the name of the new Kaigun-Taisho, Yukiyama appointed Sakuma to the prefect of Kyushu and assistant of the Tenno himself, her service is honored within the Imperial Navy, despite her being a woman, Yukiyama hopes that she can do equally well.