Lightweight live image for remote-support disk imaging with GUI

I have created a modified 'variant-light' sana ISO and it works great as a deployable tool to remotely support HD acquisitions. I have a few remaining headaches I am trying to fix:

1) Boot menu with "Forensic Mode" only: I've edited the following, but can't change the "Live" boot options:

/live-build-config/config/hooks/persistence-menu.binary
/live-build-config/config/hooks/forensic-menu.binary
/live-build-config/config/hooks/accessibility.binary

I notice /live-build-config/binary/isolinux/live.cfg is built on-the-fly, and this is the file I need to remove the "Live" options. Any ideas? Editing the resulting ISO file itself is an option, but I'd rather do it at build time.

2) xrdp package installs as part of my /package-lists/kali.list.chroot but I cannot get this to auto-start (it works fine if service is started manually). Simplest solution I googled was to add @reboot <command> into /etc/chrontab, but this doesn't work with "service xrdp start" as the command. Suggestions for a linux-noob?

3) Finally, as a deployable tool, am I hoping for too much to get the ISO significantly smaller than 1gb? Is this the price I pay for good driver support and a GUI?

Any help greatly appreciated :)