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Battle of Frankfurt

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"The truth is much more complicated than you think."

This article is written from a Lore perspective. It contains spoilers and different reference materials might be contradictory.

Frankfurt during the Coronation Storm air raid.

The Battle of Frankfurt,[1] also called Frankfurt Incident,[2] took place in November and December 2064 in Frankfurt, the capital of the German Democratic Republic. It was a "decapitation operation"[3] against Paradeus by an alliance of forces between the Commander of Griffin & Kryuger (with the backing of some Prometheans), the German Stasi and the Neo-Soviet Statesec. At the same time, Paradeus planned to use Frankfurt as the catalyst for the resurrection of a Relic Technology key in the form of Lunasia. Paradeus' efforts were thwarted, and both their leaders, Rudolf von Oberstein and Ballard “William” von Oberstein, were killed.

Directly following the major losses taken by Paradeus during the Battle of the Dead Sea, both the attacks on the organization and its own infighting in Frankfurt reduced Paradeus from a powerful secret group entrenched in the German government to an underground organization relying on contamination zone cults and private backers to survive in Eastern Europe. The battle caused upwards to millions of civilian deaths and cemented the reputation of the Commander and Griffin & Kryuger, though they soon lost the power granted by this victory. Ultimately, the battle mostly benefited the Prometheans, who used it to justify the establishment of the URNC.

The battle is the final event of the main story of Girls' Frontline, told in the nine sections of Episode 15: The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, Cartesian Theater, Zero Charge, Angular Gyrus, Isolation Forest, Convolutional Kernel, Roche Limit, Virtual Pair and Quantum Fluctuation. More details about the story were shared in the Frankfurt Battle Report. The consequences of the battle remain relevant in Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium.

Context

The Battle of the Dead Sea of October 2064 marked the destruction of Avernus, the headquarters of Paradeus in the Dead Sea, as well as the death of several top Nyto fighters and the capture of its apparent leader, William. Over-reliance on Bee Sting intel has been cited as the reason for Paradeus' defeat, which would be repeated in Frankfurt. Paradeus command units who evacuated Avernus concentrated their efforts in Frankfurt, where Project Cocoon was close to maturity.[4] Nemhran believed that the destruction of Avernus was in fact part of William's plan to forcefully move Paradeus' HQ from the Black Zone to the underground White Zone of Frankfurt, in preparation of the integration of Nytos in human society, as well as to meet the Griffin Commander in person. During the battle, MG RPK-16RPK-16RPK-16 had arranged for AR AK-12AK-12AK-12 to be transferred into the most advanced Doll body ever created.[5][6]

The Prometheans, represented by “The Earl” Griffin Lyons, originally disapproved of the battle, but eventually sided with the Commander after its conclusion, demanding that William be transferred to them. The Commander refused in order to prevent the Prometheans from taking control of Paradeus for their own ends. On 23 October, after retrieving the survivors and conducting self-diagnostic on the Elmo landship, the expedition departed for the edge of the Dead Sea, but an electronic attack disabled all Dolls, and the Commander, William and Dandelion vanished.[7]

History

From the Dead Sea to Frankfurt

The first Dolls aboard the Elmo to be reactivated were Doll-in-command AR AR-18AR-18AR-18 and electronic warfare support Doll SMG ErmaErmaErma, the two "Hume Dolls" of the crew. They were remotely reactivated by a third Hume Doll, SG Stevens M520Stevens M520Stevens M520, who asked them to rally Frankfurt to save the Commander. AR-18 directed the Elmo towards Frankfurt, sending Erma ahead to link up with 520 while she dealt with the forces trying to intercept them outside the Dead Sea.[8] With the help of Natalie, executor of Hume's will, Erma and 520 entered the locked Great Palace in the Summer Garden network shared by the Hume Dolls to unlock their creator's legacy.[9] 520 claimed that by accessing Hume's research data, they could resurrect him and acquire vital intel against Paradeus, though she also had the personal goal of recovering her own lost memories.[10]

After Erma entered a fountain bearing her name in the Summer Garden, she learned that she'd need to fuse with her mental double in charge of all her lost memories, but refused to recover her painful lost past.[11] Natalie, who had tricked 520 into calling Erma to Frankfurt so she could use Hume's legacy to resurrect Maggie Ponzi, attempted to force Erma to fuse with her double, which caused Erma to enter another fountain bearing the name Nadia. It brought her to the Lake of Cognition, a Relic space formerly maintained by the Evangel Axis in Avernus.[12] After meeting the surviving minds of Sana and the Nytos killed in the Dead Sea,[13] Erma decided to end their suffering[14] and prevent mankind from misusing Hume's research again by fusing with her double before destroying the Summer Garden and herself.[15] She entrusted to Dandelion the necessary data to destroy the two remaining fountains, Nadia's and Lunasia's.[14] These events took place on 24 October.[16]

Meanwhile, the other Dolls set the Elmo on autopilot and left by car, leaving the mobile base to exit the Dead Sea alone, where it was intercepted by the Stasi. Senior Stasi agents, including Q, K and J, also traveled to Frankfurt by order of Director Romy Riefenstahl on the pretext of a special meeting. Riefenstahl's actual goal was for the agents to run multiple investigations to distract the surveillance by Internal Affairs while she conducted her own political plans.[17] The agents investigated the “Future” train incident[18] and the Battle of the Dead Sea, concluding that the Neo-Soviet Union had become involved in the destruction of Paradeus, in an unofficial capacity due to Paradeus' ties to the German government.[19] By that time, on 23 October,[16] Task Force DEFY and the Paradeus leadership, Nemhran, Laplace, Morridow, Bramedb and Embla, were also already in Frankfurt.[20] Though the Neo-Soviet embassy had ordered them to stand by, DEFY attacked Embla as she was walking on the Eiserner Steg bridge.[21] With AR-18's team being delayed, Statesec agent M16A1 relayed an order for DEFY to link up with M520 in their stead.[4]

The Commander, Dandelion and William had in fact been teleported to Frankfurt by Lunasia using her Relic powers.[22] She had gained physical form by using Dandelion's body, but was still considered imperfect due to the intermixing of the memories and personalities of AR M4A1M4A1M4A1 and Dandelion. William tasked the rejected Lunasia with guarding the Commander,[23] kept prisoner in a residential house of Frankfurt's underground White Zone[22] in case they would be needed for his plans.[24] While she obediently followed her brother's order, the intermixing of personalities made Lunasia act unstable towards the Commander, displaying at the same time affection, teasing and cruelty in her actions.[25][26] She blindfolded them and projected fake scenery inside the house to give them the illusion of having been taken to other locations in Frankfurt, though they eventually saw through the illusion. Lunasia persisted in treating the Commander as her own prisoner to do with as she pleased for over a week as it became more and more apparent that William wouldn't need them for his plans.[24]

Pandora Incident

Embla's "All Hallows’ Eve" public broadcast.

Despite the setback to Project Cocoon and the lack of access to the Lake of Cognition, Paradeus set up temporary labs in Frankfurt to continue their plans, confident in the ability of Laplace's resurrection experiment to go through after the previous successful manifestation of a Relic Key during the Embla experiment. They aimed to complete their plan within two weeks as long as William returned with Dandelion. Using Minister Rudolf von Oberstein's authority as “Father”, Nemhran took over Project Cocoon in Frankfurt and ordered all available assets in Berlin, Bremen and Moscow to be brought to Frankfurt to make up for the loss of their ability to mass-produce combat-ready units without the Evangel Axis,[4] and to set up new assembly lines for Iaso's Boxes.[27] Meanwhile, Embla would conduct the "All Hallows' Eve" plan.[4]

The goal of All Hallows' Eve was to demonstrate to the general public that Paradeus possessed the necessary technology to give life to a dead body, achieving immortality. Paradeus didn't want to entrust such a critical plan to the newly created Embla, but only her, as the reanimated body of the dead Angelia, could make the demonstration.[5] Before All Hallow's Eve, the Nytos felt the destruction of the Lake of Cognition by Erma, immediately followed by a DEFY attack on their hideout.[4] The loss of the Lake of Cognition caused around two-third of Paradeus forces in Frankfurt to go rogue, reducing their fighting power[28] to about 1000 units.[29] Soon after, DEFY infiltrated the White Zone to recover data about their creator, Doctor Shaw.[19]

On Halloween night, Paradeus barged into the Alte Oper theater, followed by DEFY. The plan was ostensibly for Nemhran, Bramedb and Morridow to handle the DEFY Dolls while Embla made her broadcast,[5] while simultaneously launching “Halloween fireworks”, indiscriminate attacks on civilians to keep DEFY distracted. However, while publicly presenting herself as a new entity made from the Doll RPK-16 and the resurrected Angelia, Embla allowed AK-12 to remain in the theater and mortally shoot her just as she was claiming that Relic Technology had granted her immortality. The broadcast ended with 12 relaying to spectators Shaw's warning about the dangers of Relic technology.[30] With Erma and Embla dead and the last backup of Nadia destroyed, Lunasia became the only potential Relic key.[13][6][31][32] Of the two seals (based on the Nadia and Lunasia fountains) left by Erma, AK-12 used one to “permanently seal” Nadia, leaving only one seal.[33]

The Alte Oper attack was officially blamed on the Pandora Anti-Relic Organization[34] and nicknamed “Pandora Incident”.[31] It caused 64 deaths and over 200 wounded.[25] The Stasi forbid its agents to investigate the incident to avoid political implications. After the incident, investigative journalist Shadowless transferred from Berlin's Channel 1 to Frankfurt's Channel 2, claiming she wanted to investigate the incident.[31] Due to Shadowless being a propaganda agent,[35] her transfer was probably arranged to influence public opinion. An international investigation on RPK-16's manufacturer was announced between the German police and Neo-Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[25]

In spite of failures piling up, Nemhran ordered to continue Project Cocoon[31] in order to set up a backup for the Lake of Cognition,[28][36][37] and reactivated the assets infiltrated in Frankfurt, including the factories needed to produce the materials needed for Laplace's experiments and the Nyto commander Hebe.[28] Bramedb and Morridow disapproved of her persistence.[37]

Operation Adrasteia

AR HK416HK416HK416 is destroyed by Hebe's virus.

After the Pandora Incident, Germany declared an emergency decree, the “Interim Regulations for Doll Security”, preventing the free circulation of unvetted Dolls in Berlin and Frankfurt. As Dolls were prevented from working, critical public service was impacted, including hospitals,[25] police and construction. People were killed in accidents due to sudden lack of staff.[38] Human personnel was trained and deployed urgently to hospitals, but ended up endangering the patients.[37] Many German citizens, afraid after the explosions caused by Project Cocoon in Berlin and the Pandora Incident, came to Frankfurt from as far as Munich and Lübeck seeking the illusory safety of the decree, unaware that the city would become a death trap a few days later.[39]

The lockdown of Frankfurt prevented the Commander's Dolls from freely entering the city, and prevented DEFY from moving freely as the Stasi put a bounty on the task force for terrorism. The only allied Doll who could move freely was M16A1, who held a special permit from Statesec.[25] A solution presented itself when Nele attempted to contact the Commander to ask for their assistance in avenging Gray. On Lenny's advice, AR-18 elected to use the influence of Nele's family and lied about the Commander's situation: AR-18 promised to help Nele only after she had called favors so that eight Dolls could enter Frankfurt, and she had reconnoitered the White Zone. Nele obtained the permits through her cousin Meyer, presenting the Dolls as her bodyguards.[23][39]

Nele's real bodyguard Mia drove the eight Dolls inside the city. AR-18, Hertha, Cross, Lenny and the four members of Squad 404 were selected as those most used to covert urban operations. AR Team, still weakened from the Battle of the Dead Sea, was left in command of the Dolls outside the city.[39] On 31 October, eight days after the Commander's disappearance,[Note 1] the eight Dolls met with M520, M16A1 and DEFY in a safe house inherited from Hume by M520. DEFY was tasked with hitting Paradeus bases while the others would hack into their Bee Sting intelligence system to locate the Commander within the White Zone and M16 would organize their break out. The mission was codenamed Operation Adrasteia.[22]

After Paradeus repelled DEFY's raid on their central factory in the Eschborn District, Nemhran dedicated her attention to a Bee Sting report of the appearance of an 18th Edition of Hume's “Human Intelligence Research”. This was a distraction crafted by Squad 404, enabling them to infiltrate the factory and gain access to Bee Sting.[40] Nemhran realized the ploy and tracked its source to SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 and SMG UMP9UMP9UMP9 inside the Bee Sting servers.[27] 404 managed to steal data relevant to the Commander and Project Cocoon before escaping, but Hebe planted into AR HK416HK416HK416 a virus[24] made from the remains of Badbsca's Cocoon data as bait.[41]

Using a visit to her grandfather as an excuse, Nele entered the White Zone and ran into Agent J, who was patrolling after Riefenstahl's successful negotiations to get the Stasi into the White Zone's defense apparatus. J agreed to show Nele around the White Zone,[42] but noticed that she was reconnoitering just as the Commander broke out of the house Lunasia kept them in.[43] Learning that the Dolls would come to break the Commander out, Lunasia had decided to let them go, but they abducted her.[24] The Commander knocked out J when he tried to apprehend them, and the Dolls arrived in a car. Using the information she had gathered in Nirvana, M16 had pinpointed when the Commander would break out. They left with Nele and J[43] and were joined by DEFY in another car.

While evading the White Zone Garrison, Nele guided the car to the Wiesbaden metro line, where the Dolls would be able to blast a way out. As the team was about to leave, Hebe activated HK416's virus. Before her Neural Cloud was destroyed, 416 managed to transmit to UMP45 some of the data contained inside the bait,[41] which revealed new information about Project Cocoon. 416 would be unable to participate in the rest of the events of Frankfurt. The Dolls blew up four Iaso's Boxes factories, causing localized increases in Collapse radiation,[36] and successfully bypassed the increased security installed on Bee Sting, monitoring it for new intelligence.[44]

Assassination of Laplace

Nele kills Laplace while wearing Gray's memento.

A few days after the White Zone events, on 3 November, the Ministry of Justice announced its intention to make the Interim Regulation permanent by December. Channel 2 ran staged interviews with actors paid to express their support for the Regulation, purposefully not interviewing citizens negatively impacted.[37] The same day, the leader of the Pandora Organization, Styx, in fact a Nyto infiltrator for Paradeus, issued a statement denying their involvement in the Pandora Incident and accusing DEFY of using Relic technology.[29] Styx's obvious lie was internally perceived as disrespect against Shaw and her sister Sofya, whom they considered a martyr.[45]

The Commander handed Gray's corpse to Nele, who modified it so she could be used against Paradeus as revenge for turning her into a Nyto.[37] Nele operated for two entire days,[46] starting on 4 November at 4:45 AM.[47] The reworked Gray would prove to be even stronger than she was before.[33] The Dolls continued to hit the remaining Paradeus factories, locating them by investigating the city's power and water network. Identification was made easier after they noticed the plants were all relying on the same shell company for waste disposal,[37] but Paradeus was no longer concerned with stealth, only with speed of production,[44] and the attacks couldn't significantly slow them down. However, William and Morridow, who also recruited Bramedb to her side, prepared their own plan:[29] the assassination of Laplace.[33]

Kept prisoner in Nele's apartment, J advised the Commander to form an alliance with the Stasi, as Director Riefenstahl also sought to destroy Paradeus, who had become a liability for the German government.[48] Riefenstahl agreed and returned the Elmo to the Commander,[49] allowing them to recover the Dolls kept in the repair bays, including Maggie who restarted the Aeneas Conference Room to enforce transmission security.[44] J was also returned to the Stasi.[50]

The Stasi prevented more air shipments of Iaso's Boxes from making it into the Neo-Soviet Union[46] and closed seven factories, making a display of their operations to appease the media.[50] The attacks by DEFY and 404 destroyed 70% of Paradeus factories, finally crippling their production capacity, but only after they had reached the minimum amount needed to implement Project Cocoon. Nemhran began suspecting the presence of traitors in Paradeus and ordered Hebe to act as Laplace's bodyguard as she moved to the White Zone.[45] Laplace had just completed her last experiment and was ready to proceed with Lunasia's true resurrection.[51]

Just as Laplace left her lab in Raunheim,[27] the modified Gray entered their base, engaged Hebe in combat[45] and crippled Bramedb.[33] Morridow evacuated Laplace through a tunnel to the Fasanerie Conservation Area, pretending that their other escape routes had been destroyed. This led them in an ambush by DEFY, forcing Laplace to proceed alone while Morridow fought with the task force.[52] Taking refuge in a room of the Schloss Fasanerie palace, Laplace was cornered by Nele, who interrogated her at gunpoint about her motives. Laplace contacted William, ordering him to follow her surgical procedure to the letter as she considered he lacked the talent to complete it on his own, but he rejected her instructions. Recognizing Nele's genius for enhancing Gray, Laplace chose her as her successor and gave her the password to her research, causing Nele to fatally shoot her. Nele was planning to let Amaris kill Laplace, but lost her nerve. Meanwhile, DEFY intercepted the cocoon left behind after producing Lunasia's final vessel. Amaris combined its data with her own ability to steal data for herself and the last seal left by Erma, creating a way to interrupt Lunasia's resurrection.[33]

With Laplace's death, the Prometheans considered Project Cocoon finished and released Berezovich Kryuger and Helian, kept as a bargaining chip against the Commander.[50]

“Coronation Storm”

3D view of Frankfurt during Coronation Storm.

At 20:30 on 15 November, as the media blamed the events in Berlin and Frankfurt on General Carter, the attacking 555th Electronic Warfare Squadron faked the northeast-bound approach of 700 aircrafts, concealing the approach of the actual force of the 676th Ground Attack Squadron from the south. Soon after, low-altitude strikes destroyed missile defense and ground radar sites to secure their approach before moving on to destroy air bases and command centers, runways, communication facilities and access roads to the city. Carter's forces hijacked the DDR2 TV station and announced that their “special military operations” in Frankfurt and Moscow aimed to kill the planners of the Rossartrist Union, calling them “enemies of Europe” and accusing them of destabilizing Germany and the NSU for material gain.[53][54] Ground troops resorted to MANPADS[55] and anti-air vehicles to take down some of the bombers.[56] Investigations revealed that the planes were in fact not coming from the NSU, making it a false-flag attack from within Germany.[57][58]

The attack, codenamed “Coronation Storm”, was directed by Paradeus leader Rudolf von Oberstein with the goal of killing as many of the six million inhabitants of Frankfurt as possible to fuel Lunasia's resurrection. By turning Lunasia into a Relic key, Rudolf would reaffirm his position in German politics and create weapons to defend the country. Carter only claimed to be the mastermind of the operation, in exchange for Paradeus' support for his own coup d'état in Moscow.[58][59]

With the local radio jammed and no means for the government to communicate, civilian panic ensued and the Autobahn quickly became gridlocked with fleeing cars, causing heavy casualties.[55] Inside the city, civilians crowded the metro stations to hide from the bombing.[60] Germany's leader, General Secretary Groß, announced that the country entered a state of war,[55] giving exceptional powers to Minister of State Security Romy Riefenstahl. With the help of Hugo Eberlein Guard Regiment Commander Felix, Riefenstahl arrested the Minister of the Interior under charges of treason for assisting Carter's attack. Riefenstahl also secured the allegiance of the Spezialeinsatkommando, Civil Defense, Volkspolizei Alert Unit and Rapid Forces Division.[61] Further Stasi investigation revealed that the local Guard Regiment and emergency services had been intentionally weakened for several months in preparation for the attack.[57][62] Rossartrist leaders across Germany urgently departed for Frankfurt to hold the council that would officialize the creation of the URNC, using the attack on Frankfurt as justification.[54][61][63]

Aware that Rudolf von Oberstein was the real cause of the attack, the Earl and the Promethean Rossartrists sought to have him killed. Groß asked them for a last chance to change the mind of his mentor, but Oberstein remained firmly opposed to Rossartrism and intent on creating a Relic key to use for German interests. Groß conceded to the Earl that Oberstein had to be eliminated, but requested that his family be kept alive.[61] A party vote was prepared to officially strip Oberstein of his duties.[57] Rudolf's assassination, as well as Laplace's, were conditions the Earl had placed on William's induction into the URNC.[63]

On Paradeus' side, Nemhran predicted early on that Coronation Storm would end in a failure, but Rudolf ignored her messages. Considering her duty done, Nemhran prepared to commit suicide. She ordered Hebe to activate the Iaso's Boxes hidden in the city without waiting for the end of the bombing to maximize casualties, and granted elevated access to the White Zone and Bee Sting to Styx and Morridow. On a whim, she decreased the access level of the Bee Sting files concerning key actors, including Rudolf and Carter,[61] intending for the Commander to access them,[58] but this caused the system's security to attack her,[61] deleting the data from her VCI. Nemhran died in her lab's incubator coffin.[56]

On 16 November, as the bombings targeted the city's power stations, main oil pipeline and Europaturm signal tower,[64] Rudolf von Oberstein was found dead at the Socialist Unity Party Headquarters. He had been gruesomely assassinated by Morridow, but his death was officially pinned on Carter. The assassination of Nationale Volksarmee Chief of Staff General Schweinsteiger was also announced, though he had in fact been killed nearly a month earlier in a fabricated car accident.[57][62] Air defense forces and armored division were deployed to the city to stop the attack.[64]

Early in the battle, the Commander deployed the Griffin Dolls, who maintained communications through the Aeneas Conference Room, and sheltered about a hundred civilians rescued from the Autobahn aboard the Elmo.[55] On the second day of the air raid, the Commander expanded the rescue operations to the city[56] and were requested by J and Amaris to disable more Iaso's Boxes.[65] While delivering wounded civilians to the city's hospitals, the Commander took a request from Director Fred Erdrich of the St. Vinzenz Hospital to open a medical channel with Mannheim and Luxembourg to get more medical equipment into the city.[58] The Commander's Dolls cleared Autobahn 661 of the abandoned cars and delivered the equipment, but missiles had destroyed St. Vinzenz Hospital as well as the Children’s Hospital of Mainz while they were away, killing all patients and staff and destroying all Griffin Dolls guarding the buildings.[66] The Commander delivered some supplies to Nele, who had setup a temporary clinic in the Johannes Gutenberg University metro station. During this encounter, Nele gave back to the Commander their Makarov pistol she had used to kill Laplace after being overwhelmed by emotion, vowing to never break the Hippocratic Oath again. This conversation later proved critical to dealing with Lunasia.[63]

The exact duration of Coronation Storm is unclear. Assuming the unlocking order of the Story of Your Life side-story in Convolutional Kernel is chronologically consistent with the main story, it ended on 18 or 19 November.

Coronation Storm coincided with the KCCO's coup d'état in Moscow. Carter's position was precarious as he launched the attack, and Oberstein's death denied him the support he needed. The coup d'état failed and Carter killed himself when loyalist troops invaded his bunker on 18 November.[57][58][67]

Destruction of the Relic Key

AR M4A1M4A1M4A1 takes control of Lunasia's body.

After Coronation Storm ended, General Secretary Groß announced the formation of the URNC, an alliance of Germany and the NSU to combat terrorism and populism. Soon after, Nele leaked the existence of Paradeus, and documents proving that the URNC's loose regulations on Doll technology would eventually lead to its revival, but she was suppressed.[68] The Stasi attempted to eliminate her, but she was saved by her grandfather, who used his political influence, and agent J, who protected her but was expelled from the Stasi as a result.[69] Kryuger later helped Nele and J to resettle under new identities.[70]

After emergency services took over civilian rescue, the Commander refocused their operations to taking down Paradeus, using the investigations led during the battle by Squad 404 and Task Force DEFY.[59] The Earl attempted to convince the Commander to step down, but they refused to let William live under the control of the Prometheans. Havier Witkin enforced the Nidhogg Protocol on the Commander's IOP-made Dolls, rescinding the Commander's command authority and deactivating them. As a last favor, Havier staggered the protocol's activation over 12 hours, leaving the most powerful Dolls for last. All the Dolls decided to follow the Commander until the end.[71] According to the Frankfurt Battle Report and Back to the Source, this attack ended on 30 November 2064.

Tracking down Styx, the Commander stormed the White Zone with 80% of their force and reached the Paradeus safe house at the bottom with 55%, where William was operating on Lunasia to complete Project Valkyrie and resurrect her.[72] William was knocked out by an explosion soon after completing the procedure.[73] Styx and Bramedb were killed in the assault while Hebe and Morridow had to retreat, allowing the Commander and AR Team to enter William's operating room. However, Lunasia had already been resurrected and killed Morridow herself. After deactivating AR Team, Lunasia explained her and William's motivations and revealed that the name “William” was a title that would continue to be passed down to more people who shared the ambition of controlling the Relics, which changed the Commander's focus from killing the current William to taking down all the assets that allowed “William” to exist.[74] Lunasia tested the Commander by arguing that they should kill Nele since she could become the next William. Having previously confirmed Nele ethics, the Commander refused, allowing AR M4A1M4A1M4A1's mind within Lunasia to win her wager against the mind of the original Lunasia regarding the Commander's character. M4 took control of Lunasia's body and used the sealing key created by Erma and Amaris to destroy Lunasia's aspect as a Relic key, but she couldn't allow the Commander to kill William in the presence of the original Lunasia.[75] Moreover, she knew that killing William at this time would trigger a chain of events that would end up with the strengthening of Paradeus instead of their destruction. The first step to William's true demise was to make a public show of “Lunasia's death”.[76]

Assassination of “William”

After returning to the surface, Lunasia and the Commander hijacked a German tank and drove into the White Zone before the tank exploded. The media announced that the Commander had been captured by a Doll named Dandelion before dying in the tank's explosion.[70] Later investigation by Kalina and HG TokarevTokarevTokarev revealed that the tank contained advanced Doll parts of unknown origin and that the tank had been cut by a high-energy weapon, while the explosion was too powerful to be caused by the tank itself.[77] What actually happened is unknown as of Quantum Fluctuation, but Lunasia's body (which was originally Nimogen's body used by Dandelion) was recovered and brought to William,[78] Dandelion became a separate entity from Lunasia again (albeit without her body and existing only in the form of VCI data),[79] and the Commander was wounded, but successfully exited the tank and took refuge in the Cold War-era bunker network under Frankfurt.[80] Medical aid was discreetly diverted from local hospitals to treat their wounds.[81] The Commander left Griffin codes around the bunker's entrance to guide allies to their location,[82] but when Kalina and Tokarev's team found them, they unintentionally allowed Witkin and the URNC forces to locate and capture the Commander.[80] This was in fact part of the Commander's plan: under the URNC's custody at a high-class hotel of the underground White Zone, they were able to infiltrate Dandelion into their systems, for the purpose of locating William.[83] By pretending to be out of resources, the Commander also pushed the Prometheans to relax their surveillance and allow an easy escape thanks to Dandelion's electronic capabilities.[84]

After awakening and leaving the White Zone, William was formally accepted into the URNC.[85] He planned to restart the work left behind by Laplace and to “recycle” the remaining Paradeus units.[86] He agreed to attend the award ceremony for Frankfurt's defenders in person despite the danger to his life.[87] Though Task Force DEFY didn't dare to assassinate him due to the crowd, M16A1 decided to act alone,[88] but only managed to destroy his left arm. After the ceremony and the Commander's capture, the Earl forced the two mortal enemies to meet and attempt to find a common ground, but the Commander refused any cooperation with William, only confirming that he was a madman who would destroy the world to reach his goal.[86] Immediately after William left their meeting, a Nyto assassin attempted to kill the Commander, but they were saved by DEFY. Since her attempt to kill William failed, M16 agreed to join the Commander's forces, which included Dandelion, DEFY,[89] Squad 404 and Kalina.[90] Incarnated in a Nyto White, Lunasia attempted to make William abandon his plans, but he refused.[86] Another attempt on William's life was made by Mona, infiltrated among his Stasi bodyguards, but he was saved by Grig, the last available Nyto he was able to revive.[91]

Around this time, well into the month of December, Neo-Soviet troops were being deployed in the city by the Prometheans to track down the Commander's remaining allies.[92] The Earl, who had been attempting to placate the Commander with the promise of medals and glory,[93] invited them to the Celebrity Meeting program on DDR2 TV to promote the URNC in their quality as a Neo-Soviet hero. The Commander accepted in order to not raise the Earl's suspicions. William himself was in fact also participating in the interview, but Shadowless, who ran the program, went off-script and challenged William with Nele's previous revelations. The Commander replied instead, calling the URNC not to let an organization like Paradeus exist again.[94] During the interview, Kalina, M16 and Squad 404 attacked one of the remaining Paradeus facilities guarded by NSU troops, enabling Dandelion to find shipping manifests [95] revealing William's location in the old Oberstein research labs.[84]

Dandelion perceived several possible timelines through “cracks in reality”, helping her steer the final battle towards the end wanted by Lunasia.[96][97] However, her foresight was limited and she didn't see that William had actually reclaimed her body and crafted his ideal version of Lunasia, containing only the memories he had selected to ensure her loyalty.[97]

After stealing a Dinergate to give Dandelion a body and facilitate their escape from the hotel, the Commander joined their allies and established their attack plan: themselves, M16 and Task Force DEFY would lead the assault on William's location to assassinate him and wipe out all remaining Paradeus research data, while Squad 404, HG TokarevTokarevTokarev's team and Kalina would attack and destroy the other surviving Paradeus labs,[79] acting too fast for the Earl to intervene.[84] AR Team was unable to take part in the attack because Persica had already recalled them by this point.[98] Since William would be expecting them and aiming to kill the Commander, M16 offered to bolster their forces[99] by going back to IOP's warehouse to temporarily reactivate the Dolls deactivated by the Nidhogg Protocol. Tokarev team also joined the attack since Squad 404 and Kalina's task was going very smoothly, and Dandelion borrowed Tokarev's body to take part in the battle. With M16 ensuring the destruction of Paradeus' data[98] and Task Force DEFY taking on Grig,[100] the Commander and Dandelion faced William in his lab. Dandelion took over the Nyto Whites guarding him, forcing William to reveal his “perfected” Lunasia.[101]

Dandelion confronting Lunasia? using HG TokarevTokarevTokarev's body.

“Lunasia” easily dispatched the Nyto Whites sent by Dandelion, mocking her as “failures from Tallinn”, but Dandelion forced her way into her VCI and forced “Lunasia” to confront her identity as part of the Lunasia gestalt. Initially defending her identity as “William's sister”, “Lunasia” talked with the Failed Isomer and M4A1 and realized that William did not love her, but loved the memories he projected on her, and agreed to merge with the Lunasia gestalt to find a more genuine form of love.[97] With William's last bodyguard bested, the Commander beat up and killed William by emptying their Makarov pistol against him, before confirming his bodily functions had stopped.[78]

All eight remaining Paradeus labs were easily destroyed by Squad 404 and Kalina[102] since most of William's troops had been recalled to the Oberstein lab.[98]

Aftermath

After William's death, Dandelion reclaimed her usual body from “Lunasia” and had the Commander promise not to investigate how Lunasia and herself had used Nirvana, as it was a technology too dangerous for mankind to exploit. Mikhail Tsvigun called the Commander to confirm they had killed William and thanked them on behalf of the Prometheans. The Commander thanked Tsvigun for his help, though the specifics of this help are unknown as of Quantum Fluctuation (this may include lending M16's help, the medical assistance to the Commander and the bypass of the Nidhogg Protocol). Tsvigun then asked the Commander to complete their part of the deal and leave alone in exile for the contamination zones aboard the Elmo, which Tsvigun had stocked with resources[78] and emptied of the personal effects of the Commander's allies.[102] The Commander complied but requested that their subordinates be protected against any retribution for taking part in the destruction of Paradeus.[78] Later, the Earl contacted the Commander again to discuss why they had agreed to abandon their newfound political power, and the Commander replied that they didn't believe being the Prometheans' pawn would allow them to better the world. The Earl warned the Commander that they would be involved again in the future whether they wanted to or not.[102][103]

After the attack on the Oberstein lab, the IOP Dolls were deactivated again before being returned to Griffin & Kryuger. They were surprised to learn that, thanks to the Commander's request to Tsvigun, they wouldn't be disposed of for disobeying IOP's orders but were instead allowed to choose a new employer or claim independence after Griffin's restructuring and downsizing[102] in early 2065.[104] However, the Dolls were also forced to agree to the Mephisto Agreement, preventing them from reuniting with the Commander under threat of retaliation against the Commander. This nearly caused a riot before the Doll leaders intervened to calm them down and Helian assured them that the Commander was still alive and well. Many Dolls searched for direct or indirect ways to meet the Commander again.[102] Kalina and Kryuger left G&K soon after to join NOMFA, leaving Helian in charge of the greatly weakened PMC. Kalina resented the Commander for leaving without warning, while using her new position to monitor them.[105] Dandelion retained her status as an independent party but occasionally collaborated with Kalina and the URNC.[106][107] She had left a backup of herself in the Elmo, which she would eventually reawaken.[108]

Despite being considered utterly destroyed, Paradeus was eventually revived in the following decade with the backing of the Orlog Conglomerate and William's corpse was reanimated by an alien substance.[109]

Survivors of the battle who would come to play a role in the Helena case in 2074 include Adjutant Lentine and Orphelune Girard.

Belligerents

† denotes a character permanently killed. ‡ denotes a Doll that was non-permanently destroyed.

Griffin & Kryuger

Statesec

Paradeus

Stasi

Independent parties

Trivia

  • In Exotic Cadence, the antagonist, Flagg, claimed to have once admired the URNC and fought in Frankfurt, but became disillusioned after what he perceived to be the forced exile of the Commander and joined the remnants of Paradeus. Flagg doesn't exist in the canon version of the story.
  • A common in-joke among Girls' Frontline fans to celebrate the return of a character in Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium was to "put her on the 'Survived Frankfurt' list". In reality, no Doll aside from Erma was permanently destroyed during the battle.

Notes

  1. ↑ In the Frankfurt Battle Report, the events of Angular Gyrus are said to start on 1 November and span one day, instead of starting on 31 October.

References

  1. ↑ Frankfurt Battle Report
  2. ↑ Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, Corposant AS-2-2
  3. ↑ Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, Alva's introduction blurb
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E6
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E14
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E18
  7. ↑ Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E1
  8. ↑ Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E2
  9. ↑ Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E5
  10. ↑ Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E10
  11. ↑ Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E13
  12. ↑ Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E14
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E18
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E20
  15. ↑ Girls' Frontline, The Summer Garden of Forking Paths, E21
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Frankfurt Battle Report
  17. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E1
  18. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E9
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E10
  20. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E2
  21. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E3
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E6
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E3
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E16
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E1
  26. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E2
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E14
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E7
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E3
  30. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E17
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E22
  32. ↑ Girls' Frontline, AK-12's Neural Upgrade story 3
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E22
  34. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Zero Charge, E21
  35. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Slow Shock, SSE03-1
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E20
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E1
  38. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E3
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E4
  40. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E11
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E19
  42. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E13
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Girls' Frontline, Angular Gyrus, E17
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E12
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E16
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E11
  47. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E6
  48. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E7
  49. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E8
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E23
  51. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E15
  52. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E19
  53. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Isolation Forest, E24
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 1
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 3
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 7
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 57.4 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 8
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 58.3 58.4 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 13
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 18
  60. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 4
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 61.3 61.4 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 5
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 Girls' Frontline, Bee Sting#Coronation Storm Investigation Report
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 63.2 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 17
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 10
  65. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 12
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 66.2 66.3 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 16
  67. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, The Story of Your Life
  68. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 21
  69. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 25
  70. ↑ 70.0 70.1 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 27
  71. ↑ 71.0 71.1 71.2 71.3 71.4 71.5 71.6 71.7 71.8 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 20
  72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 72.2 72.3 72.4 72.5 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 22
  73. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Virtual Pair E1
  74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 24
  75. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 26
  76. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-2
  77. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Roche Limit E8
  78. ↑ 78.0 78.1 78.2 78.3 Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-44
  79. ↑ 79.0 79.1 Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-20
  80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 Girls' Frontline, Roche Limit E16
  81. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Roche Limit E11
  82. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Roche Limit E14
  83. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-16
  84. ↑ 84.0 84.1 84.2 Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-22
  85. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Virtual Pair E3
  86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 86.2 Girls' Frontline, Virtual Pair E7
  87. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Virtual Pair E5
  88. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Virtual Pair E6
  89. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Virtual Pair E9
  90. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Virtual Pair E10
  91. ↑ 91.0 91.1 Girls' Frontline, Virtual Pair E8
  92. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-8
  93. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-4
  94. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-14
  95. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-16
  96. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-24
  97. ↑ 97.0 97.1 97.2 Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-34 to 40
  98. ↑ 98.0 98.1 98.2 98.3 98.4 98.5 98.6 Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-28
  99. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-26
  100. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-30
  101. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-32
  102. ↑ 102.0 102.1 102.2 102.3 102.4 Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-46
  103. ↑ Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, Chapter 1-1
  104. ↑ GFL2 Loading Screens
  105. ↑ Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, SL-4-1
  106. ↑ Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, SL-6-1
  107. ↑ Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, Classified Briefings#Words of the Enlightened
  108. ↑ Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, Amidst Wings of Gray GW-1-2
  109. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Quantum Fluctuation 77-A-48
  110. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Roche Limit E13
  111. ↑ Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 14
  112. ↑ 112.0 112.1 112.2 112.3 112.4 112.5 112.6 112.7 112.8 Girls' Frontline, Convolutional Kernel, 23
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