abstract
| - The 442-45 Exploration and Sabotage Drone (often shortened to "ESD" or "442" and nicknamed "suicide remotes" by Aquila Corcer) was a remote-class droid developed by the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob and produced by Hudrel Robotics and Android Corporation. Constructed as 15 centimeter spheres with microrepulsors for mobility and a single photoreceptor, ESDs had storage capacity of a single standard grenade, although they could also fit thermal detonators and a variety of similar-sized weapons. Their primary purpose was to seek out targets—often those behind enemy lines or otherwise inaccessible to frontal military attack—come within range, and detonate. They were used by the Tetrarchy both to sabotage structures and assassinate enemies. They had sufficient programming to recognize and prioritize targets, but had no inborn defenses other than the ability to explode prematurely and kill whoever was attacking them. ESDs were also sometimes placed inside burrower grenade rockets as an alternative to traditional grenades. Where grenades would simply spill out and detonate where the burrower had penetrated enemy ships' hulls, ESDs could fly throughout the ships, seeking engine rooms, life support systems, and other more vital components. In this way, a payload of ESDs from a single burrower rocket could internally decimate a small capital ship. ESDs caused damage to several ships of the Royal Navy during the Great Liberation. Their resemblance to lightsaber training remotes led Centurion Aquila Corcer to nickname them "suicide remotes". After the war, the Golden Empire commandeered the stocks of ESDs from Tetrarchy military depots and occasionally used them in its own battles. Insurgency specialist Aria Nikina was particularly fond of them, distributing them among populaces to whom she taught guerrilla tactics during the Vagaari War.
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