Lords of War
"A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic"
A/N- I don't own Harry Potter, Warhammer, Star Wars or any other franchise or intellectual property that may feature in this story.
Chapter one - Economics of War/Casino Funding
Harry Potter was taking some time off away from the war with Outer Heaven and, at the recommendation of Miller, went to a high stakes casino on the island of Los Swavos with his wife Ginny. Accompanying them were Ron and Hermione, who were there to enjoy the resort attached to the casino. Harry was dressed in a black tuxedo and Ginny was dressed in a Green dress as they walked through the casino.
"Are you enjoying yourself Gin?" Harry asked his beautiful red haired wife.
"I'll be honest, I didn't think that this is the kind of place you'd go to. You've never struck me as the gambling type." Ginny admitted to Harry.
"I'm fairly sure that I've gambled at least once a year since I was eleven. Voldemort, Voldemort again, Dementors and Time Turners, Voldemort yet again..." Harry replied with a cheeky grin on his face.
"You know what I mean." Ginny admonished with an equally cheeky smile. "I've never known you to gamble money before. Especially large amounts of it." She then added.
"I've done so on occasion but never enough to get me in the red. I usually bring professionals along if I'm on a mission to places like this." Harry informed Ginny.
"Well we're on holiday so I think we should enjoy ourselves." Ginny said to her husband as they went up to one of the bars. Ginny had a glass of champagne while Harry had a glass of firewhiskey.
After finishing their drinks, Harry and Ginny began looking at the various casino games to see what grabbed their interest. However, it wasn't a game that grabbed Harry's interest but a person. A very important person who he knew all too well. "Oh great, the last person I wanted to see at the moment." He muttered to Ginny in a annoyed tone.
"Who is it?" Ginny asked Harry in confusion.
Harry pointed out a person at high stakes blackjack table wearing all black clothing including a a smart shirt with the top button undone, a smart jacket and smart trousers with the only non-black colours on display were a silvery-green watch and a pair of green cufflinks, "That is Samgon. I'm not sure if he's here for leisure or business though."
"At least Ron isn't with us at the moment. He's made his views very clear." Ginny commented with some relief. The pair made their way over to the high stakes blackjack table where Samgon was currently at. Samgon appeared to have amassed a small fortune as the rapidly growing pile of casino chips was suggesting. It appeared to be a few million pounds at least by Harry's estimate.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here, Samgon. Are you here for business or leisure?" Harry asked the Orc Emperor inquisitively as both he and Ginny sat down with Samgon at the Blackjack table.
"A little of column A and a little of column B." Samgon replied with a bit of a chuckle. He then asked the couple a similar question, "What brings you two here? Business or leisure?"
"Definitely leisure. Given the current state of affairs between our lot and your lot, we decided to take a holiday and this place was recommended to us." Harry replied to Samgon's questioning.
"What brings you here? Outer Heaven can't be running out of money to fund itself?" Ginny asked the Orc Emperor with no subtle hint of curiosity.
"It's not for Outer Heaven. None of the money that me or my comrades make over the coming days and weeks will benefit Outer Heaven in a direct way." Samgon told Ginny very definitively.
"That must mean that you'll be gaining some benefit in some subtle way then?" Harry deduced from Samgon's answer.
"As it so happens Harry, for a change, what I'm doing here aligns quite nicely with the aims of your group and your allies. I'm sure you're familiar with the conflict going on between those two countries who aren't involved in our war?" Samgon said to Harry.
"I know the one you mean." Harry confirmed to Samgon's satisfaction. "Ukoso and Terekvada have been at war with each other for the last month and a half. Terekvada tried to invade Ukoso to get a more friendly government under its control. Needless to say that a good proportion of the world has isolated Terekvada economically."
"Meanwhile, your WSF group have sent some instructors and equipment to Ukoso to help train their new recruits and the untrained foreign volunteers. I also know that the Chaos powers and the Empire have also sent equipment to Ukoso." Samgon said knowingly, even as he won another hand of Blackjack.
"I'm still struggling to see how you being here has anything to do with that conflict." Ginny told Samgon bluntly. She barely won a hand of Blackjack against the dealer as the three spoke.
"I'm here so I can get weaponry and other equipment for three different groups who are involved in some way. Of course, I'm planning on sending arms and equipment to Ukoso itself, that's the first group. The second group is a semi volunteer army that I'm raising with some illicit help from others. The final group that I'm planning on arming are groups that are aligned with my empire and those that are suppressed in Terekvada. I don't want to get my Empire involved in the fighting." Samgon told Harry and Ginny emphatically.
"You mentioned about your comrades? What are they doing?" Harry asked the ever contradictory warlord.
"Basically anything high stakes in this place. You know, Poker, Baccarat, Roulette, Craps, you name it." Samgon told him.
"I'm surprised that you're not playing Baccarat, it seems to me that you'd be the kind of person who'd play it." Harry commented.
"I probably would be playing it if I knew how to play it." Samgon replied before making his own comment, "You know, with you dressed in tuxedo Harry, I would've assumed that you were a Baccarat player."
"So, you know what you're going to buy for all these groups?" Ginny asked Samgon inquisitively.
"Oh definitely. For Ukoso, I'm buying some T-34's, JS-2's and 3's and some Sherman's as well as thousands of rifles, submachine guns and machine guns as well as hundreds of Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks and dozens of Fliegerfausts. And that's not to mention the dozens of anti-tank, artillery and Flak guns I'm also going to get them. I'm also sending them a few dozen StuG 3's and 4's, SU-85's and Semovente da 47/32's and a dozen Sturmpanzer 4's." Samgon told Ginny before remembering a few details, "Oh and about fifteen Panzer 4's and four Panthers."
"And what about the other two groups?" Ginny pressed.
"Wow, I can see why you became a journalist. Shame you became a sports journalist and not a defence journalist." Samgon commented very offhandedly to Ginny before answering her question. "The volunteer army that I'm raising I am intending to be between eight and eighteen divisions strong and I will be equipping them with more of the same equipment that I'm sending to Ukoso directly. Maybe I'll get it some Tigers, Jagdtigers, Hummels and Wespes as well. As for the various groups in Terekvada who support me, I'm planning to send them lots of small arms and dozens of vehicles and light artillery pieces. If your lot is backing any groups in the areas where my groups of supporters are located, I'll instruct the groups that follow me to cooperate."
"You've really thought this out, haven't you?" Harry asked the Orc Warlord.
"I really have. It's just a matter of financing all of this and Outer Heaven can't be seen to be directly supplying Ukoso. It just opens a whole can of worms otherwise." Samgon replied.
"How much have you and your comrades made so far?" Harry asked as he placed a bet on the Blackjack table.
"One hundred and thirty two." Samgon told Harry.
Harry won his hand of Blackjack, winning with a hand of 20 compared with the dealer's 19 and then he responded to what Samgon had said, "One hundred and thirty two million? You're going to need a lot more than that."
"Not million, Harry, trillion." Samgon corrected Harry almost instantly. Harry and Ginny's eyes almost shot out of their heads in disbelief.
"How have you managed get that much so fast?" Ginny asked in amazement.
"Me and my comrades have been here virtually since the crisis began. We've been making tens of millions a day each." Samgon told Ginny proudly.
"It's still going to be very expensive though, isn't it?" Harry then pointed out.
"True. But, then again, I always find a way to provide. Even when I finally leave this island, I'll have lots of comrades and collaborators to continue the effort." Samgon told Harry optimistically. He then addressed the pair of them with a smile, setting aside the majority of the millions of pounds intended for helping Ukoso in its fight against Terekvada as he did so, "Let's enjoy a few rounds of Blackjack then how about we go up to my apartment upstairs and play some liar's dice?"
Sure enough, Samgon was able to fully fund the effort required for his plans. He even began expanding his plans by setting up many units for Ukoso's use such as creating a number of units by using prisoners from a variety of countries and more volunteers.
Harry and Ginny enjoyed their vacation in Los Swavos despite it turning out to be one of the most dangerous places on the planet with shootouts and dogfights an almost daily occurrence. They liked the place so much that they purchased some properties around the island which they would visit for many years to come. Ron and Hermione meanwhile spent virtually all of their holiday in the resort, hardly setting foot into the casino. Ron was even oblivious to Samgon's presence there until after the holiday had ended and was told by Harry and Ginny.
The war between Terekvada and Ukoso ground on, with Ukoso receiving near universal support and Terekvada becoming ever more isolated and becoming increasingly humiliated. But this was far from the only war taking place...
A/N- I became inspired to write this after a certain crisis broke out in a certain part of the world. I'm sure we all know what one I mean. However, it's far from the only conflict going on at the moment, so this will be a story about, guess what? War. Hopefully, I'll have another chapter of this out within a week or two. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned any of my other works so do expect them to be updated soon.
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and please review. If you think you know any of the references I've put in here, please say in the reviews or DM me.