The Stromlings seemed to laugh as the Talon transformed, coming in to land.
The engine turned to a horrible grinding noise. The Nexus Force members inside turned into Stromling Elites. The entire shape of the dropship shifted until it was completely different: splattered purple, with Maelstrom smoke floating about it. The cockpit was smashed horribly into the front of the dropship, which was now horribly disfigured, as if it had been in a crash. Perhaps the template had been. One of the pod-wings was half sheared of and hanging limply, but the dropship still flew perfectly. Dents and scratches were everywhere, as well as blast marks.
As the dropship landed, two others appeared, identical to the first, and flanked it, landing beside it. Stromling Elites began pouring out of them.
"So," Trek whispered, "This's what that 'landing ship' was..."
"And this is how this place got so invaded so fast," Vanda said. "Maelstrom Dropships."
"We're about to die," Thenso asked, "and you're worrying about names for the vehicles that mean doom for us?"
Vanda ignored him. The huge amount of Stromling Elites surrounded them. One marched forward. His eyes gleamed with intelligence, and he glowed violet. His left eye was miscolored, glowing green.
"Oh, brilliant," Meyer muttered. "It's one of them again."
The Stromling Elite shot Meyer an angry look, and he had a feeling he could hear what they said, however quiet they said it.
"Greetings, minifigures," it said. They jumped, because the voice was low and strange: almost a hum through their minds. "I am the leader of Stromlings, the master of the footsoldiers, Overlord of Servants."
"Overlord of Servants?" Trek said, laughing. "What kind of name is that?"
Ovalird groaned in annoyance. "I've heard that a hundred times," he said dangerously, "and each time the minifigure has been smashed!"
On the last word, he dived at Trek. His sword arm transformed into a real longsword in Overlord's hands as he sailed through the air. Trek rolled to the side and dodged the strike, and Ivalird pulled his sword out of the ground.
The Stromling Elites surrounded the two minifigures, who were locked in a standoff. Meyer, Thenso and Vanda stood in the crowd.
It was like a scene from an old western: two cowboys, standing, waiting to see who would fire first.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Overlord roared and charged.
That was his fatal mistake.
Trek raised his pistol and blasted Ovalird square in the chest, grinding his charge to a halt and knocking him to the ground. He walked over to the Stromling Elite.
"Don't bring a sword to a gunfight," he said.
Overlord looked up at him. Smoke rose from his chest. "Don't... don't think you've won," he managed. "I... I will return. Mark my words..." He raised his sword and pointed at Trek. "...This sword has your... your name on it. And you shall fall to... it's strike."
The Overlord crumbled into bricks.
Instead of charging, the Stromling Elite army stood, looking as shocked as Stromlings could look.
Thenso sighed. "About time," he said. "I'm tired of being attacked by armies."
The minifigures walked out of the group, leaving them to stand like statues. They walked back into the cavern labyrinth and sealed the entrance with another boulder.
They still had a few hours until sunset, so they decided they could take over another plateau. They found one and began observing.
Stromling Elites were everywhere, in their hundreds. There was about a hundred Corrupted Mechs climbing about, and Dark Tunnellers slid in and out of the ground in tens at a time.
"Alright," Vanda said. "It appears they got alot of dropships to land here."
"Yes," Meyer agreed. "Let's go, shall we?"
They walked onto the plateau. As the first Stromling was smashed, total chaos erupted. The plateau rocked in the sounds of a huge war.
Each of minifigures was a one-fig-army, smashing tens of Maelstrom with each strike. Meyer summoned armies, Vanda unleashed destruction, Trek blasted Stromlings, and Thenso used the power of the Maelstrom.
Suddenly a sound filled the air: the hum of many, many engines.
"Oh, no," Meyer said. "No, no, please, no. Not these again."
Huge shadows came over the plateau, blocking out the little sunlight. The engines got louder, and from over the caverns came the dropships.
There was at least thirty, probably more. There were many Nexus Force members inside most of them.
The Stromlings were looking at the dropships with the minifigures. The minifigures acted fast, sending blasts at the ships.
Mostly they missed, but they scored a several hits on multiple ships. The people inside hung on tightly, some yelling at the pilot, though the minifigures on the ground couldn't hear them over the engines. They began descending towards the minifigures.
"They're coming for us," Trek said. "Right for us. Run!"
But they were surrounded by motionless Stromlings and Mechs, and couldn't move anywhere. They watched in horror as the dropships came down, their guns charging up.
"Wait!" Vanda said as the minifigures prepared their weapons to fire again. "Something's not right!"
They looked again; she was right. The dropships hadn't morphed. The Nexus Force members looked the same. Some were yelling and waving their arms at them, as if to say, "We're on your side!"
They were real.