Enigma: Part 3

Chapter 8

I was asleep in my cot, bored as can be with memories still flooding in, when I heard a massive thunder from above me. But, then again, everything I heard came from above me. I am living in an underground dungeon after all.

Jolie sprung up and felt a sort of instinct to attack something. She felt a surge of adrenaline she now remembered all too well. It was her training coming back to her. If only she truly remembered it.

Right away she ran over to the door. It had the metal seal over it. Of course, she could easily break out if she needed to, but that wouldn't help her case much.

But what if the Empire's here?

He stood, frozen in frantic thought, when a strange looking box caught her eye. In the slot where her meals were dropped there was a wooden crate. She could even sense a strong Force sense in it.

She creeped over, eyeing the mysterious crate.

What is this?

She carefully opened the lid and peered inside. There was a bundle of something wrapped in a blanket. She lifted the bundle out and laid it on the floor. Kneeling down, she unwrapped the loosely contained pile of heavy contents.

Before her eyes she saw two gauntlets and a sort of face mask. They glinted even in the dim light of her cell and had strange lines of glass running along the surface.

She lifted the mask carefully and saw that essentially it two metal pieces that ran down her temples and cheeks with a thinner connecting piece across the forehead area.

The gauntlets had a few segments to them. She put one on and moved her wrist and fingers around. It's completely non-restricting. 

There was also a note.

Trust us.

- your friends Evander and Flint

She placed the mask on and right away could feel some relief. The only problem was, she didn't know what the relief was from. Have I really been hurting for 5 years? So much that I don't notice anymore?

She could feel the energy around her temples being worked in the same way that it used to when she was healing herself during Force Pains.

There was a centerpiece in the forehead connector that seemed to have a purpose as well, but that remained hidden in the moment.

Finally she put the other gauntlet on. The metal fit nicely around her forearm and looked sleek. How did they build this? Why did they build this?

Suddenly an alarm sounded. Even she could hear it from underground. She expected the doors to open, freeing her from whatever was attacking the base, but they stayed closed.

"Alright. I guess I'll do this myself," she muttered as she jogged a few steps back. She eyed the entire wall that she'd stared at for so long and then closed her eyes. She could feel a darkness surging through her as she wound her arms back and braced her legs for impact. She didn't want a repeat of the refresher incident.

She let out a breathe calmly and then surged her arms forward. She could feel the matter of the door, all the metals and screws holding her back, and blew through it. Then she braced for the second impact — the Force Pains that she knew would follow the surge of power. However, they didn't even make a peep. Instead she looked down and saw that the winding glass lines of her gauntlets were glowing shades of red and orange.

"You damned geniuses," she muttered with a smile as she examined Evander and Flint's work. Then her brain snapped back into action. She accessed her newly found freedom and used the Force to run forward. The base was so old that there were stairs. She knew she could quite literally fly up those, so she took the long way up.