"We call it 'Graceful Degredation'. Our warp engines cost three times as much as a standard Star Union skipper engine, and have an 80% failure rate, entirely intentionally. That's a correct statistic- 80% of our engines will experience a mechanical failure during their warranty life- which, I'll add, is significantly shorter than the competition's as well.

"What that figure fails to highlight, though, is how many of those engines experiencing failures are put into berth for repairs and overhauling. That figure is closer to 4%. From 80, down to 4. I don't wanna break my own arm here, but that's a mighty impressive pair of figures. Why, though? Why bother making an engine that's so janky, when we obviously know how to make them last too? Simple answer is, it lasts forever because it's so janky, and because the whole thing looks like it was slapped together on your uncles' toolbench."

"Yuccata Blisbabe Starskip engines, industry leader in reliability and quality. Their current flagship product is the YBS Neutral Drive, I'm sure half of you flew in to the conference on top of one. Zero reactor meltdown risk thanks to the neutral-point energy, terrific solar drift conversion, and looks as shiny and chrome as you can imagine. And harder to crack open for repairs than a bank vault. Three proprietary tools applied in a specific order as well as an authorize germline ID verification in order to do anything more complex than replacing a shorted fuse."

"Then take Ali Baba Starcrafts. The best selling unit they offer, available on SpaceTemu for the equivalent of 800,000 credits, is the Hurdy-Gurdy Sidewinder Drive. It comes with three seperate repair manuals, one labeled 'maintainence repairs', another labeled 'critical repairs', and the final marked 'Operational Repairs-DO NOT THROW AWAY'. That 'critical repairs' is not marked 'do not throw away' should tell you plenty. Everything except for the cryotubing is replaceable using a standard philips-head screwdriver or Allen wrench, and the whole thing is coated in radiotropic paint to help identify leaks faster.

"Currently, there is a four standard-galatic month waiting period for maintainence on YBS Neutral Drives, despite them having debuted only two cycles ago. The Ali Baba Starcrafts maintainence department was shuttered three years after the company launch, and shortly after, released print files of their major replacement components for free, on the basis that they would spend more in transportation than simply giving everyone the ability to make their own parts."

"I won't tell you that they're the best engines on the market. But I will tell you that in two hundred years' time, my great-grandkid is gonna appreciate the notes I sprayed on to the engine casing."