Guidance system

Guidance system
Usage and history
Purpose	Aid a machine's guidance
Affiliation	Confederacy of Independent Systems Confederacy military Clone Force 99

"What do you have?"
"We've broken the access codes and powered up the droid's guidance system."

―Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and clone trooper Crys

A guidance system was an internal program within machines, including starships and droids, to help with navigation. While protected behind access codes, a guidance system of a droid was liable to be found in the unit's memory log if an enemy could crack into the droid through a robolobotomy. In 21 BBY, during the Battle of Saleucami of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, Republic clone troopers exploited the guidance system of a B1-series battle droid to help in their hunt for General Grievous.

Description

"According to his memory logs, he fired the emergency thrusters on the escape pod to avoid a mid-air collision."
"Collision with what?"
"Another escape pod."

―Clone Commander Cody, Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, and clone trooper Crys analyze the history of a B1 battle droid's guidance system

Machines, such as starships and droids, were equipped with guidance systems to assist with navigation. For droids, a navigation system was useful for when the unit in question was serving as the pilot of a vehicle. Records of a droid's guidance system were kept in the unit's memory logs and protected behind access codes. Provided the droid remained intact and the slicer could break through those codes, a robolobotomy could access a unit's guidance systems. If the machine possessed a drive system, the machine's guidance system would work alongside the engine by charting its course. In the case of seeker mines, a simple guidance system worked alongside simple engines to create a weapon that was very lethal to detected starships.

A micro-rocket (pictured firing) could be made more effective by incorporating a rocket guidance system.

Should a ship enter the seeker mine's sensor range, the mine's guidance and drive systems worked together to chase down the opponent, who would be under threat of destruction due to the mine's explosive power. A rocket guidance system, meanwhile, was a custom attachment that could be granted to any type of micro-rocket to turn it into "smart" weaponry; instead of allowing the rocket to miss its target, the firer would create a rocket guidance system to ensure their projective continued to see and chase a target should there be a misfire or total miss. By attaching sensors, minor expansions to the fuel intake, and adjustable fins for maneuverability, a rocket user thus ensured a more reliable implementation of the fired weapon because it would follow their target. A rocket guidance system also created less risk of creating collateral damage upon firing.

Rocket guidance systems sold for fifty credits. Types included the "Vornskr" Guidance Package produced by Pharr Co. and the "Outreach" Target Sensor created by Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc.. The FWG-5 smart pistol produced by Malaxan Firepower Incorporated also contained a guidance system in the form of an internal laser tracking system; the system guided pellets filled with flechette to hit their target, ensuring a fatal shot as long as the target was not heavily armored.

History

"Can you pinpoint the landing zone for the other pod?"
"I can put us within two to three klicks of it, sir."
"Alert the men. We've picked up the scent."

―Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Clone Commander Cody, after slicing into a B1 battle droid's guidance system

A B1 battle droid is sliced into by clones Cody and Crys to access the unit's guidance system and memory logs.

The B1-series battle droid, which served as the main infantry of the Confederacy military during the Clone Wars between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and Galactic Republic, was equipped with a guidance system. During the battle of the Outer Rim planet Saleucami in 21 BBY, one B1 found himself piloting an escape pod, which was carrying at least one other B1, after the destruction of General Grievous's C-9979 landing craft over the planet. Heading to the surface of Saleucami, the B1 noticed that another pod was suddenly within their flight path and tried to use his guidance system to adopt a steeper route, firing the pod's emergency engines to do so. However, the action was too much too quickly for the pod, causing it to crash.

The droids were killed upon impact, but the pilot's body, and therefore logs of his guidance data, remained intact. With the Grand Army of the Republic landing on Saleucami and chasing Grievous, who had crashed on Saleucami in a pod of his own, a clone trooper serving under Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi found the pilot's inactive remains inside the pod and believed the unit was intact enough for a robolobotomy. Taking the B1 aboard one of their All Terrain Tactical Enforcers, clone trooper "Crys" and Clone Commander CC-2224 "Cody" sliced into the droid as they traveled through Saleucami's dry territory and found records of the B1's guidance system in his memory logs. Determining they could find the other pod that the B1 had nearly collided with, Kenobi's forces continued their manhunt for Grievous.

Behind the scenes

Guidance systems were first mentioned within "The Deserter," the tenth episode of second season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, which first aired on January 1, 2010.

Appearances

• The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 1 (First appearance)
• Brotherhood (Mentioned only)
• Brotherhood audiobook (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Deserter" (First mentioned)
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Retrieval" (Mentioned only)
• Alphabet Squadron (Mentioned in chapter title)
• Alphabet Squadron audiobook (Mentioned in chapter title)
• The Mandalorian Season 2 Junior Novel (Mentioned only)
• The Mandalorian — "Chapter 11: The Heiress" (Mentioned only)
• The Mandalorian Season 2 3 (Mentioned only)
• The Last Jedi: Cobalt Squadron (Mentioned only)
• The Last Jedi: Cobalt Squadron audiobook (Mentioned only)

Sources

• No Disintegrations
• Gadgets and Gear