John Joseph Atherton

John Joseph Atherton
Personal
Affiliation	Lyran Alliance
Profile
Rank	Hauptmann General

John Joseph Atherton was a military officer in the Lyran Alliance Armed Forces and was the commanding officer of the First Republican Guards as of 3047.

History

Leftenant General Atherton, serving with the First Republican Guards, was stationed on Talitha in 3050 and on Kansu by 3062. Unlike most Republican Guard officers, Atherton had no connection to the world of Tikonov and was instead born on the Lyran Alliance world Wotan. Atherton's assignment to lead the First Republican was meant to control the regiment. While Atherton was initially an idealistic commander, the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth's refusal to reclaim the worlds of the Tamar Pact after the Truce of Tukayyid cost him much of his enthusiasm and loyalty. Despite this, Atherton remained an honest officer who punished any misconduct severely but had also given up on maintaining the First Republican's morale entirely.

Federated Commonwealth Civil War

When the Federated Commonwealth Civil War broke out, Atherton and the entire Tikonov Republican Guard brigade sided with Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion against her brother Victor Steiner-Davion, resulting in the First Republican's arrival on the embattled world of Algol in July of 3063. Atherton, now promoted to hauptmann general, was assigned to take charge of the already-present Third Republican Guards - who had absorbed the destroyed Second Republican Guards -and work with the Fifteenth Deneb Light Cavalry's Michael Lipstein to claim the world for the Archon. On 10 August, both the DLC and Republicans went on the offensive but, while initially dealing significant damage to the Fifth Crucis Lancers due to the shock of such a large-scale attack, Atherton's independent status prevented the two Loyalist units from fully capitalizing on their foes' disarray. The resulting counterattack from Victor's Allied troops kept Atherton's Republicans in place and dragged the fight on for another eleven days, ending in a continued stalemate with only a marginal advantage for the Loyalists.

Three weeks of attrition lead the battle for Algol into September, when the Twelfth Vegan Rangers' Alpha Regiment arrived, disrupting the Loyalists' communications and tipping the balance in favor of the Allies. The failure of Atherton's Republicans to break off contact with the Fifth Crucis in time for a counterattack lead to a nine day battle for the city of Gregan, leaving the Loyalist forces separated and battered by October. On 6 October, Lipstein gave the command to initiate a fighting retreat and the exhausted Allies could do little to prevent the reunion of the DLC and Republican soldiers or their eventual evacuation from Algol on 20 October. After their retreat, and under orders from Marshal of the Armies Jackson Davion, Lipstein and Atherton took their troops to relieve the contested homeworld of the Republican Guards - Tikonov. The extremely nationalistic local forces defending Tikonov from the Davion Assault Guards and First NAIS Cadre refused to allow the Fifteenth DLC access to critical industrial sites when they finally arrived in November, requiring Atherton to station his two regiments at two separate facilities while leaving the much stronger DLC to guard several small towns hundreds of kilometers away from Tikograd city.

After the near destruction of the Tikonov Militia at the hands of the Assault Guards, Atherton stationed two battalions of Republicans in Tikograd to stiffen the Militia's spine and resist the Assault Guards' advance while Lipstein's DLC harried them at every opportunity. After several more months of bloody fighting, the Assault Guards abandoned their push on Tikograd and instead initiated an orbital drop on the four battalions of Republican Guards defending the city of New Moscow on 16 August 3064, costing the Guards both the city and forty percent of their remaining strength. When a massive Allied task force lead by Victor Steiner-Davion himself arrived on Tikonov, followed closely by an equally significant Loyalist force headed by the Eleventh Arcturan Guards, Atherton's Republican Guards lost the attached Tikonov Martial Academy Training Group to a dedicated attack from the departing Assault Guards in January of 3065. After more maneuvering that resulted in the withdrawal of most of both task forces and more months of vicious fighting, Atherton's Republicans and their allies were left in control of Tikograd and most of the continent of Kazan.

The low-level conflict that continued in the vacuum left by Victor's departure saw the annihilation of the Third Republican Guards force stationed in New Moscow, as the Valexa Capellan March Militia brigade present on Tikonov landed directly on top of the Third Republican's position and destroyed them before reinforcements arrived. With significant support from Tikonov's citizens, Atherton's First Republican managed to hold Tikograd against the overwhelming power of the Allied advance, once more resulting in a period with the First Republican and Fifteenth DLC separated and besieged by daunting odds. By May of 3066, Atherton's Republicans and the Tikonov revolutionaries still held Tikograd but the return of Victor Davion spelled doom for the Loyalist defense of Tikonov. By 24 May, the Third Republican Guards had been destroyed for good and their command staff killed in the fall of Tikonov's Earthwerks factory, leaving Atherton's First Republican as the last surviving member of the Tikonov Republican Guards; after an additional month of fighting, Atherton retreated from Tikonov in order to preserve the troops he had left after years of incessant combat.

On 7 August 3066, Atherton and Lipstein's remaining forces arrived on Marlette in an effort to save the Marlette Crucis March Militia from the strength of two Crucis Lancers RCTs. As more Allied forces continued to arrive on Marlette, the Loyalists grew steadily closer to defeat, despite months of determined resistance. Forced out of their defensive positions and encircled on multiple sides by Allied soldiers, the First Republican Guards finally surrendered on 5 February 3067. Atherton's final fate was not recorded.

Bibliography

• 20 Year Update
• FedCom Civil War
• Field Manual: Lyran Alliance