I said chapter 2 would be longer, didnt I? here it is! Read and review please.

Shepard looked up at the sign of the bar his squad had dragged him to for their shore leave.

"The Fields?" Woods said beside him.

"Best bar on Elysium." Davids herded the two of them into the bar and to the table where their other two squad members, Miller and Hendricks, were seated with beers in hand.

"First rounds on me!" Miller laughed, handing a beer to Shepard. John reluctantly took a sip from it.

"Better set your recorder up, Shep. We're going to get you so wasted you won't remember this moment tomorrow." Davids said.

"Not going to happen. Not after last time." John shook his head.

"Last time? Explain this!" Woods demanded.

"Senior prom at Grissom Academy. The Ascension program students hosted a party. Drunk biotics cause way too many problems."

"So? There's no bulkheads for you to blow out and kill us all here. You're in for a wild night." John waved his hand in response, snickering as Hendricks' chair flew out from under him.

"Oi! That's not cool." He grunted as he fell on his rear end and his beer sloshed onto the floor.

"Party foul! Next rounds on you Hendricks." Davids cheered.

"Doesn't count, Shepard caused it!"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was over here minding my own business. I didn't touch your chair or your drink." Shepard smirked as he took another sip of his drink.

"Watch yourself Shepard. I know where you sleep."

"Am I supposed to be scared of someone who still sleeps with a teddy bear?" Hendricks' indignant cry was drowned out by the sounds of explosions and screams from outside. Shepard set down his drink and jogged out of the door. More explosions sounded, gunfire ringing out between the thunderous booms that shook the ground and his bones. Smoke was oozing into the sky from around the colony.

"Pirates!" a woman screamed as she ran past, only to be shot in the back by a batarian. Shepard exhaled an angry growl and triggered his biotics; pulling the alien towards him. The alien landed in front of him. John grabbed the batarian by the collar and lifted him up to eye level. He charged his fist with biotic energy and punched the batarian in the face. The alien flew out of his hand and crashed into the wall where he lay limp. Shepard grabbed the aliens discarded rifle from the ground and turned to see his squad-mates standing there.

"Damn. Shep's a bad ass." Woods whistled. John tossed the rifle to him.

"You guys go get to the marine outpost and help with the defense. I'm going to try to gather up as many of the colonists that I can find and send them to you to get them some guns."

"Will do. Good luck Shepard."

"You too." Shepard returned and jogged off to the sounds of screams and gunfire. A pair of Batarians rounded the corner and leveled their guns at him.

"Are you going to come quietly or are we going to have to shoot you?" One growled.

"You can try." He dove behind a pile of crates as the two opened fire. He popped around the side and waved his arm, causing the two pirates to get pulled into a mass effect field and float around helplessly.

"Damn it!" one growled.

"Have you ever seen what happens when a biotic overlaps two different kinds of mass effect fields in the same space? The results can be quite… explosive." John said. His left hand was holding a glowing blue sphere.

"Wha-what do you mean?" One batarian stuttered. John threw the sphere and watched as the two were sent flying from the resulting explosion. He grabbed one of their rifles and continued deeper into the colony.

"Mommy!"

"Andrea!"

John crouched behind a garbage bin to assess the situation in the alley. Two batarians and a man stood there, the man holding a mother as the batarians pulled a girl, six or seven by the looks of her, from her. John stood up and carefully encased the little girl in a field, then carefully pulled her away from the batarians and into his own arms. He set her down behind him and leveled his rifle. His finger squeezed the trigger and the batarians fell. He turned on the man to see him holding a gun to the girls' mother and using her as a shield.

"Back off or I'll shoot."

"Please mister, help my mommy."

John lowered his rifle.

"Calm down. We can work this out. No one else has to die here."

"You expect me to believe that? You just shot them!" The man tilted his head towards the bodies.

"Please, just let me go! What did I ever-"

"Shut up!" the man yelled, pushing his pistol into her head. John took the chance with the pirate distracted by the mother to encase them both in a stasis field. He walked up and pulled the gun free as he let the field dissipate. The pirate pushed the woman at him and ran off down the alley.

"Thank you sir! Thank you!" the woman cried.

"Ma'am, the way behind me is cleared, if you head down it you can get to the marine outpost where they can protect you. I'm trying to find as many colonists as I can." John explained.

"Thank you! What's your name sir, so I can let everyone know who the brave man that saved my daughter is." The woman asked.

"John Shepard." Then he rushed off.

John looked out at the faces of all the distraught and terrified faces of the colonists in the defensive area near the marine outpost. He looked at the shoddy makeshift walls that had been erected to fend off to oncoming pirates that were even now working their way through the colony and their traps.

"These pirates come here and think they can hurt you, your families. They think they can raze your homes and take you for slaves. They're wrong. They think our bark is worse than our bite. They think we will just roll over and let them win. They are wrong! We will show them we won't stand for this! We will show them they made a mistake in coming here to attack your homes. And we won't allow them to make the same mistake again!" He yelled.

"Nice speech, Shep." Woods remarked with a smirk on his face as John walked up to him.

"Shut up. I know it was corny. But someone needed to say something. And I wasn't going to let it be you. We need them to help us fight, not die from laughter." John answered as he started pulling on the set of armor Woods had pulled out of the armory for him.

"Do you really think we will be able to hold them off? These colonists aren't trained soldiers. And from what we've managed to get from command reinforcements are still a couple hours out."

"You're right; they're not trained soldiers. They're men and woman who are going to be fighting to protect their families and friends, their homes. We'll hold." John said. Soon the fighting reached the outpost, and they were fighting for their lives to keep the pirates from getting past the wall. John was constantly moving around, helping wherever the fighting was worst. An hour into the assault, he watched Hendricks go down, blood oozing from the bullet wounds in his chest. Not long after Davids died covering a grenade to save the nearby colonists.

"If I had gotten here faster I could've stopped it." John cursed to Woods beside him.

"Thoughts like that are for later, when we can drink and not get shot at." Woods responded. John nodded and threw a man holding a primed grenade back over the wall. The explosion brought a wave of screams.

"The south wall's been breached! They're pouring in!" a colonist yelled.

"Woods, take over, I'm going to seal it."

"That's suicide!"

"And if I don't we're all dead. I need you here coordinating the colonists." John ordered before sprinting off towards the breach.

The base was flooding with the incoming raiders. John didn't even bother aiming, he couldn't miss. He felt his strength start flagging as he set off another biotic explosion. He couldn't keep using his biotics if he wanted to have enough energy to seal the breach. He reached the wall and started looking for a way to seal it. For every person that fell three replaced them, and he knew something had to be done before it got any worse, something he doubted was even possible. He saw a jagged piece of plating and laying on blood stained ground that would fit the purpose. He moved it slowly, painstakingly slowly, into place. He barely flinched when a bullet hit him in the leg. With the breach sealed he was able to turn his effort to clearing out the raiders still inside the walls. A faint whine blew in on the wind, slowly growing louder, and through the smoke appeared several alliance shuttles. John let out a sigh of relief as they landed, pouring out soldiers. The raiders, seeing the reinforcements, quickly turned tail and fled.

"A few months ago, our colony on Elysium was assaulted by a large force of pirates and slavers from the Terminus systems. One serviceman rallied the colonists in defense of the colony, and when their defenses were breached he singlehandedly sealed the gap and fended off the hoard of merciless bandits who poured into the colony. Today, we honor him for going above and beyond the call of duty with the Star of Terra. Staff Lieutenant John Shepard is the youngest serviceman to receive this award, only twenty years old. It is an honor to give you this star, Lieutenant." Admiral Hackett said to John at the award ceremony, then pinned the award to his suit and the two shook hands as cameras flashed.

"Staff Lieutenant?" John whispered.

"That was pure heroism in the Blitz, Shepard. A promotion is only fitting. Also, a position as an N7 recruit has been extended."

"Thank you sir, that's a real honor." John replied, shocked.

"Just keep it up, Shepard. You've got a bright future ahead of you."

"Will do sir."

"Now I think you're going to want to enjoy yourself here. This party is for you. And if you leave you'll probably be mobbed by reporters." Hackett laughed before walking off. John walked over to where his mom was sitting, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Your father and I are so proud of you. I'm sorry he couldn't be here, you know how it is." She said.

"Yeah. Thanks, mom. Admiral Hackett just told me I've been asked to train for N7." John said, sitting in a seat next to her.

"That's amazing! Did you give him an answer?"

"Not yet. I'm going to need to think about that one." He answered.