Sulla Is Inevitable - Chapter 5

  Sulla Is Inevitable

By David Billiot

Copyright 2026: All rights reserved

Chapter 5

The sun was going down on Atolia but that didn’t mean it was time to sleep. To the contrary, at the governor’s mansion it was time to wake up. The music was playing. The drink was flowing. The lights were flashing. The people were dancing. Eight years ago Atolia was a war ravaged ruin and now it was becoming one of the most prosperous of the Allies. 

Governor Lucius and his wife Ilia were hosting.  Lucius had come from nothing after his family had lost their fortune two generations previously. One of his ancestors had been one of the great men of the Republic but that was long ago.  Lucius was born with the famous family name but without two recoins to rub together. As a young man he’d worked as an actor but without much success.  Eventually he found he had no other option but to enlist in the fleet. 

Lucius had excelled in the military.  His first big engagement was the Muzal war where Lucius had used a bit of diplomacy to get rival pirates to hand over the criminal leader the Republic was actually after. Lucius took the warlord Ladbin into custody and handed him over to his commanding officer, Narius. General Narius it seemed did not like the opportunity for battle taken away from him. Lucius was reprimanded and threatened with a court martial. He was told that as an enlisted man he should leave these kinds of high level tasks to officers. 

After the Muzal war there was the invasion of the Venwa into Republic space.  General Narius for some reason came to dislike Lucius but promoted him anyway. Then after being promoted to a full officer, Lucius was made quartermaster instead of having a combat role. Lucius excelled at this.  In truth, he actually kind of enjoyed it. He made sure that the fleet had more than enough of everything it needed and he used his charm to make sure everyone handing over their goods was happy to do so. Lucius had to watch from the sidelines as the Venwa were defeated but he took pride in the fact that everyone was using provisions he had secured. 

After the Venwa invasion peace would not last long. Politicians of the People’s Party in the Republic wanted to finally enforce their claim on Allied lands. When each Allied world had submitted to the Republic they had promised to set aside some of the land on their worlds for the Republic to come and use. However, the Republic for whatever reason had never done it. Those old treaties were all over two hundred years old at this point and politicians used the public land issue as a platform for elections.  

The problem was the fact that on those Allied worlds people lived on those lands. Hundreds of years ago it used to be poor people who lived on those lands.  However, those families didn’t remain poor.  Some of them had grown to be wealthy enough to be among the elites of their world and they didn’t want to hand over the lands that had been in their families since before the Republic had ever come. 

There was also the issue of citizenship. The Republic used to incorporate worlds into the core voting block as full members of the Republic but later changed their policy.  Allied worlds were allies to the point of subjugation.  They technically had their own governments but in reality the Republic told them what laws to make. Each world was always applying for full citizenship but the senate would find one reason or another to block it. However, there was a system by which the People’s party could somehow get individual Allies citizenship while still excluding the rest of the population.  That individual would then loyally vote for the People’s party.  The Constitution Party wanted to give the entire population of the planet citizenship at the same time or no one at all. 

After the Venwa invasion some of the Allied worlds banded together to rebel against the Republic.  General Narius split the fleet in two, putting command of the other half under Lucius. Narius expected Lucius to just hold the line and wait for Narius to finish his own campaign and then come to take over. However, Lucius was able to get a surrender from all of the Allied worlds on his side of the battle lines without any fighting.  When Narius had finished bombarding worlds he found Lucius was already celebrating victory in the capital. 

After the War of the Allies, Narius went into politics and Lucius was set to be military governor of one of the worlds Narius had bombed in order to oversee the rebuilding. Atolia had many problems and initially Lucius had his hands tied on many of the reforms he wanted to do. However, soon after arriving the wealthy daughter of the former ruler was presented to him. She was Ilia.  Lucius was smitten with her. While his own hands as governor were restricted to the letter of the law, her connections and resources could put in place the infrastructure the planet needed to not only rebuild but thrive. 

About a year ago the king of Blackbridge decided to declare war on Atolia.  Since Blackbridge was outside of the Republic and Atolia was Allied, this should have called for a response from the Republic. However, since Atolia had recently rebelled White was informed that no defense was coming. The Republic wanted Atolia to feel what it would be like to not have the Republic’s protection. So Lucius organized the planet’s population for war.  He borrowed the tactic Narius himself had used. He used the Ctype soldiers to train the planet’s militia. 

The Blackbridge fleet came and attacked. They killed seventy million people in a single day. Lucius had no backup from the Republic. He had no supply line. He had no intelligence community. But what he had were men fighting for their homes and families and everyone else on the planet doing what they could for the war effort. 

The attack by Blackbridge was pushed back.  The Blackbridge fleet was defeated in the Atolia system. Blackbridge retreated. Atolia followed. In the Blackbridge system Atolia crushed them. Lucius had won not once, but twice. 

The victory celebrations started and had never yet stopped. 

The rich and elites of Atolia were in the mansion and out on the back lawn were a great multitude of the common people being served meals and drinks while music was playing from a live band.  Lucius walked about and talked with the people without a bodyguard. 

“Thank you. Thank you.” a man was telling him with his wife at his side. The man’s ancestral home was on land that was claimed as public land by the Republic but Lucius had traded the land back to the man.  Now, the former governmental buildings of the old regime that had tried to rebel sat on all the public lands. The man and his family had no more worry that the Republic would come an throw his wife out. 

“I thank you.” Lucius told him. “Let everyone who comes to Atolia receive such hospitality.”

Lucius had perhaps had too much to drink.  He stood tall with red hair and blue eyes when standing still but when walking he began to sway side to side. He saw his wife Ilia pushing through the crowd of people to come to him. Oh, was she in the mood? Lucius could certainly be in the mood. He smiled as she came but she was not smiling. 

“Lucius. Men have come.”

“Why don’t you come with me?” he said as he reached for her hand. His body was already preparing itself to have his wife underneath him in their bed. 

“Who is Victor?”

“New vice president. You want his autograph? I happen to know him.”

Ilia pushed the tablet towards her husband. The eyes of Lucius tried to focus as he took it. The video played. There had been an assassination attempt on the president. The president was only injured but the vice president had been killed. 

… 

White was met with protesters outside the capital building.  They weren’t so much protesting White but rather the current president. Police in riot gear pushed through the crowd and had to surround White as he was escorted to the senate chamber. 

“Baby killer.” a protester shouted. 

“Why do you hate women? Why do you hate women?” a group was chanting over and over. 

“Kill all racists. No White. Kill all racists. No White.” 

“Let this one die too.” was written on many signs being held up. 

Suddenly there was a loud bang. A bomb had gone off. Protesters started to scatter and the police got their rifles raised. White was rushed behind the security checkpoint to safety. 

Inside the senate chamber there were members who were on edge but an equal number of members who were very happy and satisfied. White was brought to a side office to meet with the president. He had been secretly brought to the senate chamber this day.  White saw the man, now scarred with one eye missing and a leg gone.  

“My friend. What have they done to you?” White asked as he sat across from the man in the wheelchair. 

“You see outside what we are dealing with.”

“I see.”

“If you are confirmed today it will be dangerous for us to ever meet face to face. They were trying to kill me and killed Victor instead.”

“How did things get so out of hand?”

“This is a difficult job I am giving you. You’ll be in charge.” The president put a hand to his missing leg and sighed. “For me, the price is too high. They tell me the best security is for no one to know where I am.”

The meeting was longer as White got the full briefing on the president’s legislative agenda, which was still the same platform he ran on because since the election nothing had been able to be passed. The entire government of the Republic was shut down by the minority who insisted that the previous election had been stolen from them. 

The senate was set up for the confirmation hearing. White was brought in to sit and be questioned. He had been nominated as the new vice president as the previous one had been assassinated. White waited patiently. He had not wanted to accept the nomination but he had been assured over and over again that he would not be confirmed. The president was using White as a stalling tactic.  What the president’s larger game plan was, White could not say but it did seem odd. If White was certain to not be confirmed, why would the president spend any time discussing legislation.  There was some hint that maybe while the senate refused to act on confirming White one way or the other the president had more freedom in issuing executive orders. However, White could not say for sure. He was not an expert in these matters. 

Before White would answer any questions Senator Narius stood up. He addressed the body with a speech that was basically telling everyone on the record White’s resume. White had served with distinction in the Republic Fleet. He had risen to captain and had a field promotion to admiral during the War of the Allies. White had served directly under Narius in the war, suppressing the allied worlds from pressing their demand for independence. For eight years White had after the war served as the governor of one of the worlds being reconstructed. 

“And I will conclude that as my former subordinate, White was always honest. He not only got the job done but always said exactly what the real truth was. No more and no less. I can not say the future but I can only hope that with such a man as White as vice president, perhaps the bitter partisanship that has gripped this body and held it hostage can be overcome.”

It seemed odd to White that it would be his former commanding officer Narius to give this speech. After all it was Narius who was the leader of the opposition that prevented any legislation from passing. It was Narius whose party had lost the election to the current president. It was Narius who called for the president’s impeachment even before he took office. It was Narius who praised the death of the former vice president.  White felt very much that he had no idea the rules of this arena.

There was at this moment a vote.  White had read up on the procedures but he also knew that with the senate in such dysfunction many of the rules were being ignored.  The vote was on whether or not to move to a vote.  That sounded confusing to a military man like White. The vote failed. There was another vote on whether or not to reject White’s nomination. That vote failed. There was a vote to continue questioning. That did not pass but also somehow did not fail, which ultimately meant questioning would continue. 

White was patient. 

The first senators to begin questioning him were from the Constitution Party, the same as the president. White himself had never registered with either party but his parents had been conservatives. Narius was in control of the People’s Party.  So even though White was not a member of the Constitution Party himself officially, he was here nominated to take the place of a Constitution Party vice president who had been killed to serve under a president from the Constitution Party. 

“You married for money.” one of the conservative senators said. 

White nodded. “This is true.”

“What have you got to say for yourself? How can anyone here trust you with high office when we know you will sell out your own body for money?”

“I’m sorry, is that a question?” White responded. 

“It is a question. Answer it.”

“I married for money. This is true information. It is also true information that my wife has brought me immense happiness in my life. I don’t regret it.”

“So much happiness that you committed adultery. And not just any adultery. You committed adultery with a man.”

White was silent. 

“Well?”

“I’m sorry, was there a question?”

“You claim you’re happy in your marriage but your actions would prove that to be a lie.”

“I still don’t hear a question.”

“Is your marriage a lie or not?”

“I am legally married.”

“To an Ally. The daughter of a traitor. You couldn’t even get married to a fellow citizen. Money drew you away not only from your own original proclivities but to someone who isn’t even a citizen.”

“Senator, I am a bad person. This is already known to me. It is true information. Yes, I cheated on my wife. Yes, it was with a man. Yes, my wife found out about it. Yes, I had to apologize. Yes, she forgave me, at least she said she did. This is all true information. It is all well known information. It happens to be the case that even as bad as a person as I am, I also happen to be a better than mediocre administrator. Do you have a question about my record as governor?”

The next senator to ask a question was from the liberal People’s Party.  It was a softball question about improving access to medical facilities. White again just said it was true information as far as he could recall. Workers needed to be healthy in order to work and meet the planet’s export quota. Just because an Ally planet was bombed from space that did not relieve them from their obligation to produce food and soldiers for the Republic. 

The next senator with time was a conservative. “Yes, you keep the allies on the planet very happy, don’t you? And it’s no wonder. You married one of them. But let me go back. I want to ask you about your record during the war with the Allies. Your commanding officer, a fellow senator sitting here in this very chamber, bombarded the traitors from space. You did not.”

White nodded. “I did not.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“What information do you desire?”

“You were ordered to take a fleet and force their surrender.”

“Senator, they did surrender.”

“You didn’t defeat them in battle. You bribed them.”

“The Allies had reasonable requests. For example, at Moxtel the people were suffering from goiter because the planet didn’t have enough iodine. It was an easy remedy that should have taken place before the war. I fail to see how that is a bribe.”

“Then you definitely fail to understand on a fundamental level how things are done.” 

There were several more rounds of questions. The pattern emerged where the liberals just asked non questions to highlight something White did right and the conservatives were on the attack, dredging up everything from the smallest reprimand White had ever gotten, his failed attempt to become an actor, and even the fact that one of his ancestors had been defeated when commanding troops in the Servile War. 

White was asked to make a final statement before the session would be over for the day and White decided to discard the notes he’d prewritten and speak just from his mind. 

“I didn’t lose any soldiers under my command in the war of the Allies. There was little fighting in the systems I was assigned to. We took back the plasma extractors, reestablished control of the planets, got them producing food again, and finally exporting. As governor, the planet Atolia was able to rebuild. They produce twice their quota and the people are able to educate their young up to college level again. As for my personal life, you all seem to know more about it than I do. You certainly have drawn more meaning out of actions that I haven’t thought about in years. It seems I am not suitable for the job I was nominated for. After your vote today I will go back and serve out my term as governor adhering strictly to the law.”

There was silence.  For so many to speak such hard words to him, the senators all seemed very dispassionate about this. White himself was very emotional after hearing his life picked apart. He refused to show it but he was sure that Ilia would be able to notice and she would tell him he let his guard slip. 

The vote that should have happened was to close the session and take this matter up again another day. However, Narius was smiling ear to ear when he called for a full confirmation vote right away. The speaker didn’t like that but it was seconded.  All the liberals wanted to vote and so the vote on whether or not to vote passed. It moved to a full vote on the confirmation. Every conservative voted for White to be confirmed. Every single one, even the ones who had been the hardest on him. Every single liberal voted to reject White. Every single one except Narius. He was the lone liberal to vote to confirm White and that meant that White was from that moment the new vice president of the Republic.