Orion knew that Ragnar was likely right, but that seemed impossible. In fact the whole debacle seemed impossible. Orion and his courtiers, if they could be called that, had commandeered the engineers and troops right from under the Duke's nose, much less anyone else who would likely be even less informed. How the hell did anyone other than Vuldrok's ransack the armored column? And even if it were Vuldrok's, this wasn't there style. He found no traces of any of the telltale axe wounds or even corpses of the barbarians. 

The burn wounds upon the men's eyes were very much witchcraft, or perhaps some alien weapon he had never heard of. Witchcraft was the most likely culprit, so it was what they were going to go off of for now. Damn! If his Confessor had died, the Baron would be furious. That coupled with what will likely be considered a 'coup' of the Duke's forces and his name will be besmirched forever. Not only that, but the sister had grown on him. He found he was as worried, if not more worried over her well-being as he was his honor. 

As he and Ragnar continued to pick their way through the debris and steel of the legion of vehicles, he marveled there were only a handful that had seemed to be damaged or keeled over. Passing by one such vehicle, he heard a haggard, weak cough that brought both his and Ragnar's attention. The Knight and Vuldrok shared a look before they knelt down to listen, and after a few moments they heard it again. It came from under the flipped truck. 

Orion motioned for Ragnar to take the back end of the vehicle, and the two men readied themselves and moved in unison. The Knight's cabled muscles with Ragnar's brute strength were enough to send the truck over to the left to stand on its side, before rolling it upright. Underneath, there was a soldier that was covered in soot and oil, eyes squinting at the risen sun as he looked around. "Where am I?" He whispered hoarsely. 

"You're in the remains of the armored column-" Orion began, before Ragnar grunted. "We'll be asking the questions, little man." 

Orion shot him a warning look, and obediently Ragnar stepped back. The Knight knelt down to help the man up, and after a second to reorient himself, it dawned on him. "You're commander Pentecost." He said. 

"What happened here?" Orion asked. 
[@Penny]