Raimei

Overview
Raimei was a multinational military hardware manufacturer based originally in the Alliance of Galedon with strong links to House Kurita.

History
Raimei began on the world of Galedon V during the early years of the Alliance of Galedon, and the corporation quickly formed a quiet but close relationship with the Kurita family, the ruling dynasty of the Alliance and later the Draconis Combine. The closeness between the two was illustrated by the fact that Shiro Kurita himself was a prominent shareholder in Raimei, and as the corporation grew during the rise of the Terran Hegemony both Raimei and the Kuritas saw an opportunity to further their individual interests.

Raimei expanded their market share in several different areas of production by opening plants and factories in each of the other major states of the Inner Sphere, ostensibly as semi-independent companies; some of these factories were opened in partnership with local corporations, such as the combined Raimei/Lockheed Corporation plant on Outreach in the Terran Hegemony. By 2572, Raimei had established a factory in each of the major states as well as factories in the Magistracy of Canopus and the Taurian Concordat, churning out Sabre AeroSpace Fighters.

However, Raimei had established more than manufacturing plants in each of the states; acting in concert with House Kurita and the Combine's Internal Security Force, by 2676 each Raimei plant had been set up to act as a clearing house for ISF spies. Acting in concert with the ISF, the "Raimei Ring" gathered, disseminated and transmitted useful information back to the Combine through clandestine channels for centuries. This intelligence operation would continue even during the Succession Wars, with various ISF Directors working to stabilize the valuable intelligence service, even after the financial collapse of Raimei in 2814.

When Raimei collapsed, only four of the various plants operated by the company were still in operation; those four plants were bought out by local concerns: Jalastar Aerospace in the Federated Suns, Lockheed/CBM in the Lyran Commonwealth, Majesty Metals and Manufacturing in the Magistracy of Canopus and Pinard Protectorates Limited in the Taurian Concordat. The Raimei Ring was severely damaged by the collapse of Raimei but continued to stagger on as an intelligence operation until 3019. The existence of the Raimei Ring would remain a secret until it's publication during the Word of Blake white-out of the HPG network during the Jihad, more than two hundred years after the collapse of Raimei.

The first SB-26 Sabre to be produced by Raimei is still in existence; stored in the Cultural History Center in Yamashiro on New Samarkand, the fighter had just one pilot - Shiro Kurita, the first Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, who requested the first production model personally, and who flew as a hobby.

Manufacturing
Raimei had manufacturing centers on at least one planet in each of the various major powers, but no details are available of the plants operated within the borders of the Free Worlds League or Capellan Confederation. Known Raimei facilities were located on the following planets:

Donegal
The Donegal facility was bought out by the Lockheed Corporation following the collapse of Raimei in 2814.

Dunianshire
The Dunianshire facility was bought out by Majesty Metals and Manufacturing following the collapse of Raimei in 2814.

Galedon
The Galedon facility was the original Raimei plant and did not survive the Succession Wars.

Organo
The Organo facility was bought out by Pinard Protectorates Limited following the collapse of Raimei in 2814.

Outreach
Operated in conjunction with the Lockheed Corporation, the Outreach facility was the only Raimei plant to produce the SB-28 variant of the Sabre, possibly as a result of political pressure from the Terran Hegemony to keep the advanced technology of the SB-28 confined to the Hegemony Navy. The SB-28 was produced as a limited run.

Panpour
The Panpour facility was bought out by Jalastar Aerospace following the collapse of Raimei in 2814. During the late Star League era the Raimei facility on Panpour - trading as Raimei Aerospace - was one of the smallest defense manufacturing facilities in the Federated Suns.