Both hundred years’ (and counting) peace is a time of tranquility that was not seen since . well, never. Mankind in the Galactic Age got finally conquered battle, so what was left for the armed service to accomplish but beverage and barbecue? That is the kind of armed forces that Sergeant R. Wilson Rogers resided in before he left the fleet to become smuggler.

But it works out that smuggling is hard. Like getting-arrested-for-dealing-with-pirates-and-forced-back-into-service sort of hard. It generally does not seem therefore bad-the armed service was a perpetual tiki party anyway-but when Rogers returns after just a year aside, something has transformed. These are soldiers-actual troops doing real soldier things such as preparing for a battle that Rogers is usually sure doesn’t exist. Rogers vows to put a stop to all this nonsense-even if it means doing actual work.

With an experienced ear for army double-speak, Joe Zieja has created a remarkable and sarcastic adventure in Mechanical Failure.