we catch and shred so many gnomes!~ it wouldnt be too far to assume they one day want revenge.
like all the bots having gnomes on their heads as a map modifier, or gnome based enemies of some kind as a 3 day april fools joke event.
or somthing deeper as an event, gnome powered technology and you get a point for each gnome you scrap and extract with. which you use to level up some joke weapons to fight joke enemies that spawns like a single corvette spawning side event. making these joke weapons be the only effective way to take them out.
side note it be kinda horrfyingly funny to hear a tiny monotone tiny scream when they get put in.