Corsair Raiders

  Celestial Knight: Book Two

  Author: D. R. Rosier

  Copyright 2022. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three – Interlude

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Afterword:

  About the Author

  Other erotic fantasies by D. R. Rosier:

  Non-erotic Fantasy titles:

  Book Description

  Prologue

  The merchant vessel Carolina slipped through the black at over a thousand times the speed of light as it approached Naerwald. Naerwald was a relatively small colony, second smallest in the Moiroi kingdom with just four cities comprising close to fifty million people. It was also the closest planet to the Free Worlds, though that anarchistic society didn’t actually claim any space boundaries.

  The planet was still being terraformed as the twenty-second and last world claimed, up until that point for the Kingdom, though it was close enough to finished that the citizens could survive without a mask while outside, it wasn’t pleasant doing so.

  Which was why she had a very expensive and large amount of tritium in the pressurized cargo tanks, the rare element was needed for just about every ship in space, but a terraforming effort across a whole world needed as much as a fleet of a twenty-thousand ships, which honestly didn’t exist anywhere in known space. Point being, they needed a whole shitload of it to keep the reactors and therefore the terraforming apparatus running that was spread around the world. Even with the addition of wizards enhancing and maintaining the equipment.

  The expense of such a thing was mind-boggling, but the royal family could afford it, and they’d make their money back fairly quickly once the population boomed and tax revenues started flowing back into the treasury.

  It was a lucrative haul, but she always felt like she had a target painted on the back of her mother’s ship because of it. Her vessel had a single bank of four twelve-centimeter lasers, which was the maximum allowable for a non-military vessel. Military vessels had six banks of four eighteen-centimeter lasers, not to mention four missile launchers. And that was the smallest and weakest military vessel, a corvette. Merchants and other civilian ships weren’t allowed missiles, since technically a crazy person could use them to destroy whole cities from orbit. Just the lasers.

  But even the twelve centimeters had let her change the minds of a few pirates now and again.

  She was just eighteen, but she’d been on the bridge of a ship since she’d been nursing on her mother’s teat. She had space in her blood and DNA, and she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. The Carolina was just one among a fleet her mother owned, and like her mother she was a fairly powerful wizard, and she’d been running the Carolina for the last six months. Ever since her birthday. She’d passed all the exams for her captain’s certificate two years before that, not to mention all other bridge stations. She’d only had to wait to meet the minimum age requirement.

  Her stomach tightened a bit more as the transition to normal space started to countdown the last minute before they dropped out of the space fold that separated them from the physical laws of the universe. Her crew was solid, just three others on the ship. An engineer, the healer, and her pilot who she’d known her whole life. If they were going to be hit it would be right after transition, when they were still a few light minutes from the planet, a trip that would take several hours.

  The incidents of piracy near Naerworld and the worlds around it had been going up lately, which was a bit of a surprise to be honest. Almost everyone out of the Free Worlds couldn’t be trusted, but most of the piracy in the past was just their merchants come across an opportunity. But lately it was almost like they had real pirates, not just part time ones. That was bad for business, for the free worlds, if they started a war with the Kingdom because of it, which was why it made no sense to her.

  The last thing the privateers on the free worlds would want is the Kingdom to roll through.

  But make sense or not, she had to deal with reality, not what should be.

  Carmine said, “Five, four, three, two, and transition.”

  The stars of space appeared around them. The subspace fold drive essentially took their ship out of the universe, out of normal space. It also made them dumb, deaf, and blind for the duration of the trip between the stars. The sensors didn’t work inside a fold, nor the comms.

  With one exception, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to navigate. Gravity seemed to have no trouble transitioning, slipping into their own little bubble, and they were able to use known gravity gradients for navigation. A G type star’s gravity reached out for twelve light years on average, and they all interacted on some level, which the navigation computer figured out and displayed in a way a navigator could understand.

  Her eyes were locked on the sensors, and she sighed, she hated when she was right.

  “Two… no, make that a total of three ships that are vectoring toward us. One dead ahead, one at two seventy mark thirty, and the third at sixty-three mark two sixty. Get us moving, toward the one on port, and I’ll send a damned mayday to those worthless assholes in orbit of Naerworld.”

  Those assholes being the Moiroi kingdom half-fleet or squadron charged with protecting the world. The battleship, two frigates, two destroyers, and six corvettes weren’t doing a damned bit of good in orbit, and they couldn’t be bothered to patrol the FTL line. It was infuriating. Especially because just one corvette could blow all three pirate ships up without breaking a sweat.

  Carmine said, “We’re being ordered to heave to and come to a full stop.”

  She snorted, “Tell them to fuck off, or ignore them. Your choice,” Carmine snickered in answer, and then she checked the range. It wouldn’t be long before the lasers were in range of the ship they were charging toward. Pirates were cowards, and their armaments were usually comparable to a well-armed merchant like the Carolina, but she was an exceptionally powerful wizard. Not quite at the top of what was possible, but certainly above the ninety fifth percentile.

  While she couldn’t cast creative spells, any spells that were part of the ship as a device could be enhanced. Which were the lasers, shields, and the engines. She had a host of personal devices for person to person battles, but she couldn’t enhance those spells with the ship. An un-purposed amplifier was also considered military only.

  She waited for the range to close as she brought up the shields, then frowned.

  “Umm, Carmine. They just launched a missile, the one that was dead ahead and is now on our starboard.”

  Carmine looked up at her in shock after checking his board.

  “Confirmed, where the fuck did they get military ordinance.”

  That too, she thought. What she’d been wondering was where they’d got the cash for it, even if they were available on the black market, usually only mercenary groups bought them. Mostly because they could forward on the loss to the rich ass client for each one expended.

  Fusion missiles were expensive, and pirates were usually cheap bastards focused on the bottom line. She focused on the tactical interface and sent all her magic into the shield enhancers. The missile exploded almost a hundred meters off the starboard side, and it still brought her shields down to sixty two percent. She was a merchant vessel, not a damned warship.

  Carmine said, “They’re signaling us to come to a full stop and to cut our engines. They’re threatening the next missile won’t be a warning.”

  She shook her head, they through away millions on a warning shot? She was almost offended by the idea, as a merchant herself.

  Then screamed, “Fuck!” then much softer, “Do it.”

  Carmine asked, “You’re sure.”

  She sighed, “We don’t have a choice. My mother can’t kick my ass for losing the load if we’re fucking dead. Also, get Genevieve and Lash up here. I’ll lock down the bridge and give them access to hook up to our tanks. Hopefully that will be fucking that.”

  She shook her head, she tended to have a dirty mouth on her when things went sideways. Even when things were calm, she tended to push the boundaries of propriety.

  Lash was the engineer, and Genevieve was the healer. They were also a couple. Carmine was kind of cute, for an older guy her mother’s age anyway. But she’d grown up with him, and she thought of him like an uncle. So… she dealt with the dry spells when on board ship. They were all about twenty years older than she was, which should’ve felt weird with her in charge, but it didn’t. She was born for this, the current situation notwithstanding.

  She should’ve went with her gut, and inserted in a less than optimal path. But the last time she’d done that her mother had torn her a new ass, for wasting fuel. It cut into their bottom line, plasma candle drives
weren’t cheap to run, even if it didn’t need heavy hydrogen for that system.

  Of course, losing the whole haul was a million times worse. She might give her mother a piece of her mind instead.

  “Can we go to FTL?”

  Carmine shook his head, “Our forward momentum coming out of the fold has us too far in. it’d take almost five minutes, more than long enough for a missile to reach us. Three corvettes are headed our way, but this will be over a long time before they get here. ETA is just over three hours.”

  Yep, the military was worthless. To be fair, they were there to guard the world, not merchant and cargo ships.

  Lash and Genevieve walked in with worried looks on their faces, and she locked down the bridge, which included both level five shielding and a ten-centimeter steel security door. The pirates could get through it, but it would take a relatively long time to cut off power to the security systems and then cut through the steel. Even with magic.

  “How long?”

  Carmine said, “Fifteen minutes, give or take. They’re coming in to flank us on either side, while the missile firing ship approaches,” he grumbled, “It looks like a damn corvette, an old one. Where the fuck did they get a military grade ship?”

  She shook her head, it shouldn’t be possible. There were no real laws in the Free Worlds, just what people could enforce on their own. But the mercenary companies which were the big fishes on those worlds were more paranoid about warships and weapons leaving their hands than the Kingdom Navy was.

  They also weren’t dumb enough to engage in piracy, or they’d be taken down by one of the big three interstellar governments in a heartbeat. It was a mystery, and she was honestly so angry she could barely see straight, much less think straight.

  The next fifteen minutes were tense while they waited. The usual easy camaraderie of the crew was suspended in their worries, both business and personal.

  Carmine grunted, “They’re docking to our bow starboard airlock.”

  She frowned, “Signal them the external tank access is unlocked.”

  Carmine nodded, and then they waited.

  Carmine frowned, “They’ve breached the airlock.”

  She froze for a moment, she hadn’t expected that. A few moments later her eyes widened.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she said rapidly, then yelled, “Fuck!”

  Used to her poor language, they just looked at her.

  She said angrily, “Those fucks want the fucking ship, not just the load. Fucking fuck that.”

  She pulled out a shield device, and a kinetic lance. She also had a plasma spell device as well as a laser sidearm with a small six plasma pellet magazine. But all of those would damage her ship, and they were there for a last resort. The kinetic lance was just strong enough to pulp a human body, but it would only make a banging noise against the walls.

  “I’m going to go deal with our guests, lock down the bridge as soon as I’m clear.”

  Even the ship probably wasn’t worth their lives to her way of thinking. But if they were taking the ship that meant her and her crew would either end up as slaves, or they’d end up spaced out of the closest airlock. That was worth dying to prevent.

  She knew what she looked like. On the lusher side of average, with bountiful and proud heart shaped D cups and a heart shaped ass to match, with a relatively thin waist at five foot five. She’d never call herself beautiful, but her thin naturally mischievous features were striking and far from unattractive. Her red hair and green eyes had caught the attention of more than one male in ports on several worlds. She was also eighteen, and she had no doubt what she’d be forced to do if they took her alive.

  Fucking pirates were all about the raping and pillaging.

  Carmine grimaced, and he walked over to the small arms locker and grabbed a frangible round handgun. It’d go through flesh just fine, but not even mark up her deck plates if he missed.

  “I’m coming with you, princess,” he said softly, but in a way that prohibited argument.

  She blinked, since he hadn’t called her that since she was thirteen. That more than anything else told her how utterly fucked they were.

  She gave Genevieve and Lash one last look and nod, then removed the lockdown. Carmine was right by her side as they rushed out, and the bridge lockdown was reenabled before they were five feet down the hallway. From the bridge, it wasn’t far at all to the bow starboard airlock.

  She flooded her shield with magic as she rounded the corner, and she saw two men in black with rifles moving toward them, no doubt looking for the bridge. She kind of lost it then, and screamed, “Fuckers!” as she lifted the wizard device and fired a kinetic shot at the one on the right.

  His whole torso deformed, then he was bodily tossed down the corridor, and was dead before he hit the floor. The other guard got off a couple of shots, before taking a frangible round in the upper chest. She finished him off with another surge of magic.

  She smirked, “That wasn’t too bad, let’s see what else these assholes have for us.”

  She turned her head at the rattling breath, and her eyes widened in shock as Carmine fell to his knees, then sideways. Blood running from his chest, and then out of his mouth as Carmine coughed weakly.

  “I’ve got to get you to Genevieve. Hold on.”

  He shook his head, “I’m already dead, princess. Save yourself.”

  She reached down to drag him back to the bridge. Stupid fucking old man was not going to die on her. But, before she could touch him, she saw the light go out of his eyes, as his body relaxed and splayed onto the deck plates.

  She was enraged like wounded animal, and she ran for the docking port with tears in her eyes. She really lost it then, it was a slaughter, at least until it wasn’t. Until she’d exhausted herself, and her magic ran out. She’d reached for her backup, her laser pistol and plasma pellet launcher, but she wasn’t quite fast enough.

  The last thing she remembered was the stock of a rifle hitting her forehead, somewhere aboard the fucker’s ship. It was all kind of a blur, and as she lost consciousness, she was terrified they hadn’t killed her.

  Chapter One

  The new ship was shiny and flawless. Seventy-five meters long, fully half of it was engineering. The new celestial class ship only had three banks of eighteen-centimeter lasers and two missile launchers, but with the powerful amplifiers and a celestial knight at the controls it would be a beast to fight.

  It had a maximum crew complement of ten, but he currently had a three-person crew, in addition to Daisy who was the ship’s artificial. It was the only way it could work really, as Daisy could run and maintain the ship by herself with bots. Hold headings when the four of them were off the bridge. The ship was literally too small to hold a crew size that could keep her running, without a multitasking artificial to take on most of those upkeep duties.

  It was just a week after he’d left New Blessing with a signed treaty. The last four days had been debriefs, as well as finding a new crewperson for his ship. He’d have been fine with just the three of them, but it was standard procedure that every ship needed at least one healer.

  Of course, his other two crew were Leanne and Riesa, his crew, his lovers, and he’d like to think his friends. Leanne was sworn to his service for life, and Riesa was his as well, at least until she’d asked for a transfer. She swore she was there until he sent her away, but he couldn’t quite believe that.

  Leanne was simply put, a goddess. A rare beauty that was one in millions. She was just five foot three, with long and straight golden blonde hair, and dark blue eyes the color of the sky at sunset. Her beauty was the cute and innocent kind, with full lips, a heart shaped face, and wide eyes, which was only reinforced by the exuberant warmth and innocence of her natural voice.

  Her body on the other hand was pure sin, at five foot three her rounded double D cups looked obscenely large, and she had a juicy and yet still supplely firm bubbled ass, with a waspishly thin waist between. Her legs were thin and toned, and her skin fair and blemish free.

  He’d had the shallow thought more than once, that she’d be a hundred pounds soaking wet, and a full quarter of that weight would be tits and ass.

  He’d loved how she’d looked in her black robes as a sister, but he thought she looked even better in a skintight crew uniform that doubled as a pressure suit. But he had to admit her in a slinky dress and dressed to the nines was even more alluring.