21st Sigma, proximity of Sesan base; 17th Sigma system
Everything was calm, everyone was focused. Charente, which emerged from cloaking device, was floating close to Sesan base, one of its many checkpoints on its way to Taus. Lauren wanted to stop by and make sure everything was running smoothly on this base, check up if they've got enough supplies and see if anything is happening in this region. It didn't take long before all things on her list were done and so was the ship ready to depart again, to 17th Sigma. Path was clear, just some random unsuspecting patrols of Gas Miners Guild, some convoys running through. If Lauren weren't occupied with her new quest, she would definitely cause some chaos before disappearing into shadows from which her ship came from. Not this time, not this time Lauren. She was almost forcing herself not to do that, her grip on her console tightened. It took her several seconds before she calmed down with one deep breath.
17th Sigma, there was something special about this place, something of value. It could be just history of the light, destroyed station by the light or possibly just ambient background of this border Sigma system. Next few hours were supposed to be relatively calm and so has Lauren decided to pay a visit to briefing room on deck two where her high command was supposed to discuss next steps, including out of control growth of tissue. It took Lauren just few minutes to reach the briefing room, everyone present gave her neutral looks, something was off, she could sense it, she could see it on their faces, however she had decided to nod in return before she approached the table. "So what are we working with right now." Lauren asked, making herself comfortable on the seat. "Right now everything seems to be running smoothly, we are slightly behind schedule... But that's nothing concerning." replied LaCroix, Lauren's right hand. "Supplies?" followed shortly after, while Lauren was studying data on her datapad. "Enough for one week, without interruption we should be able to make it to Shounan." Everything was way too perfect for Lauren's taste. "What about our friendly tissue?" Silence. Silence longer than expected. Lauren raised her eyes, carefully studying expressions on familiar faces. "There is nothing to worry about, everything is und-..."
Silence, lights went off and darkness quickly filled the briefing room. Few seconds later everything went back to normal, lights and systems were back online and running as if nothing had happend. "I want you to find out what the hell was that..." Lauren always knew how to keep her head on the ground, however this time she almost her mind. There was nothing in the universe she cared about more than her ship, the ship where her father was serving and father of her father. And something was wrong.
It was a rough day for Lauren and her high ranking officers, this blackout had happened twice before they arrived to 37th Tau. Once it happened right next to Malta, luckily the cloaking device was still working. 37th Tau was so close, yet so far with these anomalies but nobody had lost the hope yet. Even so nobody found out the reason why it is happening out of sudden, the reactor should be safe from the tissue because it hadn't reached it yet that was the main concern of the engineering. Due to these anomalies taking place at worst places possible, the command had decided to change the route and head around Lorraine anomaly instead of Freeport, where everyone gathers these days. Lauren was sitting in her seat on the command bridge, quiet humming noises of engines and systems could be heard, the crew was silent, calm, focused. Silence before disaster. The basic maintenance of the reactor room was underway, engineering team consisting of 12 people was trying to seal the room from the tissue. Silence, darkness, alerts beeping, confusion rising. Valor was once again consumed by darkness, systems were offline, engines were shut down due to emergency. Charente was slowly drifting past Lorraine anomaly towards ice field where Tau 23 was located.
This time however cloaking field remained active and to everyone's surprise alien weapons and shield as well. However anything human made was shut down or pushed out of service. With one key difference. Nothing came back online in few seconds.
"Status update?" Lauren asked, but nobody was able to respond to her.
Stress, anger, confusion... All these emotions could be felt among the crew of Charente. After several hours of complete darkness everything went back to normal, power from the reactor was once again flowing to all important systems and old Normandy was able to continue on its trip. However with recent troubles and an attempt to summon La'Row and her ship in homeworld forced them all to alter course from Gallia and Tau sectors back to Omicrons. It was one of these moments Lauren used to hate, one would say way too much, just because she always liked sticking to the plan she drafted... And once again everything had to go south.
"Everything seems to be working as intended." Said LaCroix, Lauren's right hand and commander in her absence. For now everything seemed to be normal, like if nothing had happend few hours ago.
"Set course back to Alpha anomaly, once we reach Alpha set course to Psi anomaly... From there it will be a short trip to our homeworld." Lauren said, something was bothering her however. Maybe it was just too much for her last few days, maybe it's because all of problems around her ship which is nearing the end of its service lifespan or maybe she was just thinking about the reason why she is being summoned by Advisors... It hasn't happen yet, until now.
