Alaric stood strong in the face of the Commander's tirade.  He had trimmed up his black hair, at least, so he was not a total mess, but it still was a little longer than it should have been to stand in the presence of a superior officer, just long enough to start to hang loosely.  He would not bother mentioning that he was former Imperial Guard, but he stood at parade rest while waiting for the question he was supposed to answer.  The one scar that cut just a little bit below his lips to give him half of a second smile was a reminder that shrapnel could hit survivors, too.  He broke the stance to talk.   His gritty voice spoke quietly, "I apologize, sir, for the imposition, but that is what the Inquisition requested of you and of us."<br/><br/>It was not a request and they all knew it, but it was never good to speak ill of the Inquisition's demands.<br/><br/>"I thank you for any aid you can offer us," he said.  He was smart enough to not promise to return anything intact, but he would try.