Lord of Annihilation

Standing atop the command platform of Deadman One, a gallant  female figure dressed in deep purple robes stared at the holographic space map with a serious expression. 

Lines, grids, and a dizzying amount of numbers combined with numerous flashing lights and dots formed the star map which showed the ongoing battle in space in real-time. The sheer complexity of the information which the map depicted compounded with the speed at which said information changed presented a hard challenge to even the most experienced of commanders.

And commanding such a complex battle was Olivia.

"Wilkes Team move to Grid 6 and engage in suppressive fire. Ro'an's Team retreat into the backlines! To not let the hostiles enter Grid 14 through 19!" 

"Heavy Ammo support is now online!" An adjutant seated on one of the consoles before Olivia's platform yelled.

"Just on time!" Olivia said with relief, before proceeding to command. "Dre'ies Team, bomb everything within Grid 30 through 37! Do not let a single strangler escape!"

"Understood, Commander! Proceeding with the bombing!" 

Following that confirmation, multiple lights flashed on the star map before her momentarily blinding Olivia followed by the disappearance of red-colored lights on the map (hostiles). 

With the disappearance of a large number of red lights as a result of the bombing, the map was now predominantly occupied by blue and green lights signifying friendly forces.

"*hrzzt* This is Team Wilkes..*hrzzt* the enemies are now retreating! I repeat- the enemies are now retreating!"

Hearing that answer through the comms, Olivia's body visibly relaxed and a small smile surfaced on her face. Leaning her body onto the command console, she then replied.

"Understood, Captain Wilkes. You and your team may retreat."

"The other teams- perform a final sweep over the battlefield to identify any possible stranglers before returning. You have all worked hard!" 

"""*hrzzt* Understood, Ma'am!! *hrzzt*""" 

Multiple exhausted voices filled with relief immediately replied.

Standing upright once more, Olivia looked at the weary adjutants within the Command Center before her and spoke.

"You guys in here can also take a break. Swap out with the other team and get some sleep." 

"You should be saying that to yourself, Lady Governor. You've been here much longer and we have." An older Terran who followed Olivia from Pectron joked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going now." Lazily waving her hands, Olivia descended from the command platform and exited the room. Suddenly remembering something, she turned around and peeked her head into the room once more.

"Oh, I forgot to mention! Table the damages and causalities sustained and send me the field report. I'll be expecting it in my room." 

Without giving the people within the room to groan and complain, Olivia quickly ran away.

Walking through the corridors of the ship, the sounds of her footsteps reverberated plentily across the empty walls. The ship that was previously bustling with the activities of three hundred or so inhabitants was now mostly empty save for the dozen officers than remained.

Two more weeks had passed since Lucius' departure from the ship. During the first three days, Olivia had followed behind his path of carnage with her troops hoping to render him some support. However, consecutive streams of empty ships and blood and gut-filled interiors proved that Lucius required no assistance. 

That being the case, under Ka'lor'ah's instructions, Olivia changed her course to head towards Mankind's territories. If the information gathered from the recovered pirate spaceships were anything to go about, they (Mankind) were the ones who desperately required assistance. 

With a new course set, the space voyage was relatively tame at the beginning with calm tidings and vast stretches of infinite nothing. However, all of that changes four days into their journey. 

Olivia and her crew of three hundred men met their first space battle –against a patrol squad of Formicians. 

With the combination of Olivia's tactical brilliance and the presence of Ka'lor'ah, who could tap into the Formician's mental network at any time (pros of being their Creator), allowing her to steal information, confuse them, give erroneous orders, and other such attacks which directly countered the core ability of the Formicians, the battle was easily won with no loss of life.

Alas, that was simply the first encounter. While Ka'lor'ah's abilities were godly against the Formicians, they did come with limitations. The most important one being range.

While the disappearance of one or two squads going unnoticed in the overall picture, the subsequent encounters and frequent battles quickly served to draw attention. And due to the limitation in range, there was little for Ka'lor'ah to do to stop the spread of this information.

The current war situation between Mankind, the Formicians, and the Flying Dutchman was such that, Mankind was in the center with the Formicians and the Dutchman forming two halves of the circle that boxed them in.

Olivia and her crew had unknowingly entered the Formician's half of the circle. (AN: Lucius is on the other half)

Starting from multiple squads in a day, the battles quickly intensified becoming harder and more frequent, with the strength and numbers of the Formicians linearly increasing. 

Ka'lor'ah's strength became irreplaceable during these battles, and Olivia's talents in war strategy started to shine through. Battles that could be won were fought, and battles, where victory was impossible, were entirely avoided. 

Slowly but steadily, they started to head deeper into Formician territory, heading towards Mankind which lied beyond.

Turning a corner, Olivia, having finally arrived at her quarters, stepped inside.

Whoosh!

Locking the metallic door behind her, Olivia promptly removed her sweat-riddled robes and outer armor and threw it to the sides. Extending both her arms into the air, she stretched until audible cracks could be heard.

"Ah~!" Olivia moaned with satisfaction, "That is so much better!" 

Stretching a few more times to relax her stiffened muscles, Olivia then walked towards the double bed placed in the center of the room and dove in face first. Feeling the softness enveloped her tired body, Olivia lazily sunk into the mattress. 

Burying her face into the soft, feather pillow, Olivia sneakily complained.

"I'm exhausted! Those battles were so intense!"

"Imagine how much more intense they would've been, if not for my assistance." A voice retorted.

Turning her body to lie on its back, Olivia stared face-up into the air, towards the glowing golden crystal, floating just above her.

"Indeed. That's why you're my teacher, Teacher." Olivia jokingly replied.

She then stretched her four limbs one more time and sunk further into the soft mattress. Looking at this lazy display of her student, Ka'lor'ah was part amused and part angry.

"Look at you, a mere seventy-two hours of high-intensity battles has tired you to such an extent." Sighing exaggeratedly, she continued, "What am I going to do with such a lazy disciple."

Making a pouty expression, Olivia rebutted.

"The constant influx of information coupled with all those flashing lights, not to mention, the thought of the fact that the lives of hundreds of people depend upon my instructions are mentally and spiritually exhausting."

"Oh, and also, the very notion of facing thousands of Formicians with a force of three hundred is just as ridiculous as it sounds."

"Eh, you'll get used to it. You're steadily getting better after each battle." Ka'lor'ah off-handedly remarked. 

She then dove into Olivia's body and remarked. "*Sniff* *Sniff*, you really should take a bath. Your body reeks of sweat. I suppose I should have Lucius teach you his odor-eliminating technique (Presence Concealment Technique)."

Hearing Lucius' name, Olivia's face was overtaken with worry.

"I wonder if he's doing alright."

Peeking through Olivia's 'peaks', Ka'lor'ah teased. "Oho, is the 'missus' worried about her partner?" 

Ever since Olivia's declaration the other day, she was subject to Ka'lor'ah's constant and continuous creative teasing pertaining to this matter. As such, Olivia was at a point where she had become immune to said teasing.

"Yes." She straight-forwardly replied.

"Not even denying it, huh? You're becoming less fun to tease. Anyways, if I'm right, Lucius' situation should have played out one of two ways."

"First scenario: His continuous acts of slaughter must've resulted in him losing control and going berserk once again. Seeing as how we've heard no news about him in the Formician territory, he should be on the other side. If the behaviors of pirates are anything to go about, they should've laid out a trap to capture or kill him. Of course, Lucius being in his 'berserk' state will definitely fall into this trap."

"Second scenario: He continued with his slaughter but somehow managed to retain his consciousness and rationality. Not daring to underestimate him, the pirate will still lay out a trap, albeit this time, the trap will be more elaborate. However, knowing Lucius' personality, he would still walk into the trap. Trap or no trap, prey is one and the same."

Hearing that, Olivia jerked from her previously languid position and sat erect. Ka'lor'ah, who was thrown off of her body due to the sudden movement, complained. 

"Hey, I'm trying to rest over here." 

Ignoring Ka'lor'ah's childish complaints, Olivia hurriedly asked.

"What if the traps are too strong? What if Lucius is not able to overcome them? What is a Stage 3 being comes in person?!" 

"Tch, tch, you know, Lil' Ollie…" Ka'lor'ah clicked her tongue in disapproval, "You really underestimate Lucius. Putting aside his strength, rational or not, his innate instinct for danger is simply monstrous! It almost borders on precognition."

A relaxed aura then flowed out of Ka'lor'ah's crystal body as she continued.

"And so what if a Stage 3 being comes in person? Even if he can't win, there's no way Lucius would die."

At her statement, Olivia recalled the power and aura shown by Lucius. The worry within her face disappeared and her fists formed a tight clench.

'Indeed. If it's Lucius, there's no way he could lose!'

There was no factual evidence supporting her statement, but a feeling. 

A feeling of absolute confidence that originated from her very soul.

Just as Olivia was about to lie down once again, the bracelet on her right hands suddenly buzzed.

"*hrzzt* Lady Governor, this is Captain Wilkes…*hrzzt*--"

"I can hear you, Captain Wilkes. Go ahead."

"—we were on our way back when we caught a strange group of stranglers hiding near some asteroid debris…"

"Strange? In what manner?"

"Well, they aren't the Formicians, Ma'am. They look similar to you. Should I bring them in?"

Three years and seven months after her departure, Olivia would finally reunite with her kind…