A Republic encryption recorder functioned as a piece of espionage technology, designed for the purpose of capturing and storing encrypted communications from a nearby source. In 34 ABY, Kazuda Xiono, a Resistance operative, employed a Republic encryption recorder to seize an encrypted data transmission. This transmission was intended to be sent by Marnia Un'la'na, a First Order informant and skilled pilot, to Major Elrik Vonreg during the All Aces Battle Royale race. Although Xiono's recorder was destroyed when his borrowed racer was struck by another ship during the competition, he managed to retrieve Un'la'na's data from the ship's backup system and relay it to General Leia Organa of the Resistance.
The Republic encryption recorder, a compact gray device, represented a specific type of espionage tool. Characterized by its roughly square shape, it could be affixed to a racer's communications system, enabling the vessel to intercept, record, and duplicate encrypted data transmissions. Due to their limited operational range, Republic encryption recorders needed to be in close proximity to the source of the transmission they were attempting to intercept.
While operating as a Resistance spy aboard the supertanker fuel depot Colossus in 34 ABY, Kazuda Xiono, formerly a New Republic pilot, secured a racer from a visiting pilot who was present to participate in the All Aces Battle Royale race. Xiono installed a Republic encryption recorder within the starship, with the intention of using it during the race to intercept an encrypted transmission. This transmission was planned to be sent mid-race by Marnia Un'la'na, a First Order informant and skilled pilot, to Major Elrik Vonreg of the First Order.
Shortly thereafter, Xiono entered the race under the alias "Bolt-Shatterer-K," piloting the borrowed ship alongside the astromech droid BB-8. As he approached Un'la'na's racer during the competition, Xiono activated his Republic encryption recorder as the informant initiated her transmission to Vonreg. Following an incident where Hype Fazon's ship, the Green Ace, collided with Xiono's ship, briefly disrupting his range, the spy persisted in tracking Un'la'na's ship until the encryption recorder re-established its connection to her transmission.
However, when another vessel struck his racer, resulting in the destruction of the encryption recorder, the Resistance spy was compelled to withdraw and crash in a hangar. Subsequently, Xiono lamented the loss of the device and deemed the mission a failure. Nevertheless, upon discovering that his borrowed vessel possessed a data log backup, he successfully recovered the data from Un'la'na's transmission and transmitted it to General Leia Organa of the Resistance.
A Republic encryption recorder made an appearance in "All Aces Battle Royale," a comic story authored by Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt and visually rendered by Valentina Pinto. This story was published by IDW Publishing within the sixteenth edition of the 2017 Star Wars Adventures comic series, which was released on December 19, 2018.