Disclaimer: If Andromeda belonged to me, the series would have introduced my character Pearl and I would own all the Rhades. But as you can see, I don't…

The only ones that belong to me would be Pearlana and my own ideas…

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Title My one and Only Pearl

Author Ivory Core

Chapter 16: The Attack on Orion Part 1


The attack on the Omega Orion had begun…
The attack cruisers simultaneously fired the second they saw the explosion rock the ship.

Once the power grid blew up, the entire ship got pelted to its side. Everyone and everything got thrown around like a rag dolls.

Pearlana was sleeping when she suddenly was thrown out of her bed and unto the floor. And if that wasn't enough, she could not keep her balance because she kept on tumbling around the room as the ship kept on spinning and hurling uncontrollably.

"Computer! What is going on!" Pearlana screamed as she braced herself as she tumbled over the floor.

But all Pearlana had for a reply, was static. "Computer?" Pearlana called out again, but static remained.

"What is going on?" Pearlana asked herself as she pushed herself off the wall and to her bed.

She reached under her pillow and felt for her weapon. Whatever was happening, it was not good.

Her fingers collided with something hard and smooth. She immediately gripped it. When she pulled it out, it was her forcelance. As she tried to hold on to something so that she wouldn't get pelted across the room, Pearlana powered up her forcelance.

When it was powered up, Pearlana swung her legs over the side of the bed and tumbled towards her wall unit.

She pressed a button to the side and her wall shimmered away to reveal a window. She was not prepared for the sight. Their own attack cruisers…were firing on them!

"What the hell!" She exclaimed as she pushed off from the window as another fire rocked the ship.

"If it's not one thing it's the other." She muttered to herself as she walked towards her door.

There wasn't anytime to change out of her gown, not to mention how could she? Every second she was being thrown around the room as the ship uncontrollably starting to spin and rock as they were being attacked.

In just a matter of seconds, her room had turned into a war zone. Books, clothes, trinkets and many other things were strewn across the floor as the ship rocked.

So Pearlana reached for her white slippers and after putting them on, started to reach for the door with her forcelance at the ready.

But when she reached it, it didn't open automatically. So Pearlana tried to push it open, but it didn't even budge.

"The main power grid must have been destroyed!" Realization entered Pearlana, right along with fear.

"The main power grid was what powered everything in the ship. If someone had destroyed it…they were dead in the water!" Pearlana understood with such fear that it gripped her heart.

"Who would do that?" Pearlana questioned. And then that's when everything came back to her full force.

Speaking to the Ivory Core, finding out that someone had betrayed them and seeing the Abyss enter the ship.

With that also brought the memory of finding herself in medic deck as well as both Shamus and Gaheris not believing her.

"Well now, they are gonna wish that they did." Pearlana stated.

She then lifted her forcelance and pointed it towards the door. "Time for desperate measures." She stated as she fired three shots at the door.

Where the three shots entered the door it created three huge holes. When she stopped firing, Pearlana did a side kick to the door.

Since it was weak from the firing, the place where she had kicked bended where the firing was shot at.

Pearlana kicked it again and again until it gave way and fell to the other side, leaving a nice large hole for Pearlana to crawl out of her room and into the hallway.

Pocketing her forcelance to her belt that she had placed around her waist, Pearlana crawled out of the hall to step unto the hallway.

The lights were out and Pearlana had a hard time in seeing anything in front of her. She cautiously stepped out onto the hall and kept herself close to wall.

Something was not right. The air around Pearlana felt heavy and with her two extra lungs, she could unmistake smell something like sulfur and brimstone.

Suddenly, Pearlana felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up. Her back was turned to the other end of the hallway, but she felt that someone or something was behind her.

She gripped her forcelance and after taking a deep breath, spun around to face the intruder with her forcelance pointed straight at it.

A second later, Pearlana's forcelance clattered to the floor. Pearlana had dropped it in fear and was now taking steps back.

The Abyss was right in front of her. It just looked at Pearlana in humor as she stumbled back and fell to the floor.

But even on the floor, Pearlana did not stop in moving away from the Abyss. She began scooting herself back until her own back collided with the wall. There was nowhere else to go, because the Abyss was now hovering right in front of her.

Pearlana had never been so scared in her life. All her years of training flew south for the winter as she beheld the creature looming over her.

Her eyes were so expanded that they looked like golf balls. Her breathing had become ragged. Her eyes never left His. She couldn't if she wanted to. Within those eyes, Pearlana could clearly see twin black holes spinning a fury of orange and red.

As her eyes expanded, they reflected the Abyss. And fear gripped Pearlana like nothing she had ever felt before.

The Abyss reached out towards Pearlana and held out his hand for her to take.

"HEY!" A voice called out.

The Abyss turned towards the voice and screeched in fury as it was pelted a little away by a negative charge fired pulse.

Gaheris Rhade came running with blaster rifle at the ready.

"Pearlana!" Gaheris called out to Pearlana as he kneeled by her side.

But Pearlana was in a state of absolute shock. Her face was a mirror of intense horror. She did not see or heard Gaheris at all. All she could see were the twin black holes.

The Abyss had disappeared after Gaheris had shot him. Gaheris knew that they didn't have enough time until the Abyss came back.

"Pearlana!" Gaheris called out louder as he firmly held Pearlana by her shoulders and shook her.

Not getting a reply, Gaheris did the first thing that came to mind. After quickly placing his rifle on the floor, he brought Pearlana forward and leaned her over his shoulder.

He then picked up his rifle and Pearlana's forcelance and got up. Carrying Pearlana fireman style, Gaheris chose to go left down the hallway.

He didn't know exactly what was going on, but after being pelted out of his captain's chair and then rocked around by the continuous fire from outside, he figured that Pearlana was right before. Someone had betrayed them. And then now seeing the Abyss hover over Pearlana, well that was enough.

As he carried Pearlana, he wondered what exactly he was doing and what had happened. Why did the Abyss reach his hand out towards Pearlana like he wanted her to take it? Was all of this to gain Pearlana? And if that was the case; then why?

"So many questions and so little time to answer them." Gaheris muttered to himself as walked down the hallway.

"Hmmm?" Gaheris stopped when he heard Pearlana mumble.

"Pearlana?" Gaheris stopped and leaned down so that he could place Pearlana to lean on the wall.

Gaheris watched as Pearlana blinked furiously and shook her head hard. She then looked up to see Gaheris' worried expression.

"What happened? Oh shit! The Abyss…he's here." Pearlana rushed out.

"I know." Gaheris calmly stated as he rested his hand on Pearlana's shoulder.

He was surprised for the smack on his right shoulder coming from Pearlana. It didn't hurt him, but he still rubbed it and looked at Pearlana in question.

"What was that for?" He questioned.

"That was for not believing me!" Pearlana's hotly stated as she got up.

"I guess she's back." Gaheris thought to himself as he got up.

He held in his smirk when he noticed Pearlana ringing her hand in pain, since that was the hand she used to smack him with.

"So, what do we do?" Pearlana asked as she turned towards Gaheris.

"Get to engineering. No doubt that's what the Abyss wants, the Ivory Core." Gaheris stated as he handed Pearlana her forcelance.

He didn't notice Pearlana as she fidgeted. "Um…Captain. There's something you should know…"

"Not now Pearlana." Gaheris dismissed as he started to walk down the hall, Pearlana right behind him.

Pearlana shuts her mouth and followed Gaheris. Maybe it was best that she didn't tell him about the Ivory Core. At least not yet…

They cautiously walked down the corridor, weapons at the ready, and all their senses on alert. Occasionally the ship would rock to the side from the firing outside, but Gaheris and Pearlana continued on ward.

They both kept quiet, not saying anything to each other but keeping their eyes and ears on anything amiss.

Using one of the ladders leading to the deck below, both Gaheris and Pearlana slid down. They were about to turn the corner when Gaheris suddenly pushed Pearlana back and pressed them both to the wall.

"Wha…?" Pearlana was about to question, but Gaheris quickly covered her mouth.

He then motioned towards the corner. Pearlana carefully looked around the corner and noticed lights shinning down the corridor from flashlights. Someone was coming, and by the looks of it, it was a big group.

Words were not needed as Gaheris and Pearlana looked at each other. Without saying a word, they both powered their weapons.

"One…" Gaheris whispered, powering his weapon. The group was coming up.

"Two…" Pearlana whispered back, her weapon powered and ready too.

The group was just about to turn the corner and cross their path.

"THREE!" Both Gaheris and Pearlana yelled as they jumped away from their corner and straight into the path of the group.

Shots rang out, but no one was injured. When the group fired on them, Pearlana used her forcelance to deflect the fire away from Gaheris and herself.

The group did the same since they too held forcelances and other weapons that Pearlana had never seen before.

"Cease fire!" One of the men from the group yelled out.

"Cease fire!" the man ordered once again.

The group stopped fire and lowered their weapons, but Pearlana and Gaheris did not. Their weapons were still aimed on the men.

"Forgive us Captain! We thought you were the enemy." A voice spoke up.

Gaheris still had his weapon powered, but he slowly brought his hand down. Pearlana looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"Gerksand." Gaheris understood as he recognized the voice. "Report."

Gerksand belted his forcelance and walked up to Gaheris. "The enemy had sent a virus into the ships systems. We weren't able to know that anything was wrong until it was too late. They blew up the main power grid." Gerksand explained.

Gaheris breathed in deeply. That was what he thought.

"Captain, we believe that the enemy is after the Ivory Core. We were on our way to engineering." Gerksand replied.

It was then that Gerksand saw Pearlana. Pearlana did not like the look that Gerksand was giving her. Almost like he was surprise that she was even there.

"Are you alright Pearlana?" Gerksand suddenly asked.

"Chief Engineer to you, Gerksand." Pearlana coldly replied. He will not call her by her name. He will address her as Chief Engineer.

"Stand down Pearlana." Gaheris ordered.

Pearlana snapped her head up towards Gaheris and looked at him like he was insane.

"What?" Pearlana questioned.

"Lower your weapon Pearlana." Gaheris stated.

"I don't trust him, Gaheris." It was the first time that Pearlana had called Gaheris by his name in front of others.

"What's not to trust?" Gerksand questioned.

"Chief Engineer Pearlana Orianna Harper, stand down." Gaheris ordered.

Pearlana gave him a look that clearly said "you're making a big mistake". But she un-powered her weapon and rather used more force then needed to push it into its case on her belt.

Gerksand moved away so that there was a clear path before Gaheris and Pearlana. "Lead the way Chief Engineer." Gerksand stated.

This did not feel right at all. But Pearlana had to follow orders, much that she rather not though.

Pearlana gave a glare towards Gaheris before she made her way to pass by Gerksand and head towards engineering. But as Pearlana walked towards Gerksand to pass by him, she noticed something on his arms.

He had placed them behind his back before, but now Pearlana could clearly see something's pointing out of it.

"Gaheris!" Pearlana screamed as she whirled around to face Gaheris.

But suddenly Pearlana's voice was cut short by a hard gasping sound coming from deep within her throat. It took Pearlana a second to realize that Gerksand had put her in a choke hold.

"Gerksand! What the hell are you doing!" Gaheris yelled as he watched Gerksand place a hard choke hold on Pearlana.

"Stand back Captain or I'll snap Pearlana's pretty neck." Gerksand said while mockingly stating captain.

Gaheris watched for a moment in helplessness as Pearlana tried pitifully to pry Gerksand's arms away from her neck. It was then that he noticed the bone blades, since Pearlana's fingers and collided with them.

"Let her go Gerksand." Gaheris pleaded.

In reply, Gerksand kissed the top of Pearlana's head as he gave Gaheris a sneer. A sneer that all Gaheris wanted to do was rip it out and make Gerksand choke on it.

"Why are you doing this?" Gaheris questioned. He had to keep Gerksand busy. He just needn't a second to find the best way to take Pearlana out of harms way.

And then it all came together. Gaheris had hoped that Gerksand wasn't the one, but he now knew it to be the truth.

Pearlana was opening her mouth and then closing it, like a fish would.

"Gaheris Gaheris." Gerksand said while shaking his head in mock pity. "Look at you; worrying over a kludge."

With a flash, Gaheris grabbed his rifle, powered it and aimed it at Gerksand.

"Careful Captain." Gerksand warned as he tightened his hold on Pearlana's neck.

Pearlana made a hard choking sound; her eyes had begun to bulge.

"How dare you! How dare you call Pearlana that!" Gaheris yelled.

"But it's the truth." Gerksand spoke. "Oh yes Gaheris, the Abyss has shown it to me. In this universe, kludges like these fear us. We are their masters. They work for us, they worship us." Gerksand's voice was getting excited.

"Here we are not like our kind back in the other dimension. If the Nietzcheans here could see us they would be in horror. Think about Gaheris!" spoke Gerksand.

"Back home we were pronounced as peaceful people." Gerksand spat at the word peaceful.

"And then we were sent to bring a peaceful communion with these humans." Gerksand spat as he looked down at Pearlana.

"But we had to disguise ourselves to look human. We have betrayed our ancestors by hiding our own birth rights!" he yelled out.

As Gerksand was speaking, he didn't notice that something quite strange was happening to Pearlana. Gaheris tried to make it that he was listening to Gerksand, but his attention was on Pearlana.

"So you sold us to the Abyss." Gaheris finished.

Pearlana's eyes began to roll back, revealing the whites of her eyes.

"No. I'm giving the Abyss two pieces of the puzzle. The two pieces that could shape this new dimension to the will of the one controlling it." Gaheris explained.

Pearlana suddenly gasped. Both Gaheris and Gerksand looked at Pearlana. But what happened next was all a blur.

Pearlana had gripped Gerksand's arm tightly and with one sharp pull, flipped him over onto his back with inhuman strength. A horrible crack filled the air as Pearlana cracked Gerksand's arm since she was still holding on to it.

Gerksand howled in pain as he gripped his arm.

To Gaheris, all he saw were flashes of flaming hair as Pearlana leaped away from Gerksand and started to kick, flip, and punch those who were near.

She was creating a diversion. Though Gaheris didn't know how she did it, he looked around and saw an opening to a conduit. If they could reach it, they would be able to crawl through and following it directly to engineering.

Suddenly, Pearlana appears next to him. Gaheris takes a look behind her and finds the entire group sprawled over the floor. None of them were dead, but it would be a while before they could move again.

"I must admit Pearlana, you have some skills." Gaheris stated in a whisper.

"It…wasn't…me." Pearlana gasped out. She winced as she rubbed her sore neck.

Quickly turning his head to face Pearlana, he got the shock of his life to see that one of her eyes was misted with a blue and gold color while the other was normal.

"Pearlana?" Gaheris questioned.

But suddenly a shot was heard and both Gaheris and Pearlana ducked into the conduit. Gerksand had reached his weapon and had fired on upon them.

The conduit was big enough for both Gaheris and Pearlana to crawl into side by side. As they crawled, Gaheris kept on giving side glances towards Pearlana.

Finally, Pearlana stopped and looked at Gaheris. "What!" She angrily questioned. Her eyes were completely normal again.

Gaheris ignored her tone of voice and questioned her.

"What was all that about back there. You said that it wasn't you. Explain." He questioned.

Pearlana turned her head away from Gaheris. He watched her for a while but got surprised by her sudden snap.

"How about you explain yourself! What was Gerksand talking about back there? What the hell did he call me? And what was that crap about you being a Nietz…something!" Pearlana hotly questioned.

"Damn it! What am I suppose to tell her? It was meant to be a secret. Gaheris thought to himself.

"Well?" Pearlana pushed.

Without answering, Gaheris lifted up his arm so that it was between then. With the other he un-strapped the brace and pulled it off. Instantly, in a holographic shimmer, Gaheris' bone blades reappeared.

Pearlana, forgetting that the ceiling was low, immediately jumped up only for her head to bang painfully on the low roof. She gripped her head and moaned.

"Are you alight?" his voice filled with worry as he reached towards Pearlana.

But Pearlana swatted his hands away and scooted away from him. "What are you!"

"I'm a Nietzchean, Pearlana." Gaheris explained like he it was a common thing to say.

"What is a Neitz…Nietch…whatever?" Pearlana questioned.

"We are a form on genetically engineered humans who have become stronger, wittier, and cunning over the centuries." Gaheris explained.

All Pearlana could do was blink. She was good with mechanics and physics, but genetics was Greek to her.

"Oook." Pearlana stated under her breath. But then, like remembering something, she snapped her head up again and gave Gaheris a death glare.

"But why didn't you tell me you were an alien." She questioned.

Now it was Gaheris turn to blink. "An…alien?" He asked not believing in it.

"Yes! An. A…li…en!" Pearlana spelled it out.

"Well if it's any news to you. You're people could be called aliens by us." Gaheris shot back.

Pearlana just folded her arms and turned her head away from Gaheris. To Gaheris it was quite an amusing sight, seeing Pearlana act like a seven year old.

"I was sworn to secrecy at a young age. My parents and I were one of the few to come to Meladeen to bring in the communion with your people. Your High Officials knew of us, but decided that the world was not ready to see us yet." Gaheris explained.

But Pearlana still would not look at Gaheris. Gaheris rolled his eyes. This was getting tiresome. They had to reach engineering before Gerksand did.

This reminded Gaheris…

"Pearlana, explain what happened back there with Gerksand and the others?" He questioned.

He watched as Pearlana slowly brought her arms down to her lap. Both Gaheris and Pearlana were sitting now, a little hunched over, but sitting.

Pearlana darted her eyes as she tried to find a way to explain to Gaheris what exactly had happened. Truthfully, she didn't know herself. The only thing she remembered was Gerksand having a choke hold on her then. After that there was nothing until she suddenly found herself next to Gaheris near the conduit.

"Pearlana please, tell me." Gaheris pressed. He had an idea, but he hoped he was wrong.

"Remember when you…saved me…from the Abyss?" She softly asked.

Gaheris nodded his head.

"Well, remember after you stated that we were to go to engineering and I said I had something to tell you?" her voice was barely above a whisper now.

"Yes." Gaheris hesitantly replied.

He watched as Pearlana closed her eyes and turned her head to face him. With her eyes still closed, a ragged breath escaped.

"Pearlana?" worry playing across Gaheris' face.

Pearlana opened her eyes and looked directly at Gaheris, but it was not Pearlana.

"I chose Pearlana as my host, Captain Gaheris." The collective voice echoed through Pearlana.

"This complicates things." Gaheris muttered to himself.

Pearlana closed her eyes again, but when she reopened them she was back to her regular self.

"When were you going to tell me that the Ivory Core chose you as its host?" Gaheris questioned. "This changes everything Pearlana!"

"I guess we all have our secrets, now don't we?" Pearlana muttered to herself. She was still ticked that Gaheris had not believed her in the first place AND had ordered her to lower her weapon!

But Gaheris had heard her oh so clearly. He bowed his head and clenched his fingers into a tight fist. He had a good mind to tell Pearlana off right then and there, but that would get them nowhere. They had more pressing matters to deal with.

"For the time being, let's just drop it. Ok?" he said as ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine. Whatever." Pearlana muttered her gaze not on Gaheris.

Gaheris swallowed hard, already thinking of ways to shut Pearlana's smart mouth. But he swallowed it down and got down to the matters at hand.

"Since the Ivory Core is inside you, our initial plan has to be changed. My orders were to protect the Ivory Core at all cost. Seeing that it has chosen you as its host, my orders are therefore to protect you." Gaheris explained.

Pearlana quickly looked at Gaheris, but seeing him staring at her, she turned her head away. She wondered though. Was Gaheris protecting her because he cared about her, or because the Ivory Core was inside of her?

"Not to mention I already made a promise to your mother that I will look after you." Gaheris began. "Not to mention, your mother will have my head if she found out that any harm came to you." He muttered with a tint of humor, but still keeping his straight face.

He seemed to already know what Pearlana was thinking.

"So…what do you do?" Pearlana softly asked. Figuring that she can be angry at Gaheris later, she decided to drop it…for now.

"Gerksand had betrayed us all. He's after the Ivory Core. So he will be heading for engineering. I plan on leaving him something a little extra." He viciously states the last part.

"But Gaheris, Gerksand said something about 'the two pieces of the puzzle'. What do you think he means by that?" Pearlana asked.

Gaheris shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever it is, he probably has it already or it's not here."

Gaheris then motioned for Pearlana to follow him as he started to crawl down the corridor. Pearlana was right beside him.

"Ummm, so what's the plan?" Pearlana asked.

"First, we abandon ship. I need to send the message all over the ship." He stated.

"There's a com unit in Engineering. It's slightly disabled, but give me a minute and I can rig it." Pearlana stated. "Wait a second! If you do that, Gerksand will know where we are."

"Exactly!" Gaheris pointed out.

And then it clicked to Pearlana. That was the bait. It would save many of the crew members, but it was bait for Gerksand.

Gaheris nodded his head as they turned the corner. Down the corridor there was an opening. They had reached engineering…

Next chapter is coming right after this update. Hope you liked this chapter and tell me what you think.

A special thank you to the following reviewers:

Lostlondi – Welcome back. I MISSED YOU! I'm really touched that this is your fav fanfic. It tells me that I have accomplished something. Hope you liked the chapter, and the next will come right after this. Thanks again for reviewing!

Jade Rhade – Did you change your name at some point? I could have sworn that the Rhade part became something else. Oh well. Thank you so much for the long review. I love those. Pearlana will save the day, I can assure you. And just for you, Part 1 and Part 2 will have lots of Rhade. But you already know Part 1. ;) Catch ya later!

LittleRedhead - (pouts) Never revealed on what Harper keeps under his pillow? That's not fare! Oh well, care to take a guess? ;) Anyway, thank you for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

ZELINIA - That's ok. Seems that no one else knew the answer either. (poo!) Oh well, hope you enjoyed the chapter! And thank you for reviewing! It means so much.

THANKS TO ALL WHO READ THIS FIC! Even if you don't review, though I wish you would, I hope that for a few minutes I entertained your curios minds.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!