Order of the Automata
The Order of the Automata was “a gathering of robots, androids, automatons, golems, rovers, and other such beings, hailing from across the Multiverse”. Based out of a dimension they had made their own, named Automatia, they had the use of one large Void Ship, using which they liberated enslaved robots wherever they went; (PROSE: Peace and Quiet) they were experts at crafting more Ships of various types. (PROSE: The Grand Multiverse Hotel, The Salamandyrs and the Automata)
History
Origins
The Order was founded by a humanoid copper robot built in the Prime Universe in the late 1950s by a scientist of the First Horde, evidently the same one who would later create the Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids. The robot, later known as the Ancient One, had run away from the Horde in a Void Ship of its own making, taking with him a group of mutated salamanders called Salamandyrs, because he'd been mistreated by Professor Scarper, to whom he had originally been gifted as an assistant. As time passed, the Ancient One realised the Salamandyrs were also treating him as nothing more than a tool; he ran away from them in one of their stolen Void Ships, and, after returning it to its original owner, decided to found the Order to dedicate his life to helping other mistreated robots. He studied dimensional engineering and created a number of advanced Void Ships, allowing the Order to gradually expand. Eventually, they found an uninhabited dimension and claimed it as their home, dubbing it Automatia. (PROSE: The Salamandyrs and the Automata)
The First Great War
- See main article: First Great Salamandyr War
However, unbeknownst to the Ancient One, the Salamandyrs' own nation grew. Under the leadership of a self-appointed, power-hungry Salamandyr Emperor, they turned their sights to multiversal conquests, and, having amassed great stores of stolen weapons and even enslaved armies from dimensions they had conquered, they found their way to Automatia. The Automata were able to just barely keep up with them, leading to a bloody war that lasted for several years. (PROSE: The Salamandyrs and the Automata)
As the War seemed hopeless, the Ancient One declared that he had a “secret plan”, and also that should he be killed, he had discovered a way to come back to life in the Order's hour of greatest need. The former part was a lie meant to boost morale, though the latter actually wasn't, but the Order never got the chance to find out as the Ancient One was destroyed in a surprise attack, only for the tide to then turn and the Automata to triumph against the Salamandyrs on their own powers, (PROSE: Peace and Quiet) having been emboldened by their grief. (PROSE: The Salamandyrs and the Automata)
Decades of peace
Over the following decades, with no other threats forthcoming, they slowly “decommissioned all of [their] battling equipment and military bases and turned them into shopping malls and more robots and the like”. (PROSE: Peace and Quiet) They made a name for themselves as interdimensional-vehicle engineers on the multiversal scene; the Order's “finest engineer” created the Void Limousine used first by the Queen of the Black Market (who commissioned it) and, later, by Wendy VII. (PROSE: The Grand Multiverse Hotel)
Encounter with Marksmanship-522
This left them basically defenceless when the Salamandyrs returned in 2019, with the Salamandyr War Fleet invading Automatia itself without warning, headed by the Salamandyr Emperor's Void Ship. Remembering the Ancient One's prophecy, the Automata waited around a while, but as the number of captured robots grew, they realised no help was coming, and the Captain gathered all the robots he could aboard the Order's single great Void Ship and headed out into the Void.
There, while hovering above the Interdimensional Tavern, they found Marksmanship-522, who they decided must be the reincarnated Ancient One. Taking him to Automatia, they beamed him onto the Emperor's ship despite his protests. However, by coincidence, Marksmanship ended up discovering the Salamandyrs' great weakness to lavender, and soon forced them all to flee back to their own Dimension. As he was being hailed by a hero by the Automata, Marksmanship witnessed the return of the actual Ancient One, who apologised for being late. While he caught up with the rest of the Order, minor robot 21-419 was assigned to fly Marksmanship back to the Tavern aboard the Order's Void Ship. (PROSE: Peace and Quiet)
