Culture Shock Origins: Aurik Wilhelm

Earth: Northern Black Forest, Germany. Three days before capture.

"This is Falke one, Ten minutes to drop." says the Hubschrauberpilot as he flies our H145M Helicopter over the Northern Black Forest. I look down, my G36 sitting in my lap. Picking the magazine up, I load a few more rounds of 5.56×45mm ammo and load the clip into the rifle. I pull the cocking lever back and feel it rock back into place. I then pull a cross out from under my vest, the one my mother gave me before I was deployed. I tighten my hold and utter a small prayer before responding to the pilot.

"Copy that." I say, putting my cross back under my vest. I pull out my P-226 and pull the slide half way back, making sure that a round is in the chamber. I release it and flip the safety on, holstering it. "Falke two, this is Falke one, what should we have for dinner when we get back boys?" I look out the left window to the chopper beside us.

A crackled voice comes in over the radio. "Falke one, this is Falke two, anything but your mother's Curryvurst." his comment is followed by mixed laughter from all three choppers.

"Falke two, this is Falke zree, don't forget his mother's Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte." Hysterical laughing ensues.

"You jackasses aren't invited to my mother's house anymore," I say, giving a chuckle.

"Can you people please speak English?" I look over to the soldier sitting next to me. His fully bearded face showing no emotion as he loads the M4 rifle strapped around his chest, before loading his M9 Beretta. I switch from German to English.

"And vhy must ve do zat?" I raise my eyebrow at him, motioning to the window that overlooks the German forest landscape. "You, my American friend, are in Germany."

He gives me an angry look and shouts. "Because you lost the fucking war!"

I feel a sense of burning anger come over me. "Listen here you-!"

"Aurik," says a voice over the radio. "Kühle es, ze guy is a fucking spook."

"A vhat?"

"It means that I officially don't exist." Says the American next to me.

"Oh Jesus Christ, Aurik," groans one of my men. "just tell us vhat ve are doing here."

I look over to the American. "Vould you do ze honors, Mr. 'CIA'?" I say, making air quotes with my hands.

The American rolls his eyes. "Since I'm the only one who knows anything here, I'll explain the mission. Just call me Mr. Spook." He says jokingly.

"Ficken Arschloch." I say under my breath.

"Alright here's the mission." He groans, stroking his beard. "So for the past three months, several towns around the forest have been receiving bomb threats from these Isis shit bags that we believed were hiding in the Northern Black Forest." He tightens the strap on his helmet. "Well my friends back in the States have so graciously given us access to a drone with thermal imaging," Several oohs and aahs are heard from around the helicopters. "Officially, no US personnel are supposed to be here, meaning that-"

"You don't exist, ve get it." I chime in, interrupting him.

He looks at me through cold eyes. "Precisely, thanks for playing along." Laughter is heard once again through the radio. "Anyway... three birds, Falcon one, two, and three are to fly in and drop off seven soldiers, I.E. us. Falcon three, you are to provide air support." Looking out the window to our right, he spots Falke three. "Those FN MAGS should provide some nice cover while we move in and secure the area."

"Vhere in ze forest are ve going?" I ask, putting my helmet on.

"Just South past Wildberg. The insurgents are holed up in a cabin, deep in the forest. Falcon one and two, will fly over and drop us over the house, Falcon three is to provide close air support. Understood?" He gives me a sarcastic stare.

"Yes, sir." I say reluctantly.

Suddenly a voice comes over the radio. "Two minutes to ze drop."

"Lock and load boys, time to show you Germans how an American fights." He lifts his rifle up and cocks it. I roll my eyes and grab five grenades, attaching them to my chest.

"So, Mr. 'Spook'," He looks over to me. "just Vhat are ve doing here?"

"That's classified."

"RPG! Contact!" We hear the pilot yell as he does a maneuver, almost throwing me to the floor of the helicopter. I look to my right and see a rocket fly past us, almost striking Falke three. Falke three lowers it's tail, causing the missile to fly over the blades and arc off into the forest.

"Falke two, do you have eyes on contact?"

"Negative, No eyes on contact."

I chime in on the comms. "Falke zree, are you alright?"

"Ve are good, ve see ze house." We're met with small arms fire, hitting the bottom of our chopper. A round flies through, almost hitting me.

"FICK!"

"Falke zree is returning fire." Looking to my right, I see Falke three break off, it's doors opening, revealing two KSK soldiers as they grab the emplaced FN MAGs and return fire. As Falke one and two descend to just above the cabin, Falke three flies around the cabin, shooting anything that moves.

Spook and I open the doors and start rappelling down the ropes when a rocket hits the tail of our chopper, sending it spinning with us in tow. We are swung and flung through a window, causing me to land on a tango, knocking him out, while spook gets thrown onto a different floor. I spot two more tangos enter. I pull up my G36 and aim, firing a round into their heads. Blood and brain tissue splatter against the wooden walls as they fall to the ground. Among the gunfire, I hear more footsteps coming up the stairs. I grab one of the grenades from my chest and throw it, hitting the door frame as it bounces into the hall, exploding. I hear a few screams and promptly walk to the door, rifle raised.

I see four dead terrorists, one completely torn in half with organs spread on the floor. I cover my mouth, trying to avoid my urge to vomit. I pass the bodies and make my way down the stairs and see Spook on the ground among some building supplies, I approach him, checking his neck for a pulse. His eyes shoot open as he pulls a knife and puts it to my neck, prompting me to pull my P-226 on him. "Spook, it's me!" He's breathing heavy, he slowly lowers the knife from my throat. I lower my pistol. "Next time you do zat, I vill shoot your ass." He chuckles.

"Not if I kill you first." He grunts as I grab his hand, pulling him up. The weather takes a turn for the worst as it starts raining, followed by thunder.

"Come on, ve need to clear ze drop zone." I say, loading a new magazine into my rifle. He nods, grabbing his M4. He and I head out the door into the rain to see the burning wreckage of our chopper sitting on the ground. Our pilot is sticking out the windshield, his helmet ripped off along with half of his face. I look up and see Falke three still circling, shooting anything that moves. Ten tangos come from out behind the trees and surprise us. Spook and I jump behind a truck as a hail of bullets hits our cover. I grab my radio. "Falke zree, zhis is priester, ve need suppressive fire."

"Copy zhat." The H145M turns around and begins a strafing run. Both door gunners open fire, ripping through the Terrorists without impunity. With the terrorists distracted, Spook and I jump up and begin dispatching the enemy. As soon as I jump up, a round grazes me. I look down to see half the antenna on my radio missing. I see the terrorist who fired the shot. He is sitting with an AK next to a terrorist who has a radio. I aim and fire a round, causing brain matter to be thrown onto the face of the terrorist with the radio, he stares at his friend with a terrified look before yelling something into his radio. As soon as he yells this, the terrorists surrounding us then begin retreating. I look through the scope on my rifle and aim at the face of the man with the radio, fear envelops him as he tries to run away. He doesn't get five feet before a round splits through the back of his skull. I look next to me, and see Spook, smoke coming from his M4's barrel. I give him a thumbs up before combing the sky for Falke two which is nowhere to be found. I wipe the rain water off my face and check my radio. "Falke zree, zhis is Priester, do you have sight of Falke two?" I hear static on the other line. "Falke zree, zhis is Priester, I repeat, do you have sight of Falke two?" Nothing but static is heard. "Verdammt!" I look over at Spook, who is looking all around us. "Zhey cannot hear us."

"Let me try." He grabs for his radio. "Falcon three, this is Archangel, do you copy?" Static followed by a panicked voice.

"Ve hear you loud ond clear."

I give a sigh of relief, motioning for the radio. "Give me ze radio." He hands it to me without delay. "Falke zree, zhis is Priester, do you have eyes on Falke two?" A sigh is heard from the other side of the radio, followed by a saddened voice.

"Zhat wreckage in front of you is zhe rest of Falke two."

"Ah shit." says Archangel as he puts his hands up to his face. He bends down, grabbing a piece of wood and throwing it at the house, shattering a window. "FUCK!"

A look of confusion envelopes my face as I stare at him. I turn back to the radio. "Falke zree, vhere is our chopper?"

"After you vere hit vis zhey rocket, Falke vone hit Falke two, causing it to fly directly behind zhe house." I look behind us, smoke rising up from behind the house.

"Verdammt!" I look back to the trees, dead bodies littering the ground. "Do you spot any more terrorists?"

"Negative. You are clear."

I turn to Archangel, who is now leaning against a table. "Come on, ve need to clear zhe house." I load another magazine into my rifle.

"The information I was given was bad."

"Vhat?"

He looks up at me, anger swells over him. "My government lied to me, they told me this was just going to be a small smash and grab mission."

I give him a look of confusion. "Vhat are you talking about, 'smash and grab'?" I walk over to him. "You told us zhis vas just a kill mission."

"Well my government told me that there were only supposed to be around twelve tangos, so I guess we both got lied to!"

"Vhat are ve supposed to be getting?"

"I can't tell you."

Fury envelopes me. "Vell five of my best friends just died to get you here" I point to the mangled wreckage of Falke two. "So give me some ficken answers!"

He looks at the wreckage behind me, his face softens. "Fine, my government sent me here to fi-"

BOOM

A sniper round passes through Archangel's chest, throwing him to the ground. He screams, reaching for his chest, blood drains through his fingers. "SCHEISSE, Ve need a medic over here!" I get down behind cover and pull out the radio. "Falke zree, zhis is Priester, Do you have sight of zhe sniper?"

BOOM

Another round hits my cover. "Priester, zhis is Falke zree, ve see zhe sniper, engaging." Falke three turns back around and begins shooting at the top of the house. I watch as a terrorist with a Dragunuv Sniper rifle falls from the roof, his lifeless body hitting the ground with a thump. I run over to Archangel, putting pressure on his wound.

"Don't vorry, ve vill be out of here soon." I grab the radio. "Falke zree, ve need medical evac, ASAP." Archangel looks up at me, shaking. He picks up a photograph and hands it to me. I stare at it, a picture of his wife and son. I wrap it in his hands. "Do not vorry, you are going to be fine." A lightning bolt hits the house, we are right in the middle of the storm now.

"Priester, ve are coming down, be advised, ve have lightning in zhe area." Just then a lightning bolt hits the helicopter. "Sheisse! Mayday mayday wir gehen hinunter!" The helicopter begins losing altitude fast and flies over us, smashing through the side of the house. I jump on top of Archangel, protecting him from debris as a piece of the helicopter blade flies past us, sticking in a tree. The helicopter comes to a grinding halt before exploding, sending flaming pieces of metal everywhere.

I jump up, putting my hands to my head as I stare at the wreckage. "Scheiße!" I scream, pounding my fist on the table next to us. A lightning bolt strikes five yards away from us, causing me to jump. I look at Archangel who is now, reaching up into the air. Running over to him, I lift him up onto my shoulder before hearing a loud ZAP, sending my world to black.