The marshal was not as stone faced as the scout had been about finding a metal hand where he'd expected maybe a glove at most, and a slight surprise crossed his face. Well, they'd looked at him for what was supposedly an iron fist, maybe literally. His smile reformed almost instantly, anyway. "Certainly, come with me," he said gently, and turned with a motion for Alec to follow him. He lead down a hallway at the far end of the room down to an office barred only by a simple wooden door with a gold nameplate on its surface. He went in first, leaving the door open behind him, and pulled one of the many chairs from the wall before a wide oak desk sitting in the center of the room on a lively red carpet. "Please make yourself at home," he said, and after sat himself down behind the desk. He waited a moment for his guest to settle in, and began with a clearing of his throat the well rehearsed line. "The state of Arcartus has sought your employ because of your reputed expertise as an organizer of men and a leader. While ordinarily it is our practice to deny the other continents information on Estovetian affairs, it is likely common knowledge that an empire of any size suffers from a considerable number of... internal pressures." He seemed a little nervous on that line, and truth be told he didn't quite agree with the method being applied here. "It is the belief of a sufficient number of high ranking officers that you would be just the man to... mitigate some of those pressures. There is a more specific dispatch to be issued, should the matter spark your interest." That wasn't necessarily true, he'd been told to pursue Cross' help at cost if need be. But why play all the cards early?