[h1]Chapter 1: To the Skies[/h1]

The call went out. A new frigate was launching, and it was being lead by none other than the famed Captain Drake. Who better to Captain a vessel designed to kill monsters, than one who had killed a monster themselves? The Frigate, named simply, The Drake, was newly commissioned, and it was so new that the barrels of its guns hadn't even yet turned black from the explosions of gunpowder. Rumor was that there were weapons that didn't need powder in development, but rumors were rumors. Rumor had it that each city was actually flying on the back of a giant turtle, and that human ingenuity had nothing to do with it.

People still had their imaginations intact at least. But perhaps the name of the ship seemed a little much... but honestly, Drake didn't name it. It seemed the Admiral who commissioned the ship in the first place wanted a Drake captained by a Drake. 

The name didn't matter, what mattered was whether or not it could do its job. 

Sahara was on board the ship giving it a look over. It wasn't much, below deck had just enough room for a day's supplies, ammunition and powder, and the boiler and coal supply it required. Above deck, it was little more than two guns big enough to take down something fairly big, but not professional warship weaponry by the standards of the war that had awoken the monsters in the first place. They would do their job...

All she had to do was wait for her crew to arrive. She hadn't chosen them personally, another thing the Admiralty had done, so she didn't even know what was coming. She was told that her crew would consist of herself, a Helmsman, two engineers, and two gunners. This was already pushing the limits of the available room on the ship, but they would have to make it work. She could take the helm if needed, and surely they only needed one engineer. Two gunners for two guns sure but, either way they would have to make it work. 

They had to make this work. This was a test, for all of humanity. All of the Frigates that had been built lately hadn't had much success, either destroyed, or no luck finding targets to hunt in the first place. But they would be the first. They had to... if they ever wanted a chance at taking back the surface.

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