A Soldier called Johnathan
After having found an encampment for the freed prisoners while they were searching for a base like Harry had described, Harry and Roy took a truck to a nearby town. Parking in an area where cargo was loaded and unloaded onto vehicles, Harry found the stacked crates good cover to infiltrate into the town proper.
Overhearing a pair of soldiers, Harry snuck closer to hear what they were talking about. He pressed himself silently against some stacked crates and listened to the conversation.
"I hear that they brought a powerful weapon with them. Something that was stronger than a tank." Soldier A spoke to his comrade.
"What could be stronger than a tank? And who would they use it on?" Soldier B asked. He seemed very sceptical about the weapon Soldier A spoke of.
"I don't know but apparently the Commander has quite a few enemies. I just hope he doesn't lauch it at our homeland." Soldier A said.
"Why would they launch it at our homeland? Surely it would be more likely to be the Empire or Outer Heaven?"
"Apparently some of the recent arrivals are from Outer Heaven and some are from the Empire as well. The Commanders have an agreement with individuals in Outer Heaven and The Empire would retaliate immediately. That means somewhere else would be the target. I'm worried that our homeland is a potential target."
Soldier B scoffed, "You worry too much. Our enemies, wherever they are, will ignore us and even if we do have a weapon, our bosses will not use it unless there is no other choice."
"I hope you're right." Soldier A said cautiously.
The conversation finished and the two soldiers split up to resume their patrols.
Harry decided to capture the pair and bring them to the truck. Tranquilizing the pair very quickly and quietly and once they fell to the ground, Harry levitated them the truck. While levitating them to the truck p, Harry saw some tranquilliser pistols and ammunition in a small box and grabbed it. Once they were at the truck, Harry placed them inside and after checking to see if there were any guards nearby, which there weren't, he climbed into the truck.
A short time later, the soldier that Harry identified as Soldier A woke up to see Harry and Roy above him. Reacting quickly, he kicked Harry in the stomach and pushed Roy to the ground as he stole Roy's pistol and got up himself. Aiming the pistol at Roy, Soldier A found himself disarmed and slammed to the bed of the truck. Harry kept a leg on the soldier's chest, pinning him.
"You recover fast. Quick thinker too. What's your name?" Harry asked, feeling impressed by the soldier and his abilities. Harry couldn't sense any tangible traces of magic coming from him so concluded that these abilities were both very much natural and from having excellent training.
"Name is Johnathan. Now, who are you and what are you doing?" the soldier now known as Johnathan asked, eyeing up the two strangers with suspicion.
"I'm Harry and this is Roy. We need help to free this peninsula plus I overheard you talking about some weapon."
"Free this peninsula? What's the point? Me and my comrades were left here to wither away while our government denied our very existence. We are not exactly liking the direction of things here anyway." Johnathan began laughing for an unknown reason.
"Why is he laughing? Has he brainwashed?" Roy asked beginning to show concern while Harry looked on, showing no emotion.
"Ha ha ha, Brainwashed? No. We follow our leader here because he offers us justice. Justice against those who have wronged us and all those that have arrived here. It also struck me that you don't know our leader's name."
"Go on then, tell us what his name is." Roy asked, almost demanding an answer.
"His name is Gene. He is in charge of everything here. Gene promised us justice against those who betrayed us and a nation where its military, its soldiers came before all else."
Harry then spoke up, having been interested in Johnathan's response. "You shouldn't always believe you'll get justice. Politics is a fickle thing that changes with the times and justice changes with it. Some people have told me to be loyal to myself and fight for my cause. Believe me when I say I've been fucked over so many times before. I fight for what is right, though I am not sure what that means now."
"You're... you're Harry Potter. A living legend. The Boy Who Lived. The Slayer of Voldemort and the equal of Samgon." Johnathan gasped then spoke reverently.
"Just call me Harry." Harry said.
"So... Will you join us and put an end to Gene's plans, whatever they are?" Roy asked tentatively.
"I want to see my government punished but I can't stand by while there is a potential threat to the people, especially the innocent. I'll join you in your efforts, Harry." Johnathan said.
Harry reached his hand out and Johnathan grasped the hand with his and the pair shook hands like comrades.
"Johnathan, before we leave here. Do you know of where we can find an airfield, docks and some bunkers, preferably as close as possible." Harry asked.
Johnathan briefly removed his balaclava to show him smiling at Harry's question. "I can find a map which shows possible locations you may want. However you need to create a distraction as where I need to go, I am technically not allowed to go there."
"Right? Harry said really slowly.
"I should warn you now before you cause the distraction that there are three four-strong squads of Orc Commandos as well as two eleven-man squads of infantry." Johnathan said optimistically.
"Any other soldiers I should know about?" Harry asked, realising that he was in for a rough time.
"There are several companies on the outskirts but they're very rarely called upon to reinforce the town's internal security."
Harry nodded slowly then reached to grab a tranquiliser pistol and some ammunition for it and gave it to Johnathan. "Try and get as many of them as possible. We'll need them to strike against Gene's forces while we build up our own strength."
Johnathan nodded before putting his balaclava back over his head, making sure his face was covered. "Wait for my signal, I'll be scratching my left shoulder."
"Got it, Roy wait here. We may need an escape route in case it all goes balls up."
Harry got into a commanding position where he could strike at any enemy soldiers and be reasonably protected by crates and brick walls while Johnathan moved to a spot that was far away from where the main action would be happening yet completely visible to Harry.
Johnathan after a short while gave the pre-arranged signal to begin the distraction. Harry began by tranquilising several nearby soldiers and then threw several grenades to empty areas but would be visible to the guards. Once the grenades exploded, the guards rushed to investigate and after several more fell to Harry's tranquiliser darts, they saw Harry and began firing upon him while calling for reinforcements.
Johnathan ran towards the building where the maps were. Once he entered the building, he found the town commandant's meeting room with practiced ease. Inside, the town commandant, a trio of soldiers and the radio operators were hard at work trying to figure out what was happening. Striking fast, Johnathan shot several darts at the Commandant and soldiers who all collapsed on to the floor immediately. Taken by surprise, the radio operators surrendered.
"Right, you lot, pick all this stuff up and carry it outside and don't try anything. Remember I'll be right behind you."
Harry had been pinned down for sometime once the reinforcements arrived. Noticing that Johnathan was taking a group of radiomen to a nearby truck, Harry took out his wand and fired several spells that created a smokescreen. The human soldiers and Orc Commandos became confused and stopped firing. This gave Harry the opportunity to get up close to them knocking them out with a combination of spellwork, tranquiliser pistol fire and close quarter combat. Within a matter of minutes, he had decisively won against them and levitated them into the back of the truck. It became very cramped but Harry was used to it, especially back before his Hogwarts days.
As they began departing the town, Harry and Roy noticed that Johnathan had attached a trailer to the back of his truck and filled it with many crates full of small arms, ammunition and food.
Back at the encampment, the trio spoke with each other.
"You seem to have a good grasp of everything, Johnathan, how come?" Asked Roy.
"To tell you the truth, before I came here, I had been an NCO in the Russian Army but a number of incidents meant I got demoted. Then the fact we were abandoned here, well you can tell what happened. It's the same with all the Russians here. Brilliant soldiers who got into trouble and then got sent here."
"Must've been rough?" Harry asked.
"It was but thanks to meeting you, I hope I turn over a new page." Johnathan said optimistically.
Harry and Roy shared a few whispered words between them before turning to Johnathan.
"Johnathan, neither me or Roy know the name of this peninsula or this island, do you mind telling us?"
"Sure. The Island is called Haklababa and this peninsula is called Península dos Fantasmas, Peninsula of the Ghosts."
"Sounds charming." Roy commented dryly.
"Haklababa, it sounds familiar." Harry said to himself.
"You should do. The Empire, The Orc nation of Horeshem and your very own Ministry of Magic sent a joint colonisation mission here but they lost contact and assumed some disaster occurred. After all, there had been a massive warpstone meteorite storm several decades after the establishment of the first towns and cities and they assumed that all life on the Island was wiped out. I'm surprised you don't know about this Island." Johnathan said.
"Most likely happened after they all declared war on me. Whatever I have heard about this Island I most likely got from intercepted transmissions. Hell, technically most of everyone here would be deemed a traitor twice over just by associating with me."
"Well... At least things will never get dull with you." Johnathan said, a hint of laughter being heard in his voice. Then he became more serious and curious, "Could you teach me more about the lessons you've learned up to this moment?"
Harry looked thoughtful before smiling. "I guess I could teach you some things. Expanding on what I said earlier, on the topic of justice, I learned that a professional soldier never brings justice into the mission. Another lesson I learned is that every failure is something to learn from and success doesn't always mean success."
Harry spoke to Johnathan, teaching him some of the lessons he had learned over thousands of years of fighting and travelling.
"How old are you Harry? I hear the stories told about you but I want to know for myself."
Harry looked reluctant to tell him anything more personal than the lessons but deciding to tell him and Roy. "When this reality and my reality first merged, I was sixteen, almost seventeen. When my reality and this one merged again, permanently this time, I was about 37 then found my appearance de-aged to when I was about fifteen although I was still 39. Don't ask me how except I will say the answer is dark magic, secret science and Samgon. Been around for such a long time now, I no longer know exactly how old I am. Internally, I'm still 37 but my body keeps shifting its age to between when I was thirteen and fourty-nine. I'm not even sure sometimes if I'm imagining all of this."
Roy and Johnathan looked at him sympathetically. Johnathan then laid his hand on Harry's right shoulder and Harry, appreciating the friendly contact, grasped it.
"Life is never fair..." Harry began.
"... Nor is the ride ever straight or smooth." Johnathan finished. "My parents taught me that one." Johnathan said, smiling as he took off his Balaclava.
"Guess there are still good people out there after all." Harry said, showing a small smile.
"Come on Boss, we need to get an airfield, a harbour with some docks and some bunkers." Johnathan said, slowly walking away from Harry and towards an improvised table.
Harry got up to follow him and thought to himself, 'Johnathan is a good soldier and a good person. Russia definitely lost a good person like him over silly things.'
Johnathan organised everything from the trailer he had attached to the truck he stole earlier, while Harry looked on approvingly, figuring what to do with him.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please review and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.