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Molly nervously made her way out of the city. She had other nodes, inside, a few bodies putting on more puppet shows, some jugglers, a food stand or two... she'd made sure to be more chaotic than usual in moving them around, in the hopes that HANGED_MAN wouldn't miss this body.
The hillock Empress had mentioned was heavily forested, and as Molly made her way inside the gloom, a cool breeze made her shiver. "E-Empress?" she called, or tried to - it came out as more of a squeak. "Empress!" she tried again. A raven cawed at her, great black wings making her jump.
"North, sixty meters," came the reply over Molly's radio link. Hearing disembodied voices was not doing wonders for her psyche. She made her way north- "your other north." She made her way real north, her ribbons catching on brambles, stumbling in the dark.
"Empress? Are you here?" She kept expecting this to all be some horrible joke. She'd never really hired mercenaries to kill the King, she'd been mislead, these were actors paid for by the King to catch her out, this was where HANGED_MAN would strike and show her that all her struggles were futile that nothing would change that-
"Right here, Molly."
Molly spun around and part of the forest fluttered. An arm twice as long as she was tall reached down towards her, and she screamed. She cowered on the ground, hands over her head, trying to make herself as small as possible.
"Molly! Hey, it's me! It's okay!"
At Empress's voice - her real voice, not radio - Molly looked up. Empress sat in the open cockpit of a mech surrounded by a dark, shimmering cloak which seemed to trail off into nothing. Empress held out her hand. "Come on! We shouldn't stay here."
Adelaide helped Molly up into the cockpit behind her. As it closed, she found herself leaning back against a more... cushioned surface than usual. She hastily cranked her seat forwards and turned on the external viewscreens so Molly wouldn't be able to see her face.
She cleared her throat. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you. Jester might have the advantage on foot, but when it comes to being stealthy in a mech, nobody beats KB-23." She fondly patted the controls.
There was a little squeak from behind her that might have been an "It's okay!". Empress started climbing, moving out of the forest and towards the King's castle.
"Are you sure you're gonna be okay? I know it's not what you signed up for, but without Jester I don't stand much of a chance against electronic attacks. I'll need your help to get through the King's outer defenses. If you're not up for it..."
"No! I mean, yes! I mean, I can do it!" There was a small thump on Adelaide's seat back as Molly smacked her fist into it. "I'faith, thou- thou shan't even miss Jester!"
Adelaide frowned as she began to swing across the canopy. "Well, okay. You still haven't seen any sign of her? Or Knight? Nothing at all?"
There was quiet for a moment, and Adelaide hit the ground and began to prowl forward invisibly across the grassy plain. Adelaide heard one of Molly's cooling fans kick on behind her.
"No. No sign."