Though my experience, so far, with VO is limited I've yet to see any bots with faction other than the main nations and hive. Are there any bots thru out the sectors with *3rd* party factions like Corvus, BioCom, etc ?

I would think it fairly reasonable that these other factions would be using various bots of varied functions in their daily operations and would add another dimension to the use of faction in gameplay.

Not just for improving one faction over another by destroying their bots but also allowing the planned escape.*Dragging* an opponent thru a roid field full of bots that you have good standing with and they do not, this could add another facet to the strategy of Traders vs Pirates as well as the UIT/Serco/Itani conflict.

Yep. You can sometimes run into the trade bots that will be labeled as "Biocom" or "TPG" or "Valent".

Corvus defbots go by the monniker "Kraz", after the planet the capitol station orbits.