The Esseles, a Wanderer-class transport belonging to the Galactic Republic, was utilized during the era known as the Cold War.
In 3643 BBY, the Esseles was traveling to Coruscant while secretly transporting Ambassador Vyn Asara of the Republic. Imperial agents discovered the Ambassador's identity while on board the cruiser, and they informed Grand Moff Rycus Kilran. Kilran's vessel, a massive warship within the Sith fleet, attacked the Esseles during its voyage. The Sith claimed the Ambassador was a terrorist and boarded the ship to apprehend her. When the soldiers on the ship resisted, the Sith, led by the brutal Mandalorian mercenary Ironfist, took control of the bridge and initiated a security lockdown. The ship's troops managed to regain control of the bridge after the lockdown was deactivated.
Following the ship's recapture, a group of Republic operatives who happened to be passengers on the Esseles boarded Kilran's ship. Their objective was to disable the tractor beams, enabling the Esseles to escape. They were successful in their mission, and the Esseles proceeded to Coruscant without further incident.
The Esseles is featured in a flashpoint of the same title within Star Wars: The Old Republic. There exist two distinct methods for bypassing the security lockdown. Choosing the dark side option involves a reactor reset, which kills every individual within the engineering deck. Alternatively, following the path of the light side requires shutting down all of the secondary power conduits, which are located throughout the ship.