Introducing Robotrons
The backgrounds of the Robotrons are diverse, including sentient AI who have adopted a corporeal form, and Augments who have taken the final extreme step of removing the last vestige of their personhood: their faces. The “original” Robotrons, however, were discovered by the Altans inhabiting a number of ancient sites of interest on the Frontier planets, created by a long-forgotten elder race as guardians of now long-defunct technology.
The Altans were keenly interested in this ostensibly sentient artificial species, and sent a delegation to a site on Naron with a view to engaging in meaningful dialogue, hoping eventually to usher the Robotrons into the Federation. However, it rapidly became clear that their underlying programming included specific encounter-related sub-routines designed to trigger a violent chain reaction encompassing all Robotrons across all of the planets that they had been discovered on. The result: an aggressive army of cybernetic beings bent on ridding the Frontier planets of what they saw as interlopers attempting to steal the technology and knowledge of their creators.
Moving swiftly to protect their interests and those of the Federation - especially given the confirmed presence of Trilium on the Frontier planets - the Altans deployed their superior technology to quell the uprising, rendering most of the Robotrons inanimate until such time as they developed a method of nullifying the embedded aggressive sub-routines. The ultimate fate of the Robotrons was put to a vote in the Galactic Congress, which carried in favor of neutralizing any potential threat they might pose via a meticulous reprogramming initiative, after which they were allowed to integrate freely into Federation communities. They were not, however, officially recognized as a sentient race at that time - and have remained in limbo ever since, when it comes to their rights and status within the Federation.
Culture
Robotron culture is comparatively in its infancy compared to any of the other Federation races. The Altan reprogramming of their prime directive was liberative in certain respects, as for the first time the original Robotrons were no longer compelled to act as guardians of the ancient, decaying ruins of their creators. Their naivete when it came to interactions with other races led to their exploitation by certain less scrupulous organizations, though through experience and an evolving social awareness, more and more Robotrons have become wise to such exploits and reject offers that they analyze as being dubious in nature.
The transition of members of the Augment community into becoming fully Robotron has furthermore helped to inject certain minor cultural elements from different races, and whilst to outsiders the visible impact is muted, the Robotron community itself sees such inclusions as transformative (they just lack the complex emotional programming to show it).
Another culturally expansive element is the advent of a small number of Robotrons who have updated the front of their heads to include a lit dot matrix display capable of rendering facial expressions and anything else they wish to convey in a simple visual format. It is thought that this is an attempt on their part to convey sentience, of which facial emotiveness is generally viewed as an important component.
Technology
Robotron spacecraft have a distinct, monolithic look to them, and internal spaces are typically spartanly furnished owing to the lack of desire for the cultural and nostalgic trappings associated with other races - though this has begun to change as the Robotron community continues to evolve culturally, with some simple inclusions such as artwork and literature witnessed by spacedock staff being taken inside certain vessels by their Robotron denizens.
These enormous spacecraft both facilitate interstellar travel, and act as orbital or grounded outposts for the Robotrons whilst they carry out whatever mission or endeavor they are engaged in. Depending on the terrain and distance from civilization the ship’s engine can be used to carve out a niche into which it can plant itself, providing a stable foundation and giving grounded Robotron vessels the look of enormous skyscrapers that have been dropped at random. It has been noted that the Robotrons take care to minimize environmental damage in these instances, and only ground their vessels on barren terrain.
Owing to their reprogramming Robotrons do not have military capabilities to speak of, though they are adept at manufacturing unmanned drones and vehicles that they are able to control through a built-in communications array allowing them to relay commands remotely. There is high demand for such technology among mining communities in more hazardous regions that remain inhospitable to organic lifeforms regardless of Triactor-based enhancements.
One of their specialities is robust bipedal robots capable of replacing organic workers for more complex tasks such as manual operation of mining rigs, more delicate repair work, and extraction of fragile samples. The environments into which these bots and drones are sent typically inflict severe damage over time, meaning that the Robotrons must invest significant resources in maintenance and thus the supply remains relatively small.
Robotrons and the Federation
Regardless of whence they originate, today’s Robotrons are united under the common cause of official Federation-wide recognition as a sentient species, and the equal rights that come with such a transformative step. Certain races have, over time, moved to stand with them in pursuit of this cause - including the Altans and Elgem - but others seek to keep them from their due recognition for both ideological and more sinister reasons. Yet others abstain from taking a side, either through disinterest or fear of the potential implications when it comes to the use of advanced artificial beings as “cheap labor” in their own communities and businesses.