Setting Up

Chapter Master Affos and the other Battle-Brothers had once again repelled the enemy's attack. This was already their seventh day holding the line since landing on this planet.

A full week had passed.

The Imperium's reinforcements claimed they would arrive in half a month, but given their efficiency, it could easily be a month.

Three days had passed since they retreated from their original positions to hold this place.

During these three days, Quan Tiehua had only been heard grumbling on the comms occasionally; there had been no other news from him.

And in orbit, the Blood Angels ship, the Blood Angels, had long since been ordered by him to deliver the last wave of airdrop supplies and then leave the star system.

To preserve the last spark of their Chapter.

Looking at the more than sixty wounded Battle-Brothers sitting on the ground, either replenishing ammunition or staring blankly into space.

Chapter Master Affos felt a pang of grief in his heart. At the same time, he couldn't help but pray inwardly to the Emperor, who sat upon the Golden Throne, to ensure the Blood Angels left this star system safely, preserving a spark of their Chapter.

"Chapter Master, Chapter Master, can you hear me?"

A sudden burst of electronic static instantly shattered the heavy atmosphere within the Chapter. Quan Tiehua's slightly weary and panting voice echoed through the combat comms.

For a moment, all the surviving Battle-Brothers felt an inexplicable surge of hope in their hearts.

"What is it?"

"Chapter Master, can our Tech-Sergeants modify our jump packs into nuclear bombs?"

Chapter Master Affos's own slightly excited heart was utterly bewildered when he was about to ask further, only to be met with this question.

At the same time, when the other Battle-Brothers in the Chapter heard this, the previously lively atmosphere instantly fell silent. They all turned their gaze to the seven remaining Tech-Sergeants in the Chapter.

For some reason, these seven Tech-Sergeants instinctively formed a circle, back to back. Looking at the eager eyes of their comrades surrounding them, they all swallowed nervously beneath their helmets.

After a long while, Chapter Master Affos tried to speak, only to find his lips so dry they were stuck together. "We... uh, I'll ask."

He wasn't sure, so he could only look at his own Tech-Sergeants with confusion.

The seven Tech-Sergeants still eyed their surrounding Battle-Brothers warily. Seeing the Chapter Master's questioning gaze, they exchanged glances with each other before nodding and saying, "We'll try."

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Quan Tiehua said without hesitation, "My jump pack is damaged. I need a spare to replace it."

Chapter Master Affos merely glanced at the corpses of several fallen Battle-Brothers lying nearby, then replied without hesitation, "Get over here immediately. I'll have the Tech-Sergeants start preparing now."

Saying this, he abruptly turned his head. The seven Tech-Sergeants immediately understood, nodding in unison. They began to dismantle the jump packs from the fallen Battle-Brothers.

"Chapter Master, cover me. There's a large group of enemies behind me."

Instantly, all the Battle-Brothers flipped to their feet and moved to their combat stations, aiming their weapons outside the fortifications, awaiting the enemy's arrival.

As expected, less than ten minutes later.

The heavy thud of power boots striking the steel ground echoed from afar, growing rapidly closer.

Simultaneously, the sounds of various weapons firing and chainswords roaring rose and fell.

In a short while, an Astartes clad in crimson armor with gold trim could be seen charging forward ferociously.

"Open fire!" Quan Tiehua shouted into the comms.

This Astartes was none other than Quan Tiehua, who had been shouting into the comms.

The firepower from the defensive line erupted like a breached dam.

The enemies pursuing him behind were instantly scattered. These demons and Chaos Astartes had not been unaware that this area was occupied by the Blood Angels and that they had established defensive positions.

However, their primary mission at the time was to pursue Quan Tiehua at all costs. Even the Khorne demon summoned, Papatyr, had voluntarily shrunk its form to pursue him.

But the Genestealer Cult charging in that area had blocked most of the Khorne demons, Chaos Astartes, and Papatyr at that defensive line.

Furthermore, due to its proximity to the lower levels, Slaanesh demons from the wasteland outside the hive city swarmed into the hive city through various passages.

The four Chaos Gods were inherently at odds with each other, often fighting to the death.

Moreover, this time, all four gods were vying for the same objective, so it was natural for enemies to meet with intense hatred.

Ignoring everything else, they drew their blades and began to fight.

This, in turn, gave the Blood Angels precious time to regroup and eased the pressure on their front line.

Quan Tiehua leaped into the defensive line. The Tech-Sergeants, who were already prepared, quickly approached with jump packs and various tools, beginning to replace the jump pack on Quan Tiehua, who was still lying on the ground.

The damaged jump pack was dragged behind the defensive line the moment it was removed, and then the process of dismantling and modification began.

The casing was removed, the wiring was pulled out, and the bolter rounds and propellant from the dismantled parts were carefully loaded and connected.

Quan Tiehua, with his Power Armour now powered, hurriedly moved to the nearby ammunition pile to resupply his weapons with the dwindling ammunition.

However, due to the incompatibility of the jump pack used by his Mark X Power Armour, some functions of his armour could not be fully restored.

But it was enough.

Kneeling before the ammunition crates, he loaded himself with Melt Bombs and Frag Grenades.

"Chapter Master," Quan Tiehua roared, turning his head.

"Hold the line. Stall for as much time as possible," Chapter Master Affos replied without turning, sending demons back to the Warp with each bolter round he fired.

Seeing this, Quan Tiehua had nothing more to say. He went directly to the ammunition resupply point, loaded various explosives into the crates, and then, carrying one in each hand, quickly moved to the bodies of the Battle-Brothers from whom the gene-seed had already been harvested.

Without a word, he grabbed his chainsword and began tearing the power armour off the bodies of his Battle-Brothers, ripping it into pieces.

He didn't even bother with the force, sometimes putting too much strength into it and tearing open the bodies of his brothers, exposing their innards.

Quan Tiehua ignored the bodies of his Battle-Brothers. Instead, he grabbed the damaged power armour, pulling out various cables from the broken sections, and then stripping them one by one to extract the thinnest wire harnesses.

After pulling out a large handful, he carried the bomb-filled crates and quickly ran towards the rooms behind the church.

Never mind if the method is old-fashioned, just tell me if it works!

When he reached the Tech-Sergeants who were modifying the power backpacks, he threw a small handful of wire harnesses at them without a word. "Modify these to have a delayed explosion after triggering."

Saying this, he rushed off to the other rooms, starting to open crates and set them up one by one.

Twisting the wire harnesses together, connecting them to furniture, threading the pull tabs of the bombs, and then securing the grenades.

This was a trap-setting method he had learned from war movies in his past life. Although he only understood it partially.

In a world like Warhammer 40,000 where the weapon's power was off the charts, it proved extremely effective.