[H3]OSDT [i]Jannah[/i], Martian Sphere[/H3]
The dark void of space had become a constant companion of his over the years, noted Radomir Pajari as he leaned back comfortably against his captain's chair, gazing upon the view of distant stars from the [i]Jannah[/i]'s bridge viewscreen. The Russian man had served in space for longer than some of his subordinates had been alive, and in that time he had grown to regard the cosmos (despite its cold, uncaring nature) as a friend of sorts. It was an unchanging world, infinite in size. This he found ... reliable.

And reliability had always been something he had cherished. It was for that reason, after all, he had married his wife.

"No signs of pirate activity yet, boss," interrupted the voice of one of the bridge crew, breaking him free from his idle thoughts.

It had been two hours since the [i]Jannah[/i] had resupplied at Deimos Station, and now they were once more sailing through the Martian Sphere, patrolling the sector in search of a group of pirates that had grown increasingly adventurous in the past year. Given the presence of many companies both on and around Mars, it was quite obvious why such criminals would have set up shop in the area. There was a not-insignificant amount of wealth to be plundered from the shipping vessels, and the lack of centralised military power this far out from Earth made taking action far easier. The companies did have their own guard forces, and the larger ones essentially controlled what was akin to a PMC, but they couldn't move so freely that they could flush out pirates.

Hence, the presence of the [I]Jannah[/I]. After all, why waste their own dime when they could rely upon the OSDT?

Captain Pajari held in a quiet sigh. Although the OSDT had been formed to combat any threats to mankind, the utter lack of alien hostiles had made their mandate quite irrelevant. Instead, they were relegated to becoming more or less an "odd jobs" task force, sent to provide minimal support to whoever had petitioned the Secretariat that year. It was true that pirates, being "hostis humani generis", [i]technically[/i] fell under the purview of their mandate, but other humans weren't exactly what the original signatories had been thinking of when the task force had been established.

The OSDT had supposed to serve as defenders of humanity, but in the decades since it was formed, it had really become more or less a dumping ground for undesirables, with a smattering of those who truly believed in the OSDT's mandate. That was not to say that they were a particularly horrible group of people (he had made sure to instill greater responsibility in all his men, after all), but they weren't exactly the [i]height[/i] of professionalism.

"Mr. Riley, I would like you to refrain from making use of the term 'boss'," he reprimanded, shooting a look at the redheaded young man handling one of the sensor consoles.

For example, subordinates who were far too casual on duty.

"Sorry bos-sir, won't do it again sir."

It was a work in progress, trying to instill some more professionalism in them.

At least he had managed to get rid of the man's eyepatch.

"A sizeable pirate presence has been frequently noted in this area," continued the captain, glancing over all the members of the bridge. "Do not allow yourself to become careless. It is possible that they could appear at any moment."

Awareness was key when dealing with a possible combat situation.

"Send a message to the HFV Squadron to remind them to stay ready."