Colonel Donald Michael Lydecker was the commanding officer of the military forces at Manticore for most of its existence. During that time, he supervised the training of the X5's, and was universally loathed by all of them. Eventually, he was betrayed by Elizabeth Renfro and allied with the escaped X5's. He disappeared mysteriously not long after the destruction of Manticore. He reappears in the 3rd book that was released by Max Allan Collins "After the dark".