There’s still options there. One is that they are malfunctioning. Another is they were the servants of someone who was busted, like a xenarite.
They are taken offline as broken machines would be, and intended for recycling/decommission, but instead end up within reach of the inquisitorial war band, which seizes them for use in this conflict and recommissions/repairs them.
I have this linked in the main post, but this had a lot of ideas on what it could read like: