"Right, sorry Sir."

Cassie backed off on the teasing, slowing her pace to let the young man take the lead. While she was fully willing to fluster and annoy, she wasn't willing to ACTUALLY undermine a superior officer's pride and authority in public. Despite her attitude, she was a soldier, and a good one at that. Plus, Astarte seemed surprisingly innocent and full of idealism. She didn't have the heart to crush that. At the mention of her wages, however, her thoughts turned to Donat as she puffed her pipe quietly. Expansion of the empire would cripple, rather than bring power. The other nations wouldn't just stand around and let themselves be pushed back. They'd fight. The grand dream of a mighty empire would fracture. Internal power struggles, the poor get trampled, civil war, suppression...Cassie's mind flicked back and forth. Not so much on the potential war, not even on whether or not the nation would survive...but on which side she'd find herself. On one hand, she disagreed heavily with the idea of expansionism. The other nations were allies, there was peace. Living in poverty had let the bombardier learn many things, the least of which being that no matter what's happening, it's the weak and poor who suffer for the strong and rich.

But on the other hand, her family relied on her own military wages to stay above the water. If she opposed Donat openly, assuming she wasn't executed on the spot, she'd be discharged from the military. Her family would crumble. A matter of pride and principal versus family and necessity. She had time to decide. She would see what the Knight Lieutenant was planning. It could be a ruse to sniff out those who opposed Donat and kill them. See how things go. Make a decision then. For now, focus on the fact that she'd got to unload her Howler into a living monster, instead of another damn training dummy. The thought filled her with glee as she adjusted the straps to her massive harness, already measuring the charges in her head. Judging by the name and the mention of silk, this thing was a spider of some sort. Hard shell. Squishy interiors. She couldn't help herself at the thought of seeing gore filled explosions from each shot she'd let loose. Puncture slugs would do amazing things to such a beast.

"Don't suppose we'll be getting paid for this hunt sir? I could use some extra money, and I AM using my personal powders for this. The stuff the treasury springs for just doesn't have the oomph or the flare that makes every shot so damn beautiful. Gotta tinker a bit to give it that extra burn."

She bit her lip, picking up the pace to match Astarte's as they neared the gate. Looked like quite the crowd had gathered actually. She wiped at her monocle, adjusting the cravat on her coat and cracking her knuckles happily, the massive Howler Cannon dwarfing just about everyone in attendance.