Woo! Haven't updated this story in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time! It's about time I've rectified that, haven't I? Well, here you go, kind sirs and madams! Enjoy reading Part One of a short series within a series I named, "Recollections".

I'll have the next Recollection up soon as well as the next chapter to Orion Effect: Shanxi. By the way, go read Orion Effect: Shanxi.

Cough *selfpromotion* cough…

Orion Effect: Shanxi, just in case you didn't see it the first two times…

Yeah…

Hope you enjoy!

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2160

Arcturus Station

"Blam! Blam!"

"Pew! Pew! Pew!"

The two children giggled uncontrollably as they scampered through the halls of the day care center, pointing their fingers at one another and firing imaginary pistols at imaginary batarians. At the moment, the two boys were not little Johnny Shepard and little Billy Stuart, the bane of the Mrs. Donnell's existence. Now, they were Captain John and Sergeant Bill, the two best Alliance soldiers this side of the Citadel!

They flew around the galaxy, righting wrongs, fighting batarian pirates, and showing those turians what humans could do! Occasionally, they would have a justicar helping them, but not today. Lilli's mom only took her to the day care center on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The plastic helmets were loose on the two boys' heads, jiggling around with each step they took. Johnny and Billy felt like the bobble head dolls from the old vids, but they wore the helmets anyway. It didn't matter to them how silly they looked or how uncomfortable they were. Both boys were proud of the Alliance blues, of their title as "military brats".

"Johnny, get down!" Billy tackled his friend to the ground, the two of them landing in a heap on the soft-matted floor as they entered the busy play room.

"Oof!"

The wind was knocked out of Johnny for a moment, the result of Billy landing on top of him. Annoyed, Johnny pushed the blonde first grader off of him, glaring at his friend.

"What was that for?" Johnny was slightly peeved at the sudden tackle, not at all fond of the dull pain growing in his chest.

Billy shushed him, motioning to something in front of them. Johnny's gaze followed where Billy was pointing, leading the young Shepard to the crafting table. There sat a group of four girls, all working on arts and crafts. Bits of macaroni stuck to the girls' little, glue-covered hands, all of them were giggling and snickering about whatever it was that girls talked about.

Probably dolls.

Or ponies.

No, definitely ponies.

It made both boys sick to their stomachs. The very idea of all those sugary, cutesy things was giving them diabetes.

Johnny immediately knew what Billy was thinking. They two shared a brief look, and Johnny nodded, showing Billy that he was 100% behind this.

Billy smirked back before standing up quickly, Johnny following suite.

"BATARIANS!" Billy cried out, pointing accusingly at the group of girls at the crafts table. They all jumped in surprise at the sudden exclamation and had no time to react before Johnny and Billy came running up with their imaginary guns pointed at them.

"Okay, you dirty batarians! We've caught you and we're taking you all to the brig!" Johnny said in his "Captain John" voice which he modeled after his dad. It was a low, growling tone that hurt his throat after a while but sounded really cool.

"Hands up!" Billy added sticking his finger-gun into one girl's face. Johnny knew her from his apartment block. Her name was Hillary Swanson and she was probably the most annoying girl he'd ever met.

"Get your stinky hands out of my face, you-!" screeched Hillary before being cut off by Billy.

"If you don't put your hands up we'll have to put you down!"

With a roll of her eyes, Hillary got up from her chair and stomped towards the door. Billy kept at it though.

"A batarian is getting away! Take it down!" Billy cried shifting his aim towards Hillary's back. Johnny followed his friend's motion and soon, both boys were blasting at the escaping pirate scum, making gun noises with their mouths.

Hillary whirled around at high speed, facing the two obnoxious intruders, her eyes burning with rage.

Both boys stopped in their tracks, Hillary's fury hitting them like a sack of bricks.

Before either boy could react, Hillary had picked up a foam block and chucked it at the duo, hitting Billy in the head. The blonde fell to the floor in a heap, screaming the most theatrical way he could.

"Sgt. Bill!" Cried Johnny as he knelt down beside his fallen comrade.

Billy coughed once and groaned as he propped himself up on his elbows. He looked Johnny right in the eye and rasped, "Avenge me."

Then he fell back onto the mat and played dead, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, much to the disgust of the other girls still seated at the crafts table.

Johnny rose, turning to face the enemy responsible. Hillary still stood there, seething with rage, wisps of her shoulder-length blonde hair caught on her lips.

Johnny shot her a glare before bringing his "gun" up to aim.

"FOR EARTH!"

And with that, Johnny charged forward, blasting away. Hillary proceeded to throw more foam blocks while running away and out the door. Johnny followed the blonde into the hallway, laughing maniacally while keeping a hand on his helmet to keep it from falling off.

"Mrs. Donnel, Johnny won't stop chasing me!" Hillary screeched before adding a whiny, "And he called me a batarian!"

"NO RETREAT!"

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2176

Elysium

"NO RETREAT!"

John glanced to the left and to the right, doing a quick headcount of Elysium's defenses.

They were a motley crew comprised of the surviving marines, police officers, and a few local farmers. Most held pistols as there simply were not enough rifles to go around. And to add on top of today's problem, the guns were practically falling apart, the heavy use of them causing the heat sink to melt.

Their cover was a series of glorified stacks of debris from the collapsed buildings and overturned vehicles. Spots of fire dotted the battlefield and the smoke and dust from the previous skirmish made long range combat impossible. Visibility stopped after several yards.

But John needed these men motivated. High morale would be essential to keeping Elysium under Alliance control. So John proceeded with the "motivating".

"THESE SQUINTS THINK THEY'RE GOING HOME RICH! THEY THINK THEY'RE GOING TO LEAVE THIS PLACE WITH OUR PEOPLE IN CHAINS! YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS, WIVES AND HUSBANDS! YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU GUYS, BUT THE ONLY WAY I'M ALLOWING THESE FOURED-EYED FUCKS TO GO HOME IS IN BODY BAGS!" John bellowed his voice already hoarse and raspy from giving orders when he organized the resistance.

He was met with a several grunts and cries of approval from the police and the farmers as well as a chorus of "oorahs" from his fellow marines. John allowed the faintest of smirks to crawl onto his face as he witnessed each and every one of his fellow humans bring their weapons to the ready in preparation for the next wave of slavers. A few of them bared their teeth.

They were angry now.

Truly pissed.

Funny thing about humans, we don't like it when you try to enslave us.

These pirate fucks want this rock so badly? They were going to have to work for it.

The first batarian appeared through the smoke and dust, followed by another, and another, and several more. Soon an entire army was charging them, guns blazing with cries of war and hatred.

John calmly took aim at the nearest batarian and fired. John's rifle kicked into his shoulder as it belched out a barrage of white hot metal. The first few bullets popped the slaver's shields. The rest slammed into the batarian's chest and gut, the sound a rapid, "thud-ud-ud-ud". The poor bastard's chest plate literally burst open, dark red blood spilling down his front as he collapsed forward onto his face, leaving a faint pink mist where he last stood.

John grimaced at the sight, but couldn't help but feel a mild satisfaction at his handiwork.

"That was for Billy, you slaver fuck." John said quietly before taking aim at another incoming batarian.

He squeezed the trigger and the gun roared once more.

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Well there you have it, folks! These will be a small series of shorts in which I show many parallels in John's life, between his younger years and who he will eventually become. He started honing his skill early, after all. How else could Shepard be so good at what he does?

Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think!

I'd really appreciate that!

Also, before I end this, I'd just like to let you all know that I have a new account over on FictionPress by the name of GarrisonStuart. I don't have any stories posted yet, but I plan on doing so in the near future. Keep your eyes peeled!

-AllianceCommand