Going for Gold
"Father! The latest report has come in!"
"What? Let me see it!"
Sonja let out a squeak as her father tore the telegram from her hands. If she was the mouse in this situation, her father, Kanbei, was the lion, and not one who liked getting his paw pricked. Or, in this case, be given statistics that he didn't want to see.
"This is a disaster," he thundered, as he slammed the telegram on his desk. "An absolute disaster!"
"The figures are better this time than last month, father."
"At this rate, it'll be decades before we reach victory!"
"Twenty-one years, five months, and twenty-six days, by my calculations," Sonja said. Seeing the look on her father's face, she added, "but I'm sure we can speed things along."
Kanbei cursed and got up from his desk. His office in the Imperial Palace was decorated with all sorts of paintings and statues from Yellow Comet's history, from its ancient past, to its feudal era, to even paintings from the Great Way Forward, when it had industrialized. Kanbei's office was a reminder that an emperor had to look to the past as much as the future.
Problem was, Sonja reflected, the future he wanted wasn't the one his subjects did, as the latest poll had shown. Picking up the telegram, she followed her father to the balcony and read out the statistics.
"On the subject of changing the name of Yellow Comet to Gold Comet, eighty-three percent disagree, four percent agree, and thirteen percent are unsure," she said. "From the time the last poll was conducted, that's an improvement in your favour of two percent."
Her father scowled as he looked over the city – the cherry blossoms were in bloom, but his face was much redder. "I could issue a royal edict you know. Have this whole thing done away with."
"And bypasss parliament? Other emperors have lost the throne for less."
"Well, I am not other emperors," Kanbei said. "And in these trying times, the people should see me as an inspiration."
Should, Sonja thought to herself. But don't.
She couldn't fault her father for trying. He did want what was best for his people, and tried to look the part of a man who honoured ways old and new. He was the emperor of Yellow Comet, but still deferred to parliament, and while he carried a katana at his side, he hadn't stood in the way of the modernization of the Yellow Comet Armed Forces. Really, Sonja thought, that was what should have concerned him more than anything. Not name changes in these so-called "trying times."
"Tell me, Sonja," her father said, as he turned to look at her. "You're of the current generation aren't you?"
"Um, yes?" So help me if you try to get me into dolls again.
"What do your compatriots say? Why would they choose the name 'Yellow' over 'Gold?'"
"Um…" She trailed off. Truth was, she didn't have much contact with teens her age. Teenagers were a dime a dozen in the Armed Forces, but teenagers who rose to the position of CO were unheard of (well, not unless you were from Orange Star). And teenagers who were the daughters of emperors were a nearly extinct species, considering that Yellow Comet was the only country left in Wars World with a monarchy.
Problem was, if she admitted that she had no idea what boys and girls her age thought, her father would give her another lecture along the lines of "I want you to make new friends, but please be home after dark" and all that nonsense. So instead, she asked him a question of her own.
"What?"
"I said, why is this so important to you?" Sonja repeated. "Yellow Comet, Gold Comet, it's just a name."
"Just a name? Have I not taught you better than this, Sonja? There is no name in this world that is just a name."
"Isn't my name just a name?"
"Orange Star was briefly known as Red Star after the Red Revolution. Was that just a name?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Green Earth is so named because its lands are the most fertile in Wars World. Is that just a name?"
"Technically, Wars World looks more blue from space than green, so it's a pretty silly name when you get down to it."
"And Yellow Comet!" Kanbei exclaimed. "Yellow. Yellow."
Sonja stared. She adjusted her glasses. No such luck in changing the vision, her father was still crazy.
"Yellow is the colour of cowardice," Kanbei continued. "Yellow is what our enemies call us. Foreign barbarians who see us as lesser than they."
"Well done father, you've just realized that jingoism exists."
"But gold, my daughter, gold," Kanbei said. "Gold is a strong colour. Gold is pure. Gold is the colour of the sun. Gold is what already decks the halls of this palace. If our land was named Gold Comet rather than Yellow Comet, we would-"
"Do what, father?" Sonja snapped. "How would that change anything for anyone?"
"Have I not just explained that nothing is just a name?"
"And have I not produced statistics that show that people prefer the name of Yellow Comet?"
Father and daughter stood there. An outside observer might have seen them as equals from a distance, but Sonja knew she was playing with fire. Her father wasn't a violent man, but his temper could get the benefit of him. And as emperor, he had powers she could never have. At a word, she could be striipped from her position. Her inheritance. Banished, even. Not that there was much chance of that, but she'd had to fight tooth and nail to convince her father that a career as an intel officer was a worthy one. With a signature, he could strip away one of he few things in this world that still gave her joy.
"Yellow or Gold?" Kanbei asked suddenly.
Sonja saw no point in lying. "Yellow."
Kanbei scoffed and returned to his desk.
"Father, if we're past this, you might want to see some other telegrams," Sonja said.
Her father instead got out a typewriter and began tying away.
"Father, would you please look at them? Blue Moon has invaded Orange Star, and-"
TING.
"…and there's reports of Orange Star forces attacking Green Earth as well," she continued. "Which is a-"
TING.
"…which is a…father, are you listening to me?"
"Let them fight," her father said as he continued to type away. "The wars of foreign countries don't affect Gold Comet."
TING.
"First of all, it's still Yellow Comet," Sonja said. "Second of all, every war affects the world, in ways deep or small. We can't shut our eyes to what lies beyond our borders."
"Blue Moon and Orange Star have been at each other's throats since the beginning of time," Kanbei said. "Let them fight their war. Both are peoples without (TING) honour."
"Father, you…goodness sake, what are you even writing?"
Kanbei tore the page out of the typewriter and handed it to his daughter. Adjusting her glasses, Sonja began to read.
By Royal Edict of Emperor Kanbei II of Yellow Comet,
All units of the Yellow Comet Armed Forces
Will make alternative heraldry available to all their forces
Bearing the name Gold Comet until further notice
Sonja lowered the telegram. "Really, father?"
"I cannot bypass parliament on the naming of the country," Kanbei said, a wry smile on his lips, "but I am the commander-in-chief of the Yellow Comet Armed Forces, and this is entirely within my purview."
"That's…you can't…" Sonja's tongue did a loop-the-loop before the facts of life set in. Everything her father had said was true. He'd broken no laws, he hadn't technically renamed anything, and the surveys they'd done indicated that those in the armed forces were more likely to support the renaming than civilians. And if the people saw Yellow Comet soldiers wearing the insignia of "Gold Comet," well, that could change hearts and minds very quickly.
"See that this gets done," Kanbei said.
"Father?"
"That will be all, my daughter."
"Father, I'm sure this is very important to you, but we really need to discuss the war raging to the-"
"That. Is. All," Kanbei said, glaring at her as only a father could. "You have your orders. My orders, in case you need reminding. Now go."
Biting her lip, Sonja saluted and took the telegram away. She closed the doors gently (the wood was over 400 years old after all) but her boots thumped on the floor as she walked through the palace interior.
"Hopeless," she murmured. "Absolutely hopeless."
Given the size of the Yellow Comet Army, Sonja expected that the entire process would take a month.
Hopefully, nothing too drastic would occur before that.
A/N
So it turns out that for Re-Boot Camp, Yellow Comet's name has been changed to "Gold Comet." I really can't be bothered to discuss how silly it is, but meh, drabbled this up for fun.