Transcendence

I had a bunch of autons, including 3 mules carrying a whole lot of lovely loot (something like 20 units of duralloy armour, and my Black Market ID Chip) who have ceased to exist.

The situation, I had them all waiting near the gate while I explored the system. My ship was destroyed, but came back as per my insurance policy. I went back to check on my autons, they've gone.

i think they gated out when you died.

that's why i don't get insurance, all autons and wingmen fly away when you die. whether or not you come back seems to make no difference.

that is nothing new. Companions (Rama, Volkier, Jenna) will also do this. It seems as if a few days have passed before you continue your journey (and you somehow forgot to tell your companions that you bought insurance).

Do you know how long cloning, teaching you again and collecting all your stuff needs ? Do you really want your wingman wait that long ?
Of course you want ... ^^

I noticed me not using any mule in my latest game.
Why ? They can get into crossfire easily eg. sniped by dwarg master, in a stray of windslaver particle-shots, or blasted by a hurin destroyer.
So I need them to stop on a planet.
Ever tried to let 3-6 mules stop on a small planet width two times of your ship ?
I did. It's quite time consuming and while doing it you might need to cope with new spawns.

There is still a lack of controlling-capability for a specifed auton of the same typ (I don't know which is which).
To solve this problem it would also be usefull if you could order autons to stop right at the spot where you are ! (as they can't think which place is safe, I need to direct them !)