The industrial giant Lafayette-Hasegawa was initially formed as a result of an unexpected merger between Lafayette Aeronautics and Hasegawa Innovations around 2160. Prior to the merger, Lafayette Aeronautics Yards was a defense contracting company located in the American Union that had gained a reputation for advanced, high-quality aerocraft - both space and atmosphere-faring. Before the merger, they had made a respectable attempt to enter the civilian market with a line of luxury passenger-craft which had ultimately failed due to lack of interest. In stark contrast, Hasegawa was an up-and-coming domestic goods manufacturer that had made a name for itself producing cheap products of surprising quality. Though it first entered the market with a line of affordable home appliances, the company later expanded into other electronics, computers, and even weapons technologies. It was later revealed that Hasegawa was heavily exploiting slaved-AI systems to optimize and accelerate their research, production, and logistics.

Although the companies had cooperated in the past, the merger came at a shock given their disparate interests. This did not stop the company from capitalizing on the tail-end of the Scattering and early Transhumanist era, as they proceeded to sell fledgling colonies everything from appliances and pre-fabricated homes, to AI systems and heavy armaments. The company's success capitalizing off of the colony boom allowed it to ride out the aftereffects of the Scattering in relative comfort. In fact, Lafayette-Hasegawa was able to produce an expansive fleet of ships and a gargantuan mobile station, the Agincourt, in order to act as a mobile base of operations for the company. The Agincourt would serve as an administrative center, while the Napoleon and Fujiwara were intended to be massive, floating factories. Work was begun at several shipyards simultaneously within the American Union and Commonwealth, with the armada being completed somewhere around 2240.

The first voyage of the fleet was to explore a region on the outer rim of explored space, with the intention of discovering new planets and systems for further expansion. They shortly disappeared afterwards, for reasons that are still unknown - all further attempts to make contact with the fleet or discover its location have ended in failure, to present knowledge. Although the top executives and leadership of Lafayette-Hasegawa, along with most of its logistical capabilities, were lost with the disappearance of the armada; the company left behind a magnitude of assets behind in civilized space. So great was the initial growth of the company that their products are still stocked and sold, even decades after it went defunct. Several companies now claim to be successors or remnants of Lafayette-Hasegawa, but most are generally considered to be minor administrative or supply-related subsidiaries that survived the disappearance of the fleet.

More concerningly, in abandoned research sites and manufacturing yards found across the Coalition and Union, rogue automated defenses can be found attacking anything that approaches on sight. These automatons have ranged in size from dog-sized patrol units to destroyer-sized planetary defense platforms. Exploring abandoned LH ruins can be highly rewarding, but very risky endeavors.

"Innovation in all walks of life."

Lafayette-Hasegawa Manufactories
CEO | Bernard Russeau II |
Faction | N/A |
Product Symbol | Typically marked with a black diamond. |