Talk:Sentient/@comment-45.114.250.51-20160215093015/@comment-24136187-20160215093757

They were originally intended as colonization drones. The whole self-replication angle was probably so that the Orokin didn't spend too much resources on building a large enough colonizing party. Just plonk a few at Tau, wait while they clean up the place (and create more of themselves from damaged parts), and warp to their new colony when they're done.

In Sci-Fi tradition, the Orokin didn't take into account if the Sentients started getting ideas...