The moment the Cornet fell off his horse, so did Ioannis jump. He ran over to the stricken leader, and tapped a cheek. "'ere, Captain, you awake?" He said jokingly, before realization dawned. The Lance Corporal instinctively crossed himself before he looked left and right, sweat starting to form on his brow. "Bloody elites eh?" he muttered before standing to his full height and looking at the men that now in turn look to him. He turned back to the corpse, and as if muttering last words to the man he quickly looked through what he had. Satisfied he had nothing else valuable, John quietly tucked his former leader's pistols into his uniform in discreet places. 

The Varangoi clapped his hands together and sucked in air through his teeth before letting out a long sigh. "Your previous leader - Heavenly Empire to him - is dead. I am taking temporary command until a replacement is found. Understood?" After he presumably had the agreement of all of his now underlings, he mounted up once more and drew his sword with a dramatic wave before he sliced the air and pointed to where the combat was presumably occurring. "We'll mourn later, now, let's get the invader! [b]Hurrah![/b]" 

Spurring his horse with somewhat more caution he had it gallop as fast as he could towards the site of battle. Admittedly, that may have been getting things rushed, but that didn't matter. He had to set an example, what with the men now undoubtedly demoralized so much. 

Thus he rode on, occasionally whistling as he did so and giving a twirl of his sword in the air in preparation for battle. He was ready for whatever would great him, friend or foe.