Omnium Chronicles

by Gudic

After her father slips into a coma, a woman named Joan is hired to catch a man named Jamison Fawkes (Junkrat) from deep in the Australian Outback. With madness and death beckoning at every corner, Joan finds herself setting a chain of events in motion which may cause the destruction of not only her, but those most important to her as well.

2. Chapter 2

Joan looked down at her father in the hospital bed. He was a large individual, and so his figure was barely able to remain confined to the bed frame. He was sleeping for now, trapped on life support. Unlike her, Joan's father had not been a man on the front lines, instead his wounds were internal. He was comatose, fighting his own inability to interact with the world he knew, and as that world slowly slipped away through the passage of time.

"Dad, I know it's been a while since I last talked to you." Joan said, "I know you said not to sacrifice myself to save you, not to put myself on the line, but I couldn't bear watching you slip as I did nothing." She sighed, and sat down in a chair next to the bed. She gripped her father's loose hand tightly. "I might not make it back from this one, dad." She said, "But whatever happens, they'll help you get through this. You'll get through this." Joan sat with the man for a while. She gripped his hands, and although they were almost lifeless they still remained warm. Perhaps he would never wake, but Joan couldn't sit by as her father slipped through her fingers. She knew what it was like to have loved ones slip away, and she didn't want to wear that burden twofold. She left, knowing that all she could do to help him was to fight in somebody else's war.

She exited the hospital, and called the Representative. "I'll do it." She said, "On the condition that even if I die, you'll see him through." The Representative expressed his satisfaction. "Good, I shall need you to head to the Vishkar Headquarters for a briefing on the operation. I shall expect you there in four hours." He said, "Do ensure that you make it."

The Vishkar Headquarters were perhaps one of the most technologically advanced buildings in existence. Every device was meticulously ordered as to ensure that the building was operating beyond any rational definition of efficiency, and their rigour with intricacy could perhaps be considered almost compulsively excessive. Order and cleanliness was one thing that Vishkar prided above all else, and Joan made sure to regard that pride by tracking mud across the lobby. Joan approached the receptionist and told her that she was to be expected, asking her where her Briefing was to be held. The receptionist beckoned to the elevator, and directed her to the twenty-third floor of the building.

"Due to the irradiation of the location where you are headed, you will have limited reinforcement. However, I can assure that Vishkar can at the very least equip you with the means to retain your sanity whilst walking the desert." The Representative said, "Additionally, we have a few particular devices which should aid in the capture of the individual. Particularly this one." The Representative held a bullet out to Joan. "This is an Experimental Vishkar Incapacitator, or an EVI." The Representative continued, "It is designed to administer a paralysing shock in a similar manner to a Taser, except it does not have the same restriction on range. You will be provided with six rounds." Joan leaned in to look closer at the bullet, however the Representative closed his palm and pocketed the bullet.

"Use them sparingly, Joan. These cost marginally more than anything else in your possession." The Representative added, "And remember, the man you are heading out to encounter is not going to be easy to catch, but far more unforgiving than Jamison is the wasteland itself."