Empire Galactic was a highly-successful, well-known corporation whose products could be found all over the galaxy as Terran humanity expanded into more and more distant planets. It was no surprise that they were also involved in politics, but increasing involvement also cultivated criticism and antipathy from a majority of galactic citizens. When politics and business came together, ignoring warnings and portents, Empire Galactic was at the center of the Planet X Incident, arguably the most serious major tragedy of modern time.
Today, Empire Galactic persists as a fragment of what it was before, remaining afloat on the few products they could still successfully market and some decidedly grey area dealings... as well as overtly illegal ones. Most citizens of the galaxy regard Empire Galactic as a company to be avoided and blame them primarily for the Planet X Incident, since the political blame fell on multiple figures. And most of those people never realize that Empire Galactic persists most frequently in bands of mercenaries, seeking profit wherever they can find it.