The Commander

The Commander

Information
Full name	The Commander
Affiliation	Griffin & Kryuger
Voice actor	JP: Junko Minagawa (♀) - Hirofumi Nojima (♂) CN: ??? (♀) - ??? (♂) KR: Kim Bo-na (♀) - ??? (♂)
Artist	Unknown
Chibi animation
Variant: Default Lycan Sanctuary - Watermelon Splitting minigame Click the marked area to switch between animations
View page template

The Commander (指挥官 (zhǐhuīguān) in Chinese and 指揮官 (shikikan) in Japanese) is the identity of the player character in Girls' Frontline and Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium. Because they represent the player, their gender and past are loosely defined in the games.

As a tactical commander, the Commander is tasked with assessing the strategic situation and to remotely give orders to their Tactical Dolls squads in the field (though they sometimes also take the field). At Griffin & Kryuger, they were helped in their duties by their logistic officer Kalina, and later by Mayling after becoming a bounty hunter. Early in their career at G&K in 2062, the Commander was involved with the elite T-Doll squad AR Team and demonstrated high commanding capabilities, gaining the trust of their superiors. This led them to assume increasingly important missions against Sangvis Ferri and eventually to become an asset to the Bureau of State Security against KCCO and Paradeus. At some point, the Commander also assumed the identity of the Professor during the investigation of the Magrasea superserver backup. After the Battle of Frankfurt in 2064, the Commander became a bounty hunter operating under B.R.I.E.F..

In Girls' Frontline: Doll's Song and the anime, they are represented by Gentiane.

Character Info

“	I have always yearned for a peaceful life, but unfortunately, there are those in the blood and carnage still waiting for me to return.	”

Because of the particularity of G&K troops being T-Dolls, the main factor of recruitment for human commanders isn't professional training or experience, but being able to pass a psychological evaluation dedicated to measuring interpersonal compatibility with T-Dolls. The Commander displayed such traits of character as patience, courage and loyalty. Their main conviction is to be an uncompromising protector, in opposition to the grand vision of the Rossartrists which requires sacrifices to impose their vision of society. The Commander's ideal implies many bitter failures and personal sacrifices, and they are often haunted by a sense of powerlessness and sometimes sleepless nights due to nightmares. Though they disagree with the tenets of Rossartrism, they recognize that some of its proponents like Gilda Ulrich also aim to protect individual lives. According to AK-12, the Commander isn't one to yield to threats but is easily swayed by people feigning to need their help.

Due to their similar ideals, Angelia considered the Commander one of her few true allies and friends. Ulrich considered that the Commander and Angelia were people who had the kindness and willpower necessary to further the cause of Rossartrism. Angelia voiced her intention to transfer Task Force DEFY to the Commander's in the event of her death on two occasions, but DEFY's loyalty to Angelia was too strong and they didn't want to serve under another commander. Lenny noted that Nele was starting to walk the same path as the Commander after she started to pursue vengeance against Paradeus for the murder of Gray.

Unlike most humans, the Commander doesn't perceive Dolls as inferior to humans. They ensure that their Doll subordinates live in dignity and grow as they gather more experience, and don't perceive their emotions as a design flaw. This has earned them the undying loyalty of the Dolls under their command. ^RF M82A1M82A1M82A1 called the Commander “one who is trusted by all dolls.” Later on, they're described as “The one who has ventured into the contamination zone alone but at the same time also lives in every Griffin Doll's heart.” They mentioned once that they often purchase clothes for their Dolls, which ties into the costume systems of the first and second games. They have been described as “magnetic” towards some entities (like Peritya) who take interest in observing the unpredictable events befalling them and their reaction. They claim to be an atheist, only trusting in themselves and their subordinates, and drink very sparingly.

^AR M4A1M4A1M4A1 said she admired the Commander's pride and honor in combat, but they have also been described as utterly merciless. This ruthless side was fully displayed during their confrontations with William: the Commander was said to be a completely different person in this situation, losing their heroic qualities, motivated only by hatred and acting with uncharacteristic violence. They are also a skilled deceiver and a good liar when the situation calls for it. Dandelion once teased the Commander for not being committed to any sentimental relationship despite how pushy some of their subordinates have been in Griffin. In the Bad End 2 timeline, the Commander and Kalina spent more time together due to Kalina not getting sick with ELID after the Paldiski Incident and confessed their love to each other before dying in Berlin. In other timelines, Kalina and the Commander both survived beyond 2064 but Kalina's feelings remained unrequited.

The Commander has been known under codenames at times, such as “Robin” and “Linchpin”. In one untranslated de-canonized story, they used the name 凯利·诺顿 (Kelly Norton). They received a variety of nicknames from their Dolls:

• Boss (Thompson, AK-47, FMG-9, Glock 17, AK-74U, QSB-91, VSK-94, Nova, APC556, M327, APC9K, FM24, P99)
• Master (G36, G41, Hanyang Type 88, Agent)
• Comrade (Nagant Revolver, PPS-43, Mosin-Nagant during Notebook/Anniversary Party)
• Darling (M1911, Mk23)
• Caretaker (MP7)
• Senior (AUG Para)
• Commeownder (IDW)
• Mastermind (Px4 Storm)
• Little Lamb (Falcon)
• Honey (KAC-PDW)
• Lord Commander (MAT-49)
• Coach (Lusa)
• My Liege (M240L)
• Partner (P50)

Appearance

Girls' Frontline

The Commander's default appearance.

The appearance and gender of the Commander can be customized by players in the game in the Wardrobe screen. The default genderless appearance of a Commander in-game is a mud-stained G&K uniform, crude headlamp and gas mask. After the player chooses a gender for their Commander, they have access to a clean, complete uniform with beret and a Shoshinsha badge (🔰), and the character will have blue eyes with light skin and dark brown hair, short for men and shoulder-length for women. The male version is used for the generic Commander sprite during gameplay, albeit with its face and hair obscured. After the Great Retreat, the Commander was physically tortured by Nytos after telling false accounts of the battle and noted that their face would look even uglier than after having been caught in the fallout of the Collapse bomb (though they retain no facial scars in 2074).

Prior to Continuum Turbulence, the Commander had dialogues in costume stories, showing their care for the T-Dolls under their command, but was with very few exceptions a silent character in the main story. In Continuum Turbulence, the player was sometimes prompted to choose among several dialogue choices. In later story chapters, the Commander has direct dialogues with other characters.

The Commander's gender is meant to remain ambiguous in the game: in all but a few instances, they are referred to by their rank or neutral pronouns. Only some costume stories, such as ^MG M1919A4M1919A4M1919A4's Carmilla, ^MG MG3MG3MG3's Full Moon's Gaze or ^RF Gepard M1Gepard M1Gepard M1's Looking Forward to Tomorrow, let the player choose between male- or female-appropriate dialogue choices. In a few instances, a male pronoun is erroneously used in the translation: in ^MG DP28DP28DP28's introduction quote and ^HG P22P22P22's oath quote; in 9-3E ; Spoiled Staccato in Freaky Pandemic ; ^HG Mk23Mk23Mk23's Impish Sweetheart costume story ; the description of the Theatre Performance base background ; ^HG Five-seveNFive-seveNFive-seveN's bar scene in Valhalla ; Pollinosis I in Dual Randomness ; ^HG PPKPPKPPK's last Neural Upgrade story ; Hunter's Patrol and Twilight Labyrinth I in Lycan Sanctuary. In the watermelon splitting minigame of Hunter's Patrol in Lycan Sanctuary, the Commander is depicted as female, and they are referred to as a woman in the translation of the 2020 April's Fool.

• 
  Default uniform costume.

Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium

“	The Counselor's warnings were not without reason. This commander rarely ever intends to make a grand entrance, but always successfully manages to do so. — Saga	”

In Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, the player can still choose the Commander's gender, but not customize their appearance (which facilitates their use in pre-rendered cutscenes).

The male Commander has blue eyes and black hair with greying temples, worn in a mop-top and a rattail, slightly resembling the default appearance of the Commander in the first game. The female Commander has light red eyes and pink hair with bangs of a deeper shade, worn in a chin-length bob and parted fringe, resembling Gentiane. Both genders wear mostly the same outfit, consisting of a red and black bomber jacket with sleeve pouches and communicator on the right clavicle, worn over an undersuit with a high padded collar, gloves, tight-fitting grey pants with a pistol holster and straps, knee pads and high black boots. The symbol on the back of their jacket (visible during cutscenes) is the same as the one worn by Groza on her right lapel. Depending on the artwork, the smart watch changes wrist and sometimes differs between genders.

In this game, the story script changes depending on the gender selected by the player. The male appearance is the one used in PVs.

Players can “control” the Commander in certain missions with the Command Assault Vehicle.

With the Dawnforger update, the Commander can receive a swimsuit costume for use in Crew Deck mode by playing the Splash Arena minigame in the Mirage Terrace room of the Crew Deck.

• 
  In-game portraits (look different from 3D renders).
• 
• 
  Chibis used in Pathforger.
• 
  Crew Deck base costume.
• 
• 
  Crew Deck costume (swimsuit).
• 

As the Professor

The Commander's appearance as the Professor.

Main article: The Professor

Apart from metatextual interpretations, there were a number of clues over the course of Project Neural Cloud's story that the Professor was the same character as the Commander, instead of a different Griffin commander. ClukayClukay 's event Divergent Shadows made the strongest case, but it also contains a timeline inconsistency and presents itself as as case of unreliable narration. Their identity was eventually confirmed in Gloaming Finale - Codename Griffin III, where Clukay remarks about the members of the Exiles known to be part of the Commander's troops outside of the server, “they are no doubt the Dolls you have lead for so long. […] I have no doubt you will succeed, Commander.”

This leaves a number of yet unexplained inconsistencies: while the Commander began the mission in Magrasea on 23 September 2063, Divergent Shadows, which occurs during a prior test mission, contains flashbacks to the Great Retreat, which is dated 2064 in most sources ; Because no main story event from Girls' Frontline is identified as taking place in 2063, it can't be used to ascertain if the Commander could have participated in Persica's plans ; The Professor comments that they have spent three years in Magrasea during the final battle against Eosphorus, though there is a certain amount of time dilation in Magrasea, its scale is unknown and some dates have been used as if there was no time differential. ; The dangers of consciousness digitization are brought up several times in Project Neural Cloud and the Professor is put in physical danger at several points in the story. It isn't explained why Persica would make the Commander take this risk despite their important connection to her AR Team.

Story Involvement

Origins

“	So, you’re not mute after all. Cold on the outside, but warm-hearted, eh? — Sergeant Marina about the young Commander.	”

The young Neo-Soviet citizen who would later be called “the Commander” became a war orphan during World War Three and was left with noone close to them. In 2050, still some months away from being a legal adult, they were enrolled in a Suvorov Military School, which accepted students based solely on physical fitness, without holding a general exam. The Commander was bitter that they were forced to study war when it had taken everything from them. In the train to the school, they met with Sergeant Marina, a senior from Suvorov they gave the cold shoulder to, and helped an old woman whom they reminded of her own child, Robin, who was killed in action. 14 years later, the Commander would use the name Robin as a cover identity. Still green and hot-blooded, the Commander tried to take on two thieves who had swindlded the old woman and was beaten up until the more experienced Marina intervened. After this, the Commander started reluctantly warming up to her.

The Commander remained close to Marina at the military school, learning that she was also a war orphan who hated war but had enlisted because it was the best position to save civilians. Marina asked the Commander to consider her as an adopted sister, but they were reluctant. The Commander would come to adopt Marina's ideals of protection, including her interest in Dolls as a way to spare human lives during conflicts. When Marina was killed in an undisclosed incident while protecting civilians after the war, the Commander learned that she had declared them her next-of-kin. The Commander took care of her grave and bought the plot next to hers so they would be buried next their adoptive sister when their time came, intending to use the epitaph “Here lies a brave soul”. Feeling that the Neo-Soviet army was being used for an internal power struggle, the Commander left and joined Griffin & Kryuger as an alternative to protect civilians. They likely lived in Yellow Zones most of their life since they had never seen a Green Zone ID before being offered one.

During Maze Guess, the trainee who takes command of one of the testing teams, Cadet 41 of the 2060 class of the Department of Tactical Command of Griffin & Kryuger, ends up being called “Commander” by the Dolls as a show of respect for their skills, but it's unconfirmed that they're the same character as the Commander.

After they arrived at the Griffin base of Sector 09 (or Area S09) and officially adopted the function of “Commander”, they were considered to be rather young for their job. S09 was a relatively calm area near the frontline of the hostile Sangvis Ferri territory. At the time, G&K had accepted the contract to fight Sangvis Ferri for six months and had urgent need of more personnel to contain the menace.

Recovery of AR Team

At Sector 09's control center, the Commander met their logistics officer, Kalina, and expressed some concern about their qualification for the job. Kalina assured them G&K's selection process was tough enough to ensure they were ready. The Commander was tasked by Helian with an assault mission on their second day after only one drill of experience. Helian tasked the new commander because she was stringed for manpower but had confidence in the recruit's capacity and was ultimately impressed by how swiftly they carried the mission. Helian later tasked the Commander with new missions to have them gather field experience, helping in recovering ^SMG SkorpionSkorpionSkorpion and capturing Scarecrow as part of G&K's search for the whereabouts of AR Team. Helian later enrolled the Commander in G&K's advanced testing program as a candidate for G&K's tactical reserve, which they passed with flying colors.

Using Scarecrow's intel, Helian sent the Commander to a potential site to collect new intel, but seeing that Sangvis Ferri was consistently beating G&K to intel sites, such operations were temporarily halted and, much to their chagrin, the Commander returned to defending the frontline in Sector 09 instead of leading investigative missions. This proved temporary as G&K's leader Berezovich Kryuger, on Helian's recommendations, assigned the Commander to help 16LAB's director Persica in her search for information about AR Team. The Commander's successes led them to gain the trust of Persica, and Helian tasked them with the recovery of ^AR M4A1M4A1M4A1. The Commander's independence in leading the mission was a great advantage in defeating Executioner, who expected G&K's HQ to handle the mission and monitored their transmissions instead of local channels. Persica later tasked the Commander with retrieving Sangvis Ferri parts for her ongoing study of their manufacturing process and shared some of her background with AR Team with the Commander, stating the importance of M4.

After the successful recovery of M4, Helian kept dispatching the Commander to retrieve the other members of AR Team, pushing back Hunter's troops and recovering ^AR M4 SOPMOD IIM4 SOPMOD IIM4 SOPMOD II and ^AR ST AR-15ST AR-15ST AR-15 with their own T-Dolls since HQ could provide intel but no reinforcements. While ^AR M16A1M16A1M16A1 was still missing, Helian redeployed the Commander to support a local intel recovery team, in reality Squad 404, fighting Intruder deeper in Sector 09, before being tasked to destroy the ringleader to clear Sector 09 of Sangvis Ferri occupation after 404's mission concluded, retrieving the last member of AR Team in the process. After the battle, M16A1 relayed to the Commander a clue ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 had asked her to pass on to Persica: “It's raining on the plain”. As a mark of respect for the Commander's efforts and skill, M4A1 decided to reveal the content of the mission during which her team was separated and they recovered intel about Plan Parapluie in Sector 09's Safe House 3.

Aside from their command capabilities, the Commander brought big changes to the life of the Area S09 base. They voided the policy that T-Dolls had to remain in maintenance pods between battle deployments and authorized them to make use of their free time as they saw fit. They also opened the base's humans-only cafeteria to Dolls (which eventually became ^RF SpringfieldSpringfieldSpringfield's cafe) and encouraged Dolls who had experience or interest in a non-fighting position to apply for work at the base's facilities, leading to the establishment of the base's departments. They occasionally spectated in the Dolls' training to give them practical advice and took steps to learn about their personalities. Before this, most of the Dolls had never eaten food or been given any form of personal freedom. These policies, designed to allow the Dolls to express their individuality, greatly boosted the base's morale and efficiency.

Plan Parapluie

Along with other tactical commanders, the Commander was called to G&K's secret base near Sector 09 by Kryuger to discuss Plan Parapluie. There, the Commander met with Helian in person for the first time, along with Kryuger. Sangvis Ferri launched an assault against the base before any planning could start and the Commander was knocked out during the initial explosion. They were awakened by Kryuger, who entrusted them with his personal Beretta 92 pistol and tasked them with using the local terminal to mount a counterattack and establish a temporary command center while he went his own way with his revolver. Having organized the troops and dispersed the first assault wave, the Commander linked up with AR Team and Kryuger, who tasked them with organizing counterattacks while he and Helian would look into the leak that permitted Sangvis Ferri to find the secret base and stage the assault.

As the Commander was leading operations against Destroyer, G&K identified the origin of the leak to be AR-15, who escaped from quarantine, prompting G&K to issue a general order to intercept or destroy her. Having located Destroyer's command center but not shared the information with HQ yet, the Commander offered AR Team the opportunity to get on site before any other G&K troops so they might reach AR-15 themselves should she be there. However, artillery support from Dreamer led to Helian cancelling all operations in order to regroup, and the Commander guided AR Team back to HQ through artillery fire. AR Team was redeployed to search for AR-15 in the following days, alone due to heavy losses on G&K's side, and Helian approached the Commander with new orders: recovering the neural cloud backups left behind by AR-15. AR Team was assigned to the mission but not informed of the nature of the intel, though they quickly recognized it by themselves. This intel, along with the one recovered by Squad 404 in Sector 09, brought the last details about Plan Parapluie, making Kryuger worry about the Commander's willingness to destroy AR-15 if it proved necessary.

The Commander and their troops relocated to Sector 08 to follow their leads, where they received the help of Squad ^MG NegevNegevNegev and ran into Alchemist. After capturing the area, M16 reported that M4 and SOPMOD had disappeared into a radar and transmissions jamming zone while pursuing AR-15. When the jamming (actually generated by the Parapluie virus carried by AR-15) moved back and revealed SOPMOD's IFF tag, the Commander deployed M16 and troops to recover her before receiving orders from Helian to urgently call of the search and leave Sector 08, where all local Sangvis Forces were converging. With M16 and SOPMOD assuring the Commander they could handle the search alone, the Commander dispatched troops to assist the retreat of Squad Negev, relying on the elite dolls to point the troops lost in the jamming back to G&K's command center and eliminating Sangvis forces trying to cut their escape routes. After Alchemist was killed by AR-15 and SOPMOD, local Sangvis forces temporarily lost their combat capabilities and the jamming moved further back, enabling the lost G&K dolls to regroup and exfiltrate, three hours after the retreat order.

Against Dreamer

After the retreat from Sector 08 and the loss of AR-15, all dolls suspected to be a Parapluie carrier were sent to a detention facility in Sector 05. The Commander submitted a transfer demand to G&K's HQ as to remain close to AR Team, which was granted by Kryuger, and the Commander's authority shifted from Sector 09 to Sector 05, though they did not relocate physically. At Sector 05, far removed from the frontline, the Commander was tasked with usual security contractor work such as daily patrols, reports and assistance to HQ operations, a far cry from the previous active battles. Moreover, Helian explained that no contact could be established with AR Team while any doubt about a Parapluie infection had not been ruled out due to the dire consequences for G&K's reputation of losing Sector 08, though she accepted to pass audio records back and forth between the Commander and AR Team.

A few days later, the detention center was targeted by a Sangvis Ferri assault and Helian ordered the Commander to support the defenders inside the building by breaking the encirclement, providing a morale boost in the process. She also ordered not to break into the building due to the transmission jamming that appeared inside. As the logistics lines were stretched thin as the battle dragged on, Persica deployed the new elite doll ^SMG RO635RO635RO635, who tracked down the ringleader in command of the assault, Dreamer. Surprised that G&K had the ability to find her so quickly, Dreamer hailed the Commander on a public channel to announce she would soon deploy more troops and send one of her dummies to the field, intending to force the Commander to choose between supporting the dolls inside the building or diverting their troops to confront her dummy.

However, the Commander was able to dispatch RO635 alone in the building and focus on Dreamer's dummy thanks to RO635's command module and enhanced capacities against Sangvis Ferri tactics. When the dolls inside the detention center managed to retreat inside the local bunker, Dreamer could not help Elisa open it and Sangvis Ferri had to call off their assault. Helian gave the Commander special authorization to enter the building to assess the situation, where they met with RO635 in person for the first time. She asked the Commander to keep her involvement in the operation a secret from HQ and informed them that she would assume command of AR Team due to M4A1's catatonic state after her encounter with Elisa. The Commander later assisted AR Team in their mission to eliminate Dreamer's dummy after she took residence in Sector 05, deploying their troops to thin out Sangvis Ferri and enabling AR Team and Squad Palette to focus on their target.

Arctic Warfare

After the successful operation against Dreamer's dummy, AR Team's aircraft was downed by a Jupiter canon and crashed in Sector 03. With help from HQ, Squad 404 and lost T-Dolls, AR Team managed to reach the border of the sector despite Sangvis Ferri troops and bad weather, only to be stopped by Architect and Gager. With their reinforcements being hours away, RO635, reflecting on how M4 would handle the fight, decided to put trust in the Commander and made last-minute change to her objectives to reach a communication center and call the Commander for help. The Commander managed to mobilize and deploy several squads quick enough to assist the stranded dolls, and ^SMG ThompsonThompsonThompson and ^RF WA2000WA2000WA2000 captured Architect, who revealed the military origins of the Jupiter cannons.

This information prompted G&K to deploy reinforcements as planned, Helian handing command over to the Commander to repel Agent's troops while G&K was dismantling and transporting a Jupiter to study it.

Raid on Base 0

To make up for G&K's lack of results in destroying the Sangvis Ferri rebel T-Dolls, Kryuger ordered a mission to SF's Base 0 in order to recover File No. 7, which would be used to decipher Lycoris' research data recovered by AR Team during the raid on Safe House 3. Kryuger put Persica in charge of the mission, and she selected the Commander to lead a diversionary assault on the edge of the area and create an infiltration opportunity for AR Team, while also targeting local command posts to cripple SF's drone coverage in the area. After M16 secretly used a low-yield Parapluie virus on herself to gain access to the database as per Persica's plans, SF troops located the team and the Commander moved to fight Destroyer and Dreamer to cover AR Team's retreat, but M16 was unable to evacuate and left behind. The Commander was put in charge of locating her, exploiting the counter-jamming zones left behind by RO and engaging the SF ringleader in combat again, but M16 and Persica had secretly planned the situation to conduct a high-risk data retrieval mission and the rescue mission failed.

Joint assault

After obtaining Helian's authorization to deploy the now two-man AR Team in search of M16, the Commander accompanied Kryuger to meet with KCCO's General Carter and discuss their joint assault to destroy Sangvis' main base. Due to their stellar successes against SF, Kryuger selected the Commander to lead the assault, while Kryuger himself would handle high-level command synchronization with KCCO. After meeting Havier Witkin for the first time, the Commander was immediately deployed to the field, traveling with Captain Yegor's troops to regroup with the Griffin T-Dolls on-site. En route, the Commander also deployed reinforcements to AR Team's position after they were pinned by Judge so they could join the assault. After receiving an anonymous tip, the Commander diverted ^RF XM3XM3XM3's echelon from their logistics mission to recover M4A1, stranded in the Military's camp after trying to regroup with G&K from Persica's lab. The Commander also diverted some computational power from their dolls to Squad 404 to assist their electronic warfare capabilities as they also infiltrated Base 0 to recover the drone containing the data from M16's mission after it was shot down by SF.

As the assault began and Parapluie coverage was detected, the Commander tasked AR Team, who was lagging behind the main force after M4 had to retrieve SOP-II and RO from Base 0 territory, to use RO's electronic warfare to reactivate paralyzed military units. After reactivating the units to protect the Military's counter-jamming stations, the Commander ordered AR Team to regroup with the Military's main force and watch their flank as they got closer to SF's main base. But as the Military armored troops proved too fast for G&K forces and Captain Yegor refused to slow the advance, the Commander ordered to cover their allies by deploying the T-Dolls against the SF targets left in their wake. The Commander then diverted their troops again after AR was encircled by SF forces when Elisa tried to connect with M4A1 for the second time, but they were unable to break the encirclement before Yegor's own forces got through. The KCCO troops destroyed the T-Dolls, sparing only M4A1 still under Elisa's electronic assaults. At the same time, Elisa ordered the deployment of an advanced Parapluie virus that overwhelmed G&K's and the Military's command networks, prompting Helian to order a general retreat of all G&K troops. At the same time, the Commander received another anonymous transmission from an alleged ally of Persica asking for M4A1's coordinates. They complied, allowing Task Force DEFY to rescue her.

Great Retreat

Singularity scene, Agent seizing the Commander (bottom-right hand).

Staging the withdrawal from a temporary command base inside Parapluie jamming territory, the Commander dispatched ^SMG MP7MP7MP7 to serve as a messenger with Helian from outside the jamming field. After transmitting the sitrep to Griffin HQ, MP7 then went back to assist the evacuation instead of sending HQ's new orders by drone and escaping by herself. Despite assaults from SF and KCCO forces, the Commander held their position long enough to recover several echelons left behind by other commanders during the retreat.

As the Commander's forces started withdrawing, they ran into a blockade organized by Gager. While they managed to penetrate the blockade, the rear echelons suddenly came under fire by Gager's main forces. The ringleader proposed to spare them in exchange for the liberation of Architect. As Kalina tried to contact HQ, all transmissions on the battlefield were cut due to Elisa's OGAS unleashing a powerful counterattack against KCCO. As the SF troops fell into disarray, Kalina used a megaphone to give orders to the retreating troops, successfully guiding them through the blockade. Elisa then ordered Agent to personally destroy all remaining Griffin forces, and Agent herself broke into the command base and pinned down the Commander, starting to crush their body under her foot. Angelia then contacted Agent, asking her to spare the Commander's life in exchange for organizing an encounter between Elisa and M4A1. Impressed by the Commander's mettle in delaying their retreat this long, Angelia also tasked them to help her slow the KCCO tanks in order for the meeting to take place and capture Elisa. This put the Commander and the T-Dolls still in the base at risk against KCCO's firepower, forcing Kalina to take remote command of the base's defenses while the Commander supervised the battle. This new delay caused the Commander to be within the contamination radius of the Collapse bomb used by M4A1 as the encounter with Elisa broke into renewed combat.

Rescuing Angelia

Knocked out by the radiations, the Commander was recovered from the command base and brought to a safe house by ^SG M870M870M870 and ^RF M82A1M82A1M82A1. After being awakened with an adrenaline shot, the Commander refused to leave until Angelia's own escape route was secured and assumed command again from the safe house. Though Kalina had ordered the two T-Dolls to knock the Commander out and bring them to the evacuation airfield if they refused to come willingly, both respected the Commander's courage and took position outside the safe house to intercept attacking enemies. From there, the Commander was contacted by Angelia, who properly introduced herself, offered them the Heavy Ordnance Corps meant to help her and asked them to evacuate before coming to her help. She also transferred all the data from her current investigations to them, and pledged the members of DEFY to their service in the event of her death. The Commander overviewed the defense of the new temporary base established by Kalina on safe coordinates provided earlier by Angelia against Paradeus forces as well as the rescue of M4 SOPMOD II and RO635. They then assembled a team of volunteers to retrieve Angelia while the rest of the troops evacuated, though most volunteers participated for the sake of evacuating the Commander.

Using flares to steer Angelia and DEFY toward the lower-contamination yellow zone and regroup with the Griffin team, Angelia evaded Yegor's pursuit for a time before being forced to stop and treat her radiation poisoning. In order to mislead KCCO's attention, the Commander came up with a plan to use a captured KCCO doctor found by the Griffin team while securing an escape route, disguising her as Angelia and tasking one half of the team to transport her under HOC protection while the other half went the other way to feign a distraction. Meanwhile, also on the Commander's idea and with Angelia's approval, DEFY started preparing improvised explosive devices from HOC shells to rig the building they were in and keep KCCO forces from entering. Yegor discovered the feint and refocused his attention on the building before the IEDs were set, but the time bought enabled the Commander to establish a HOC interdiction perimeter and the Griffin dolls to come back for a defensive battle. Though Yegor's forces managed to break into the building, Angelia staged her own gambit and convinced Yegor to retreat under the fake threat of a new Collapse bomb detonation. The group then moved to help the Commander and their two escorts, under attack by Nytos. Though they managed to kill the enemy commanders, they were too late to prevent Paradeus from capturing the Commander.

Nine weeks later and cured of radiation poisoning, the Commander woke up inside a Paradeus base to be interrogated by Nytos. As the interrogation was starting, UMP45 briefly hacked the Nytos to speak undetected with the Commander, informing them that help was inbound if they could make the interrogation drag on by lying. Hoping to track down Squad 404 and Angelia by corroborating their own information with the Commander's testimony, the Nytos tortured and injected them with truth serum, which the Commander knew how to resist. At the end of the testimony, the Nytos reported the to their “Father”, who ordered to behead the Commander contrary to their initial promise. Using the weapon concealed at the start of the interrogation by UMP45, the Commander killed three of the Nytos, leaving alive the last one under 45's control to open the room. They were then evacuated by ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 and ^AR HK416HK416HK416 as Griffin troops led an assault on the facility.

The Commander later met with Havier Witkin and the head of the Bureau of State Security Zielinski in their new command base, where Zielinsky menaced to have them executed for treason due to Angelia entrusting them with confidential secret services information. While promising to repair G&K's reputation and clear Kryuger's name, Zielinsky forced the Commander to take clandestine missions from Statesec, starting with the capture of Angelia, now considered a rogue agent.

Belgrade

“	–AR M4 SOPMOD IIM4 SOPMOD IIM4 SOPMOD II: If what “that book” says is true, then God will always forgive humans no matter what they do. These people... will be forgiven for smashing statues. They'll be forgiven for killing... They'll even be forgiven for destroying an entire city... –SMG RO635RO635RO635: At least our Commander won't ever forgive those monsters... We will follow the Commander and eradicate the sins commited in the world bit by bit.	”

The Commander was confined to the base provided by IOP for three months, after which Statesec gave them special authorization to enter the Belgrade Green Zone with Kalina and AR Team (more T-Dolls were later smuggled in). Their official mission was to capture Angelia who had been spotted in the area, but they were in fact expected to participate in securing the negotiations between the Neo-Soviet Union and Pan-European Union. This led to their first encounter with K, who presented himself as a local informant, as they investigated Paradeus' presence in the city's sewers. K praised their skill as a strategist, but the Commander found him untrustworthy.

The Commander and Kalina attended the conference by posing as journalists, and became trapped in the conference room when Paradeus cultists attacked. After Statesec's security forces were wiped out, the Commander called in their T-Dolls and organized the evacuation of Gilda Ulrich, the Pan-European councilor. After they took refuge in the Belgrade cathedral with other civilians, K ordered the Commander to forcibly bring Ulrich to an extraction point, but both the Commander and Ulrich refused to leave the civilians to be slaughtered, forcing K to deploy his last assets for a full evacuation.

Ulrich was temporarily captured, but soon after, Task Force DEFY and Sangvis Ferri eliminated the local Nyto commanders, facilitating the evacuation. The Commander's forces were then sent to recapture the Pike Node seized by Sangvis Ferri. Suspecting that Angelia would attempt to destroy the Node, K left it in the Commander's care, guessing that she wouldn't dare attack them. This led to Angelia's capture when she attacked the Node later on. The Commander secretly kept in contact with Angelia an DEFY, but Statesec was pleased with the Commander's performance in Belgrade and overlooked their secret collaboration. The Commander disapproved of Statesec's approach to the Paradeus threat, due to their light-handedness causing civilian deaths they thought could have been avoided. They later had the same criticism when they learned that civilians got involved in the Great Retreat.

Tallinn

After Statesec's analysis of the Pike Node, the Commander was sent to the Paldiski Submarine Base in the Estonian Red Zone, the new prime location of interest for the KCCO and an active Paradeus base, to support Angelia's data recovery operation there. Havier provided an old train for transportation along the Intercontinental Railway, while the covert Rossartrist group WAVE Tech provided them strategic information such as real-time satellite images. The Commander hired Squad 404 to provide electronic warfare support and deployed Doll teams to secure the passage through Tallinn's Intercontinental Railway hub. Persica independently hired 404 to monitor M4 and the Commander also agreed to let her access their battle network to watch over AR Team. After getting the train inside Tallinn, the Dolls searched for the controls to open the quarantine walls and continue to Paldiski, discovering the Isomers and the Paradeus' experiments in the city. This led Persica to explain M4's origins to the Commander, and the involvement of William in the unfolding conspiracy.

After a KCCO armored train convoy approached Tallinn and fired artillery at the Griffin train, the Commander launched operation Golden Fleece, intending to capture a military train. While 404 and AR Team led Golden Fleece, M4 confronted Isomer Black and seized control of the city systems, opening the way for the captured train, but it had to stop for repairs 15 kilometers outside of the city. The confrontation in Tallinn had already started to chip at the Commander's forces. After Dandelion emerged as a separate entity from M4 in Tallinn, she had secretly boarded the train and formally introduced herself after being discovered. To prove her good will, she offered to compile a thorough battle plan to take over Paldiski, and displayed M4's memories to help the Commander catch up with what happened on her side of the Great Retreat. Havier secretly warned the Commander not to let Statesec learn about Dandelion's existence.

Paldiski Incident

The Commander's train is hit by the KCCO artillery.

“	【They won't be much of a threat with just a single train. […] The standard four-level protection system. It would be difficult to penetrate with that level of firepower.】 【Unless the Griffin Commander crashes the train right into it.】 【I don't know about anybody else, but this Commander might go ahead and do just that.】 — Vympel operatives correctly predict the Commander's strategy during the Paldiski Incident.	”

Approaching Paldiski base from the East, the Commander positioned the train at a choke point and prepared for a grueling battle, aware that Statesec was probably using them as cannon fodder. They also worried that bring M4 to Paldiski was also part of William's plan. While regular troops established foxholes and laid mines, the Commander deployed Squad 404 to open the base's quarantine walls and AR Team to seize the shore guns, intending to use them against the KCCO trains. However, Griffin's defense line crumbled quicker than expected against the military artillery and transmission jamming, reaching 90% casualties in less than half an hour and starting to retreat towards the now-open quarantine wall with the surviving T-Dolls. Yegor demanded that the Commander surrender and accept charges of treason, which they refused.

While the KCCO artillery attempted to preserve the train tracks to follow the Commander into the base, the Commander fired all of their own artillery ammo before approaching the base at top speed, causing their train to derail and block the gates. But as the Commander and Kalina left the train and the Dolls rigged it with explosives, Yegor rose to the Commander's challenge by bombarding the derailed train and launching a general offensive. The Commander and Kalina were successfulyl evacuated from the destroyed train by the Dolls. With only 5% of the original Griffin troops available, the Commander retreated inside the base and had the Doll rig the gates with explosives in order to destroy it and prevent the KCCO from entering. They reluctancly authorized M82, CF05, INSAS and Webley to perform a suicide assault to buy more time against the approchaing military forces, and received the unexpected backup of the Sangvis Ferri forces. The advance of the KCCO forced the gates to be demolished ahead of time and partially, allowing four Ares mech to enter the base, and the Commander transferred command of AR Team to Angelia to stop them inside the base while they focused on blockading the entrance.

After successfully repelling multiple military assaults over 15 minutes, the Commander was able, through K, to key in a danger-close air bombardment by the Neo-Soviet Air Force, taking out the military forces outside the base, along with half of the surviving T-Dolls, pinned down by the enemy. With the surviving Dolls tracking down the remaining KCCO soldiers and on Angelia's request, the Commander and K took the field to destroy the base's four sea valves with explosives, flooding it to destroy all its installations and date and kill all personnel in its sublevels. Kalina volunteered to destroy one of the valves but the Commander refused to expose her to more danger. Armed only with the handgun given to them by Kryuger back during the Parapluie incident, the Commander infiltrated the KCCO's defense lines and reached their command post, shooting their commanders and planting the explosives, but becoming trapped until Squad 404 and SL8 rescued them, successfully evacuating above sea level before the valves were destroyed. The Commander later sent rescue teams to sweep Paldiski and recover any stranded Doll and implemented special training programs to avoid another catastrophic battle in the future, which proved useful when the Dolls faced a new military attack during the Fireworks Incident.

The Paldiski Incident placed the Commander and Angelia on the list of top persons of interest for the world powers.

Return to Area S09

“	I was once a soldier myself, so I only trust people who have come back alive from the battlefield. And there are only three kinds of people who come back from the battlefield. The first kind are timid to the end of their days, who view even the daylight streaming into their rooms as an enemy bombardment. The second are drunk on slaughter and bloodshed, who build their joy on the suffering of others. You, Commander, belong to the third kind. They are people who know why they fight. Their convictions make them keener, braver, fiercer, and more eager for battle. — Kryuger	”

Following a few days of questioning by Neo-Soviet officials, the Commander and Kalina were returned to their original base in Area S09 a week after the Paldiski Incident. Dandelion followed them to the base, acting on M4's worry for the Commander, and the Commander lent her their coat so she's stand out less among the human personnel, making the members of AR Team jealous. They were soon joined by Kryuger, recently rescued by another Griffin team. The Commander discussed their future with Kryuger, sharing that they wished to persist in their involvement with Statesec in order to prevent innocent lives from being snuffed in the crossfires of the Paradeus conspiracy. Kryuger asked them to reconsider and gave them a Green Zone ID card that they could use living a more peaceful life. The Commander later threw the ID in a trash can. Kalina received the same offer from Helian but wanted to make the same decision as the Commander. To tease Kalina, the Commander acted like she had already decided to move on to the Green Zone and announced that they would be searching for someone else to fill her position as an adjutant, but Kalina didn't understand the joke and sotmred out, thinking the Commander didn't value her loyalty. Persica announced she'd be moving into Area S09, allowing the Commander to claim the coffee she had long promised them. She gave the Commander the cold shoulder for a week before they cleared the air and made them promise to never lie to her again.

Witkin tasked the Commander to assist Angelia's investigations in Bremen, Germany. Angelia's decision to accept Gilda Ulrich's help during her investigations was influenced by the Commander's own trust in the chairwoman. Ulrich herself forbid K to threaten the Commander'slife to apply pressure on Angelia, because she'd react too strongly to such as move. The Commander dispatched AR Team with Architect to investigate Paradeus operations in the area and capture Gager, and Squad 404 to the abandoned buildings of Zeratul-Worcester Pharmaceuticals. Their findings helped Angelia to target the Flora Insitute and the Berle Orphanage during her investigations. The Commander also offered to take in Dreamer and Destroyer among their Assimilated troops, but they refused and were later integrated by force.

Machlian

After Angelia's investigations moved to Berlin, the Earl sent the Commander, AR team and Dandelion to Germany to capture a woman named Morridow in the village of Nohnsdorf, near Berlin where Angelia was operating. Kryuger warned the Commander not to trust the Earl. The mission came in just as Kalina was diagnosed with ELID and sent to the hospital, and concern for her wouldn't leave the Commander's mind through their operations in Berlin. From 18 to 20 September 2064, the Commander infiltrated the Paradeus community of Bohnsdorf under the identity if a refugee named Robin during three days, but deviated from the mission to rescue Machlian, the village's Saint, from being molested by her sponsors. The Commander only realized after escaping that Machlian matched their target's description. After escaping Paradeus pursuit and meeting Squad Griffin, the Commander was headquartered in a building of the Berlin old town and was tasked by the Earl to work with Angelia to determine the link between Morridow and Machlian.

The Earl also explained his ideal for world order, which the Commander disagreed with due to concentration of power and the implied sacrifice of justice and dignity it required. The Earl presented a fable consisting of a hedgehog who uses its spines to reject any world conception differnt from its own, and an adaptable fox who can choose the best path forward, asking which animal the Commander would choose to be. Angelia and the Commander at long last met in person in the Earl's Athena's Bar, and agreed on their next move to root out Paradeus, with the Commander leading the interrogation of Machlian while Angelia interrogated the Paradeus allies captured in Bremen. Having dealt with the real Morridow's ability to act as a completely different person in Bremen, Angelia advised the Commander to exercise caution and treat Machlian as an enemy, but the Commander didn't believe the meek Machlian could be an infiltrator.

When Dandelion hacked into the unconscious Machlian's virtual cognition image, Paradeus' plan to use Iaso's Boxes dirty bombs to destroy Berlin was revealed. Despite the clock ticking and Machlian's refusal to explain her ability to cure humans from ELID, the Commander didn't try to forcefully get the bombs' location our of her, which she didn't consciously know, insisting to earn Machlian's trust with good treatment instead, even making plans to bring her back to Area S09 away from Paradeus. Invading Machlian's mind at night against orders, ST AR-15 found memories from Morridow in unconscious areas of Machlian's mind, but the Commander still didn't consider a threat until they could determine the origins of the memories, comforted in their choice by Persica's theory that Machlian and Morridow might be two different persons with an unconscious connection.

While unnerved after learning of Kalina's worsening condition, the Commander received the help of the Earl, who located the places where the bombs had been planted based on the images from Machlian's unsconscious memories. Machlian asked to join the investigations to confirm if her "visions" were true and the Commander allowed it. Being on location allowed Machlian to recover more precise memories and help in defusing the bombs. The group was attacked by Narciss while defusing a bomb at the quarantine wall, and Machlian had a vision of her own death, but the Commander saved her from being killed by one of Narciss' flying blades. Machlian decided to trust the Commander since they had "changed destiny", but AR-15 still suspected that Machlian had exposed herself to danger in an attempt to have the Commander killed.

After failing to prevent the Iaso's Boxes from killing the inhabitants of Bohnsdorf, the grieving Machlian promised to do her utmost to help the Commander and grant them the ELID antidote made from her blood. The incident at Bohnsdorf also revealed that the Commander had acquired semi-immunity to ELID. The Earl requested to take custody of Machlian after learning that her "visions" were accurate, but didn't press the issue when the Commander refused. The Commander again protected Machlian when a riot occurred at the Berlin prison at the same time the Iaso's Boxes planted there detonated. Having exhausted all of her leads and lost AK-12 in a Paradeus attack, Angelia asked to interrogate Machlian, but the Commander wanted her to wait after they had visited the Paradeus lab and obtained the ELID cure from Machlian's blood. Angelia was furious to hear that the Commander still trusted Machlian and accused them of having their judgment altered by their pursuit of a cure for Kalina. AR-15 agreed with Angelia on all accounts.

At the Sector D8 lab, the Commander entered the building along with the Squad Griffin, AR Team, Dandelion and Machlian in order to monitor Machlian and benefit from Dandelion's powerful abilities for protection. As the cure was synthetised, Machlian was separated from the group, Dandelion's abilities were crippled by a new form of jamming and Paradeus troops attacked, intending to capture the Commander and Dandelion. Morridow made her own appearance disguised as Machlian, but failed to hoodwink Squad Griffin. Against the Commander's wishes to stop sacrificing troops, Squad Griffin took a last stand to let the others escape the lab, and Perosa informed them that she's marked Morridow so she could be distinguished from the real Machlian.

After finding Machlian and the cure, the squad managed to approach the exit, but Morridow appeared, killed Machlian and destroyed the serum before sending Narciss to kill all but Dandelion. Squad 404 released the jamming on Dandelion in time for M4A1 to remotely take control of her body from Nirvana, using Lunasia's powers to severely wound Narciss and capture Morridow.

M4A1 had entered Nirvana, a place away from time, due to the Reverse Collapse that took place at the end of the Paldiski Incident, and met Lunasia's mind there. M16A1 entered Nirvana in the same way and influenced other timelines with the goal of saving M4, bringing in a version of AR Team from another world line where the Commander had been killed during the later Battle of Frankfurt. Lunasia demonstrated that the Commander's life thread was under constant threat of being severed and allowed M4 to borrow her powers to save them in Sector D8. M4 would eventually accept to merge with Lunasia and make her “complete” under the promise that she would keep saving the Commander.

“	Even if we die here, you will never succeed. There is no path for Paradeus which does not end in its destruction… I'll see you in Hell. —	”

In Angelia's fake memories during Slow Shock, M4A1 never intervened and the Commander was killed in the lab.

Project Cocoon in Berlin

In contrast with the method employed on Machlian, the Commander directed the invasion of Morridow's mind to sound for usable intel, though they couldn't find much without M4's assistance, and allowed AR-15 to physically torture her. Morridow took to taunting the Commander with the memories acquired from Machlian, constantly belittling her "sister". The Commander buried Machlian outside Berlin in an unmarked tomb. They also became involved with agent J, recommended by K, in the search for Angelia. Morridow became more cooperative after being subjected to M4's mental invasion, revealing one of the manufacturing sites of the Iaso's Boxes for Project Cocoon.

Following a lead from J, the Commander and AR Team investigated another suspected Paradeus location and was nearly killed by Grig, only being saved by Morridow being a higher-priority target for the Paradeus assassin. M4 saved Morridow from being killed and the group barely escaped the attack. The Commander talked with the Earl again, who was pleased that they requested more resources rather than to cancel the operation. The Earl arranged for Kryuger to bring the T-Dolls to Germany in the Elmo MCV, while sending the assimilated Sangvis Ferri T-Dolls ahead. To the general surprise, Morridow readily gave up the location of the Iaso's Boxes shipments, claiming she wanted to thanks M4 for saving her, and to get back at Grig for trying to kill her. The intel proved to be outdated as the storage location had been emptied, but yielded a new lead that took them to the Berlin Airport, where Morridow nearly managed to capture M4 and flee until M16A1's intervened, and the Commander's troops stopped the bombs from leaving by air.

Receiving temporary assistance from M16, the Commander was asked by J to join him at the location where Paradeus held Angelia. But J had obtained the location from RPK-16, unaware of her betrayal, and RPK led J to a different plant than the one at the coordinates received by the Commander in a ploy to massacre Stasi agents and blackmail the German governemtn. Breaking into the German government building, the Commander met with Romy Riefenstahl, who was clearing evidence of the German government's collusion with Paradeus. Riefenstahl had decided to take part in the cleanup herself in order to meet the Commander and prod them for intel. The Commander realized that they had been sent to the wrong place, and arrived barely in time at the second plant to save J from Bramedb's attack.

Shortly after M16's departure, Gray contacted the Commander to offer a prisonier exchange with Angelia and Morridow. During the call, Angelia made a cryptic comment about tatoos. The Commander was haunted by a prescient dream of the destruction of Area S09 while sleeping on the offer. With the Earl abiding by their decision on the exchange, the Commander decided to accept the offer despite M4 having disappeared from Dandelion's body and the potential intel still held by Morridow, in order to save Ange while seizing an opportunity to make contact with the Paradeus leadership. The gamble didn't work out: Paradeus ambushed the Commander's forces at the exchange site in Berlin Airport and recovered Morridow while having only brought a stand-in for Angelia, and the Commander's troops only survived thanks to the timely arrival of the Sangvis Ferri reinforcements. The Commander wanted to fly back to Area S09 after hearing about the Fireworks Incident attack, but the combats that had broken at Berlin Airport in the last days had paralyzed air transport, pacing restlessly until Kryuger contacted them to announce their victory, and asking them to focus on the Berlin mission while the surviving G&K forces made way to germany in the Elmo.

Registered as an official Stasi consultant, the Commander took part in the continued investigation of suspected Paradeus sites, and requested to investigate the emptied Berlin Prison, based on the Angelia's comment about her tatoos. With the Sangvis Ferri troops able to take on the Paradeus elites, the Commander ordered an assault on the Paradeus facilities hidden under the prison after finding hints of Angelia's presence. This was in fact fake information fabricated by Nemhran to mislead them away from the real Paradeus production lines. Despite holding the advantage, the Commander fell for a fake Angelia again, allowing the Paradeus troops to retreat. Riefenstahl later gave to the Commander the neural cores of AN-94 and AK-15, who had been destroyed during Angelia's capture and recovered during the Stasi's investigation, and the Commander sent the cores back to Statesec.

By that point, the Commander had acquired a reputation as the only person to have successfully struck back at Paradeus.

Battle of the Dead Sea

After the signal from the tracker planted in Morridow and Riefenstahl's investigation determined that Paradeus' base of operations in Germany was hidden in the Dead Sea, the Stasi, Statesec and the Commander cooperated to mount Operation Aeneas, aiming to investigate Paradeus' HQ and rescue Angelia. the Earl disapproved of the operation as it went against his goal of controlling Paradeus instead of destroying it. The Earl responded by arranging the German border forces to stop the Griffin reinforcements, demanding that the Commander cancel Aeneas, but they refused to let the Earl control them again. The Stasi successfully intervened and the reinforcements were able to continue into Germany.

To distract unwanted eyes from interfering in Aeneas, Riefenstahl planted fake intel about the Commander being dispatched to Frankfurt in an escort mission of General Schweinsteiger, successfully fooling Paradeus' leadership. The Commander, who had been in many dire situations due to transmission breakdowns, had UMP45 setup a special transmission apparatus dubbed Aeneas Conference Room, but it proved insufficient against Paradeus' technology. The T-Dolls lost transmission with the outside of the Dead Sea for an hour, during which they suffered heavy casualties, until UMP9's suicide assault enabled UMP45 to make contact again. This enabled Angelia's message recorded by RO635 to reach the Commander. Angelia encrypted the message behind the question of whether the world would be saved by looking at the past, the future or the present. The Commander answered that they should strive to safeguard the present, instead of trying to restore a past order or making sacrifices to reach an uncertain future, like the Earl and Paradeus. The rest of Angelia's message detailed her plan for Operation Muromets: the destruction of Paradeus.

After the Elmo reached Berlin, Kryuger was admitted to a hospital to treat his wounds from the Fireworks Incident after arriving in Berlin, and received the Commander's visit. After the Commander talked about their ideal of becoming a protector they had developed in the past two years, Kryuger warned them that General Carter and himself once held the ideal to “be the shining beacon in a brave new world” in the past, but were forced to corrupt or abandon it as they realized they could never realistically reach it. The Commander replied that their role wasn't necessarily to see their ideal through, as it could be passed down to future generations like Kryuger did to them.

While following Operation Aeneas through a safehouse near Berlin Airport, the Commander dispatched the Elmo to reinforce Operation Eclipse, Statesec's operation to bring them the “Grand Duke”, another hardened transmission apparatus later used by Erma to setup the reinforced Muromets Conference Room. By recruiting both Erma and Maggie, the Commander inadvertently hindered the Stasi's later investigation into the train incident that occured during Eclispe. Statesec also allowed the Commander to reactivate Aliana to take part in the mission. Aliana learned during a mission to recover assets “Poludnitsa” and “Meteorite” that her previous target, Amaris, was still active, and the Commander preferred to allow her to finish her own mission so she could devote herself to Muromets.

“	No matter how far, or how long, or how painful that road might be... […] I believe... that there really is a destination to that path. I might not be the one who sees it and reaches it in the end, but so what? I'm willing to take one step closer to that destination. Before me, there were those who walked the same path, and there will definitely be others after me. Mr. Kryuger, our ideals will never wear out, no matter how much time passes. That destination WILL appear. —	”

Two days after the start of Aeneas, Operation Muromets was launched. The Commander, with AR-18 as their new adjutant, and the reinforcements entered the Dead Sea with the Elmo to strike at Paradeus and rescue Angelia, while simultaneously carrying out Operation Kriemhild, the capture of William. In the end, only the rescue of Angelia could not be completed, and Kriemhild had been secretly facilitated by William himself to target the Commander.

Prisoner in Frankfurt

“	The Commander has lived through so much strife and witnessed so much death and suffering. I thought their heart would have long since rusted and grown cold. But I was wrong. It would seem that I'm the only one who is cold and indifferent. — AR-18	”

After the destruction of Avernus, the Earl decided to retroactively approve the battle to coax the Commander into surrendering Williamto the Stasi waiting outside the Dead Sea, but the Commander again refused to collaborate unless the Earl explained what he intended to do with the prisoner. Sleep-deprived and under days of high stress, the Commander refused to take Statesec's call for a debrief and lashed at AR-18 when she insisted they couldn't rest yet. When Erma asked the Commander if they would resurrect Angelia if they had this power, they replied they wouldn't as death could be a gift, and resurrection was a heavy price for mankind to pay (referring to Paradeus' own exactions).

The Commander departed to interrogate William, but suddenly disappeared along with William and Dandelion while all Dolls were disabled. AR-18 and Erma were remotely reactivated by the fellow Hume Doll Stevens M520, who informed them that they needed to come to Frankfurt to save the Commander. Entering the secret aspects of the Summer Garden shared by the Hume Dolls, Erma acquired information about how Paradeus accessed Nirvana, and killed herself to destroy Hume's research, based on the Commander's previous words that death could be a gift. After the Elmo reached Frankfurt, the Dolls investigated Paradeus activity to locate the Commander. When Nele attempted to contact the Commander to ask for their assistance in avenging Gray, AR-18 elected to use Nele's influence and lied about the Commander's situation, forcing Nele to call favors so that more Dolls could enter the locked-down city and reconnoiter the White Zone before helping her. On 31 October, eight days after the Commander's disappearance, the Dolls, who had been joined by M16A1, launched Operation Adrasteia to infiltrate the White Zone and the Bee Sting system to obtain the Commander's location.

The Commander had been teleported to Frankfurt by Lunasia, who gained physical form by using Dandelion's body, but was still considered imperfect due to the intermixing of the memories and personalities of M4A1 and Dandelion. William tasked the rejected Lunasia with guarding the Commander, kept prisoner in a residential house of Frankfurt's underground White Zone, in case they would be needed for his plans. While she obediently followed her brother “Bill”'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. She first acted as Dandelion before revealing her true identity, but the Commander refused to attack her before confirming that she didn't hold M4 or Dandelion in her. Lunasia allowed the Commander to write messages for the outside before preventing them from sending them, instead asking them to stay with her and forget the outside world. She blindfolded them and projected fake sceneries inside the house to give them the illusion of having been taken to other locations in Frankfurt, though they eventually saw through the illusion.

The Commander confirmed that Lunasia possessed memories from M4 and Dandelion when she purposefully made their least favorite dish as dinner, and compared her style of conversation to Dandelion's. They asked Lunasia to run away from William with them, but Lunasia refused to betray her brother even if M4's promise to protect the Commander also compelled her to help them. Each new reminder that she was imperfect made Lunasia angrier, but she persisted in treating the Commander as her own prisoner to do with as she pleased as it became more and more apparent that William wouldn't need the Commander for his plans. Through their days as a prisonier, Lunasia allowed the Commander to keep clean and brought them food, recreating aspects of a life as a couple. Recounting memories from all three of her component minds without realizing it, Lunasia shared memories of her life with William, but the Commander's hatred for him made it difficult for them to believe he could act as a caring brother.

Learning that the Dolls would soon come to break the Commander out, Lunasia revealed that they wouldn't meet any actual obstacles if they left, but asked them to kill her with a kitchen knife first. The Commander refused and Lunasia threatened to kill them instead, but she couldn't do more than scratch their neck. Instead of simply leaving, the Commander shackled Lunasia and immobilized her in a blanket to abduct her, also capturing J during the evacuation to prevent him from interfering. The connection between Machlian and Morridow, both subjects of Project Cocoon, was revealed in the data Hebe had used to bait and destroy HK416 during the escape from the White Zone. Lunasia again attempted to make the Commander collaborate with William by promising to resurrect Machlian in Morridow's body, but the Commander declared they would kill every Paradeus member to the last except for Lunasia.

Battle of Frankfurt

Synchronizing with the Dolls available in the city, the Commander organized a plan to prevent Project Cocoon from taking place in Frankfurt, as they had done in Berlin. The Commander also transferred Gray's Nyto corpse to Nele, who planned to reanimate it under the Commander's orders. The Commander accepted to work with the Earl again to gain information. The Earl advised the Commander to join forces with the Stasi and investigate Project Valkyrie, while J confirmed that the Stasi aimed to destroy Paradeus and cover up the collaboration between Paradeus and the German government. The Commander was still wary of how the Earl would benefit from the situation and was growing weary to investigate conspiracies without end, but resolved to keep pushing. By taking down Project Cocoon, the Earl would also release Kryuger and Helian from his custody.

The Commander took back possession of the Elmo thanks to the deal with the Stasi and secretly handed J back to the Stasi. After reliving the origins of Paradeus in a dream, Lunasia threatened to kill herself with a glass shard unless she could be immediately taken to see the Commander. After Nele completed the reactivation and subversion of Gray, the Commander used her in a coordinated attack with Task Force DEFY to attack Paradeus command. The attack successfully redirected Laplace into a trap where she was killed by Nele. The plan worked due to Morridow's collaboration, but the Commander had still left DEFY with orders to kill her along with the rest of Paradeus' forces.

"I can't sleep yet, I still have work to do..."

This article still needs to be completed with this content: Convolutional Kernel, Roche Limit, Virtual Pair, Quantum Fluctuation.
You can help us by contributing.

After the Battle of Frankfurt, the Commander was officially declared killed in action.

Bounty Hunter

“	Please remember that you chose to run away. — Anonymous warning to the Commander regarding the “agreement”.	”

After the “disbandment and reorganization” of Griffin & Kryuger following the formation of the URNC, the Commander left the PMC aboard the Elmo. In self-exile, they sought to escape the control of Griffin Lyons and the Rossartrists, having determined after Frankfurt that being their pawn did nothing to better the world. Referring back to the hedgehog and fox fable presented by Griffin back in Berlin, the Commander decided to become neither. Griffin predicted that they would eventually become involved with Rossartrism again.

Their decision to abandon their advantageous position came up as a surprise and a mark of shame to the people in power. They left alone and without warning in order to not implicate anyone else and joined the rising numbers of bounty hunters. They made many blunders at the start of their new career. Some time after leaving, the Commander found the former ^AR OTs-14OTs-14OTs-14 in a bad shape and with no memories of her past, and she joined the Elmo under the name Groza. Mayling, then Nemesis and Krolik later joined the Elmo crew. Though it was a reliable mobile base and a home, the Elmo itself was a constant source of money issues for the Commander due to its demanding upkeep.

The Commander and their former T-Dolls were bound by the Mephisto Agreement to not search for and assemble with each other. The agreement was imposed because the powers that be feared that the Commander could become a menace if they had access to the same manpower they took Paradeus down with. It was however enforced leniently and the Commander only received a warning after two months when Suomi briefly traveled with the Elmo. Groza was an exception to the terms, though even the Commander was unsure about the reasons why.

"I can't sleep yet, I still have work to do..."

This article still needs to be completed with this content: Main story.
You can help us by contributing.

Non-canon stories

Girls' Frontline collab events

• The Glistening Bloom: The Commander is transported to the world of Zombie Land Saga and takes Kojiro's place as the trainer of the Franchouchou idols.
• Lorenz Butterfly: The Commander is a separate character living as a mercenary of the Dark Zone of Kamona in the world of Arena Breakout. They partner with Kuro, Mityl, Beluga and Task Force DEFY to transport a box across the Dark Zone, revealed to contained a certain girl. They also have a history with the characters from Arena Breakout Evita and Hecate.

Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium decanonized stories

• Exotic Cadence (original version of Amidst Wings of Gray):
• GFL2 Story/Summary#Intertwined Assault (original version):
• Echo of Dawn (original version):

Gallery

Girls' Frontline

• 
  Convolutional Kernel key art (under the statue with RO635).
• 
  During Convolutional Kernel (bottom arm).
• 
  At the center of the Back to the Source key art.
• 
  Illustrations from the Roche Limit event PV.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
  In Roche Limit.
• 
• 
  In Quantum Fluctuation.
• 
• 
• 

Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium

• 
  Dusty Memories.
• 
• 
• 
  In Sojourners of the Glass Island.
• 
• 
• 
• 
  In Chapter 8.
• 
• 
• 
  Mimisbrunnr's Loop.
• 
• 
  In Antiparallel.
• 
• 
  In Dawnforger.
• 
• 
  Beta appearance.
• 
  Concepts.
• 
• 
• 
  CN server 2nd Anniversary artwork.
• 
• 
  EN server Christmas 2026 artwork.
• 
• 

Trivia

The Makarov gun used by the Commander to kill William in Quantum Fluctuation.

• Based on the information of Convolutional Kernel, and considering that 18 is the age of majority in Russia and China and the minimum age of conscription throughout most Soviet and Russian history, it can be reckoned that the Commander was born around 2032, the same year as Angelia. By this calculation, they would be 30 at the start of Girls' Frontline (2062), 32 at the end of Girls' Frontline (2064) and 42 at the start of Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium.
• During the first closed beta for Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, 58% of players chose to play as the male Commander, and 42% with the female Commander.
• In Girls' Frontline's story script, the Commander is always referred to with gender-neutral words (aside from translation errors). In Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, dialogues differ according to the gender selected by the player. The Commander's own lines differ in the Japanese script due to the use of gendered speech patterns. The same feature exists with the Professor in Project Neural Cloud.
• The sidearm used by the Commander throughout the Battle of Frankfurt is a Makarov with a standard 8-rounds magazine. They temporarily lent it to Nele, who used it to kill Laplace. The Commander then used it to kill William. Since the Russian origins of the Commander are part of the narrative themes in these chapters, the make of the gun is relevant. According to Thriller Wonderland and the decanonized version of Intertwined Assault, their sidearm during Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium is also a Makarov pistol.
  • The event Exotic Cadence suggests that in the second game, the Commander still used the same handgun Kryuger had given to them in Chapter 5 of Girls' Frontline. The gun in question doesn't look like a Makarov in the original CG. Exotic Cadence is no longer canon and this detail isn't mentioned in the replacement story Amidst Wings of Gray.
• According to Belka, the Commander is never seen without their tactical gloves.
• Type 4, who's a manga artist on the side, has published the stories “Is That Cute and Cool Angel Really My Commander?” (那样帅气又可爱的天使真的是我的指挥官吗) and "Confessing to the cute and handsome Commander" (向帅气又可爱的指挥官坦白). The Commander has been hunting down which Doll is the author.
• In Noel's Oath quote, she comments that she's "always faintly seen the shadow of Mr. 'Grim Reaper'" on them, referring to Ragna the Bloodedge from the Blazblue series.