(Untitled)

[watch_in_shadow]

*There is an miasma of expectation clinging to the walls of the Kalis watchtower. Faint, distant shouts and peals of laserfire echo dimly from a far underground network - one convoy under attack; one thus far umolested; and one other - one other creeping silent and indetectable through the city's roots, invisible to spies and prying optics, and the

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[startactician]

*Thrust is hunched over one of the sole monitors that isn't being manipulated directly by Dreadmoon. He is cackling with glee.* Just as I told you about Ultra Magnus. A purely frontal attack with no thought behind it. All according to plan. *he's mostly talking to himself here*

[watch_in_shadow]

*a charge in the wall explodes in an blast the seems utterly random to the beleaguered Autobots, ground troops taking cover in tunnels they know like their own guns, both secondary groups advancing as planned... Dreadmoon's got just enough spare awareness connected to the tower to overhear Thrust's words and smile to himself. Good.*

[startactician]

*Thrust makes a fist as several bodies go flying by the camera, all of them Autobots* And no severe casualties, perfect, perfect. *his voice verges on hysterical*

[watch_in_shadow]

*Overconfidence, Thrust, what did I tell you before..?* *there is a scattered burst of concentrated laserfire - Magnus or one of his captains making an effort to regain some control over the situation - and Dreadmoon's attention is swiftly called away*

[startactician]

*watches Dreadmoon work in utter awe, even as he talks to the screen and Dreadmoon's unmoving form. He prefers to have as much control as possible over a battlefield, but he's never seen anyone have this level of control and observation. Dreadmoon is everywhere at once*

[watch_in_shadow]

*the central column inches nearer, nearer; the monitors in the control room flash from one camera point to the next in a flickering blur of shadows and laser-light, Dreadmoon flying through the Kalis-network like a phantom, a ghost in the machine.

The Autobots around the decoy are breaking and falling back, Magnus shouting for them to regroup - Dreadmoon shifts behind the tunnel walls and watches them intently. This is where things could become critical - would they run, make some last-ditch effort to seize the day, or bring out a weapon or tactic hidden until all seemed to be lost... Still linked into the other teams through his cameras, Dreadmoon's taking no chances*

[startactician]

Hah! *doesn't think that Magnus has any backup plan, and wouldn't make a last-stand approach for something small like this* You never cease to fascinate me, Dreadmoon. *has nose almost touching the screen, his optics bright with excitement*

[watch_in_shadow]

*a little absently - though considering his attention is split very many ways over a lot of ground, he could be forgiven for sounding far away-* //I hope Magnus isn't as fascinated, or he may wonder if I'm involved in person... I would rather avoid any unnecessary complications.//

[startactician]

*Eep. Thought he wasn't listening* He is too preoccupied to think at the moment. Maybe later, he will see the truth. If he lives, that is.

[watch_in_shadow]

//Unfortunately, he has a habit of surviving such things.//

*Magnus and his troops start to retreat, splitting and running through side tunnels, firing behind them to cover their retreat against the Decepticons behind. One, too overenthusiastic or too hot-headed to be a tunnel-runner for long, turns back briefly and lobs a mine back down the passage.

The explosion isn't that bright, but it's impressively loud*

[startactician]

*pulls back slightly* Did we take any damage from that?

[watch_in_shadow]

*doesn't answer* *blue shell's fingers spasm as his back arches up just enough to notice - the monitors revert automatically to manual, Dreadmoon letting out a pained gasp and yanking his consciousness away from the holes blasted in the Kalisnet before he loses any part of himself, part of a wall blasted apart by the mine and a section of that tunnel's grid blowing out*

*after a moment, a little less firmly than perhaps he'd otherwise like* //Nothing major. A hole in the net, one wall collapsed. Nothing more.//

[startactician]

*spins about* Dreadmoon! *ignores the battle for a moment, as his viewing of it will not change the outcome here. He quickly rushes to Dreadmoon, looking over the cables attached to him* A hole in the net?

[watch_in_shadow]

*The mine seemed to be a final act of defiance from a single soldier - the Decepticon troops had driven them off while Dreadmoon was otherwise occupied, and now the tunnels were full of low, fierce pride and truimphant marching. Though even now there's still the ever-present note of caution required to survive in the Kalis Underground...*

*slowly, slowly settling back down against the cold steel of his command chair, Dreadmoon's senses are too full with the sting of burnt-out wires and the hollow, sickening sensation of another city-section dead to him. He doesn't know his hands are trembling still* //Another dead section, blew out under the mine. I can't reach it...//

[startactician]

*isn't noticing that at the moment, as his back is to the monitors and his front is to the Monitor*

Should I do something? *looks about him, trying to think of something* Can it be repaired?

[watch_in_shadow]

*still badly shaken, though doing his utmost not to show it* //Not from here. Not - When the techs and the supplies get here, then it can be hooked back into the system. I can't even pick it up now, it's completely dead.// *and Cybertron and Kalis it feels so wrong that way...*