The Marauders don't arrive asking the X-Men to surrender. They go after the people living underneath New York and start killing them.

The Marauders don't arrive asking the X-Men to surrender. They go after the people living underneath New York and start killing them. That makes their introduction in the Mutant Massacre hard to separate from what they leave behind. The Morlock tunnels have been dangerous before, but they were also somebody's home. The Marauders turn them into a place where the X-Men are trying to get survivors out while being torn apart themselves. This is the original assassin group from 1986, with the immediate aftermath carrying into 1987. Scalphunter, Sabretooth, Arclight, Harpoon, Riptide, Scrambler, Vertigo, Blockbuster and Prism provide different kinds of violence. Malice extends the operation beyond the tunnels by taking control of other people. Mister Sinister is the employer behind them, revealed properly afterward rather than standing beside them during their opening attack. Their powers fit together horribly well. Someone loses their balance. Someone else loses the ability that was keeping them alive. Then the gunman or the man with the energy spear finishes the job. They aren't interested in giving anybody a fair fight, and their victims don't have to be superheroes to become targets. The consequences follow the books out of the tunnels. Kitty, Kurt and Peter don't simply walk away ready for the next adventure. Warren's injuries change his life. The mansion becomes a refuge, and even that refuge isn't safe from Sabretooth. The X-Men have faced enemies who could destroy the world. These people manage to make a hallway, a hospital and the school grounds feel unsafe. There is no comforting distance between the battlefield and home anymore.