27 Reapers OF Death.

Inside the Bounded Field, the Martians of the small City State had been trapped for weeks, losing hope that they would ever go free. It had happened so suddenly when the shimmering purple barrier appeared around their entire city. 

When it went up, the Patriarch sent out his personal Shapers and Warshappers, demanding that the barrier be removed. However, the Bounded Fields used were of Justinian's design, and they retaliated when attacked. 

This resulted in the Martians who tried to break them being either incinerated by the field or surviving by a hair. At the sight of such a fate, the Patriarch holed himself up in his dwelling with his Elites, Warriors, remaining Shapers, and family. 

Most of the food and water they had left the commoners to fend for themselves. It was a good thing that Martians were hardy and could go a while without those things, but it was still starting to grate on the nerves of the commoners. 

They gathered what little they still had and rationed it among themselves to try to stave off starvation or descend into cannibalism. Several tried to start new farms of crops from the few seeds they kept, but they had limited success due to a lack of water or fertilizer. 

One such White Martian was Hadozz S'urlom, who had just turned 48(16) the day the barrier went up. He had seen what happened to those Shapers who tried to bring it down.

To improve the crop yield, all Martians were asked to donate their bodily waste since the Patriarch's forces had taken even the livestock, the Sho'keer, hardy reptilian insects.

It was shameful that was what they had to do to survive, but it was better than descending into cannibalistic anarchy. As for Hadozz, he was on the smaller side of his people, only 6'4, causing his neighbors to call him Pozornyy, meaning Shameful One. 

He was the smallest of his family, and his psychic power was weak. He could barely get a threat out further than 8 feet, causing even his siblings to find him embarrassing. His Father, a mixed-blood Warrior and Shaper, had died in the Green Purge, leaving his Mother widowed and his 3 siblings to fend for themselves. 

As he walked, he kept his head down. He could see some larger Martians starting to look at him longer than normal. Their eyes were glowing in anger and hunger as they considered whether to eat him. 

He sped up when he saw that, as he knew the weak were the first to be eaten. Even his own Mother had told him that he would be better off dead them bringing shame to his Father's name. 

He clenched his clawed hands causing them to pierce his palms in anger. 

'I hate this, so what if I am small? Who cares that I can't use my psychic powers? I am still one of us, I shouldn't have to live in fear of being eaten.'

Just as he was thinking that, he noticed a group of his neighbors starting to gather around him. It was a group of 38 adults, teenagers, and even children younger than he was. At the front was his own older brother, who had come out with the warrior psyche of his father and with powerful psychic might. 

Hadozz felt sickening in his gut when he saw that gathering group. 

"What do you want?" 

His brother smirked as he looked at him. 

"Brother, we have too many mouths to feed. You eat more than you are worth, so our friends and I have decided that you and the weak will be used as rations. You will live, though, so don't worry. More meat to grow that way." 

The poor Young Martian recoiled in horror as he started to back away. 

"NO!" 

His brother seemed to derive a terrible satisfaction from seeing the fear in his brother's gaze. 

"Why are you being so selfish? You will be alive if the barrier goes down, and we will let you go. Until then, you will feed so many, so just come quietly."

The large Martian, standing 10 feet tall, began to walk forward. Hadozz turned around and ran off. Like everything else, he couldn't fly, but his brother could. 

"No flying; I want to chase down the little roach." 

Speeding down into a run, he chased after his brother, moving far faster than the weak runt. With a stronger, longer, and faster gate, he would catch up quickly. His face was an expression of pure satisfaction at the suffering he would inflict on his family's shame. 

The rest of his group began to run with him as they chased after the first of many runts, weaklings, and elderly that would turn into food. 

'YES! RUN YOU LITTL-'

His dark thoughts were interrupted by the sound of falling shells, causing him and his group to freeze mid-run. They looked up at the sky, seeing giant shells begin to fall. 

The largest was the Baneblade Battle Cannon Shells, followed by the Skyreaper Battery shells. In horror, he watched as one of those 1-ton shells fell directly on him, erupting into a blast of shrapnel and purple flames. 

As for the Skyreaper Battery, the shells were smaller, but they fell like a rain of shells. After each shell exploded, they released Psymagical Flames that burned even in the Martian atmosphere. 

Hadozz turned around and watched as shells began to pelt the city through the city. He froze in partial horror and extreme shock as giant mushroom-like clouds erupted through his neighborhood. 

That would have been terrifying, but the shells were not the only fear they had to face. Outside the Bounded Fielders, the 500 War Shapers moved forward and, with their Staffs, gathered around B'limnan, a talented Shaper in the art of Magic and Psychic Power. 

She acted as the core of their Psymagic Siege Array as they worked together to shape Psychic and Magic into spells. Justinian, Ddraig, and Albion had created several siege spells that he could cast alone but required his Shapers teams to cast. 

Sigismund, who was in charge of the raid for his Lord and Master, watched everything from his Mastodon. The 3 Chapter Masters and their Honor Guards were waiting for his call to move their forces as they were itching for combat. 

However, Sigismund first wanted to pelt the city with shells and siege spells. He watched everything through his purple neon eyes. He wanted to know how Dorn and Titus handled their sieges but cut that thought from his mind. 

Above their heads, the shapers finished the first spell, The Blistering Blaze, a mix of Poison, Ice, and Fire Magic. This spell created a chilling flame that froze and poisoned the surroundings. 

Above them, a white fire orb burned with a deep shimmer before B'limnan, the Head Shaper, took control of it and launched it. 

---

The Patriarch, who had holed himself away with his 20 Elite bodyguards, was horrified and notified of what was going on outside. He lunged out for the bowl next to him and shoveled a series of dishes into his gullet. 

Most Martians, even the Patriarchs, made sure not to let their wealth lower their edge, but he had not done that. There was probably not a fatter Martian among his people as he looked more like a Hutt than a proper Martian Elite. 

Even his own Mate found him disgusting as layers of lard replaced his once mighty body. She was standing in the corner watching him gorge himself. 

"Slow down; the food won't go anywhere." 

He snarled as he shoved a handful of fried compound eyes into his mouth. 

"I am the Patriarch; I can feast when I want." 

She snarled at him. 

"Get up and say that." 

He snarled back and tried to get up, but his legs were so full of fat that he had to force himself up. When he did, he tried to take a step but fell back into his throne built in front of the Crystal Pillar causing his fat to move in waves. 

She grinned at him. 

"What did I say?" 

"SHUT UP!" 

Just then, outside, an explosion rocked the entire city, causing the Patriarch to stop shoveling food into his gut. He closed his eyes and used the Crystal Net to check what was happening, something he had not done since he holed himself away. 

---

Outside, the Blistering Frost had struck near the city's center, causing an explosion of freezing toxic flames that froze their surroundings into poisonous ice crystals. Sigusmind leaned back as B'limnan, the head shaper, turned to his Mastodon where he sat. 

"Do we fire once more?"

The Burning Martian Elite stood up and cut his link with the A.I of his tank. 

"No. That is all we need, Marines, Scions, prepare to move." 

In his words, the 6 Chapter Masters and their Honor Guards moved out of the two Mastodons. They gathered together as the 6 Chapters gathered behind their respective Master. 

6,000 Power Armor-wearing 12-foot-tall. Psymagic-Enhanced Martian Warriors. The runes and glyphs across their armor shimmered with power, as did their weapons. Up close, they all were equipped with Power Weapons a step below proper Psymagic equipment. 

Each Chapter had 10 Companies of 100 who focused on different weapons. Swords, Spears, Axes, hammers, scythes, Chain whips, and more were common. Some even focused on using their Bolters, some wrist-mounted, some not. 

Even Plasma Rifles were popular as they could be changed form stun to kill mode. Behind the six chapters, the 3,000 Scions gathered with their Hotshot Plasma guns, a mix of a Plasma Gun and a Hotshot Lasgun. The Shapers stood behind them as Sigismund moved to the front. 

As a proper former Elite, now Burning Martian, he was a giant at 25 feet tall. Just like his brethren and Master, he could change his size at his whims. If he wanted to, he could become taller than any human building. 

Using his newly enhanced Psymagic abilities, he created a temporary Psychic Net for just this raid. 

"I am Sigismund, formerly named T'ry'morr G'inss. My King named me after one of the greatest duelists of his time. I consider it an honor, but the man I am named after would have probably tried to take my head for me being a Xenos." 

The Martians didn't know if they should laugh, so they didn't. Sigismund kept talking, though. 

"However, he is dead, and I am not, and that is what matters. I take his name. IN THE NAME OF MY KING, MY LORD, JUSTINIAN ARCADIUS VALORIS VALDOR, I SWEAR THIS: NONE WHO APPOSE HIM SHALL BE LEFT!" 

Armored Martians began smashing their feet into the ground as the net caused their emotions to run like fire. They smashed their fists against their chest plates, causing a roar of Ceramite, Adamantium, Orichalcum, and Beskar. 

Under their eyes, Sigismund burst into imperial purple flames as he began to grow larger. Still in his armor, he turned into a towering shape of the true Martians, the Burning. He was nearly 100 feet tall, and his armor vented Psymagic flames. 

"Move on the city, switch weapons to stun, capture as many alive as possible. We are not here to exterminate; we are here to capture." 

At his bellowing words, his forces began to march forward. The Chapter Masters and their Terminators all strived to draw the gaze of their master, Justinian. He and Remnosh were very careful in monitoring the situation as his new power gave him some god-like abilities. 

They could gain his blessing if he found Warriors, Shapers, or more who drew his gaze. As such, his eyes were peeled, waiting for any show of bravery. Already, Sigismund, Dorn, and Titus were showing different styles. 

Sigismund ordered a massive shelling and siege spell first before moving his forces. Dorn was going for the slow siege, like his name shake, while Titus was mixing the two. He sent a message for surrender from the Patriarch, and for every hour they didn't surrender, he would launch a Siege Spell. 

Talking of Sigismund, he and his forces entered the Bounded Field, causing every Martian to gaze up at his giant burning form. Behind his helm, his toothy maw split into a grin. 

'Start.' 

In his words, his 6,000 Marines and 3,000 Scions began to split into groups of 1,000. Each of these 1,000 groups received 55 Shapers, with the other five chapters staying with Sigismund. 

Once they were set loose, the giant Marines, at the orders of their Chapter Masters, began to coordinate their strikes from 6 points. The groups of Scions were led by their Tempestor Primes, former Laborers who received further augmentation for the job. 

With their technological, magical, and even physical superiority, the city would be compliant in hours. Sigusmind turned to where he felt the Crystal Pillar was and moved to take it to add to the Crystal Throne of Justinian.

All the while he kept several thought threads focused on his forces to be ready for anything.