Squad 404

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

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Squad 404 at the time of Parapluie deployment. Clockwise from the left: ^AR HK416HK416HK416, ^AR G11G11G11, ^SMG UMP9UMP9UMP9 and ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45.

Squad 404, later known as H.I.D.E. 404, is an elite Tactical Doll team originally consisting of ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45, ^SMG UMP9UMP9UMP9, ^AR HK416HK416HK416 and ^AR G11G11G11, all able to act illegally without human orders. The squad was established after the Butterfly Incident and regularly acted as black ops mercenaries for Griffin and Kryuger, Angelia, and later NOMFA.

404 is known to use any tactics necessary to efficiently satisfy their contracts, regardless of the cost for anyone unrelated to the squad or their objective. They make use of unique electronic warfare skills such as fake Sangvis Ferri comms signals to hide themselves in enemy territory and a special authorization program that let them delete all recent memories of 404 from the neural cloud of T-Dolls they interacted with (though 416 didn't do this for missions unrelated to Squad 404). For these reasons, 404 were mostly known through nasty rumors among Griffin T-Dolls, but they were also said to be reliable night ops experts.

The squad has excellent track records despite being somewhat dysfunctional, mostly due to 416 clashing with 45 because of their differing approach to field operations, and G11 because of her laziness. They also antagonized AR Team due to 416 and 45's past with ^AR M16A1M16A1M16A1 and their disdain for AR's ascribed hero complex.

History

Plan Parapluie

Squad 404 was formed at some point in 2062, after the Butterfly Incident. ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 first met with ^SMG UMP9UMP9UMP9, who decided to follow her.Girls' Frontline, ^SMG UMP9UMP9UMP9 Neural Upgrade story</ref> They then met ^AR HK416HK416HK416, who already knew UMP45, and the Doll who would become ^AR G11G11G11 after her conversion into a T-Doll.

The Commander had their first contact with 404 when they deployed their troops to support the squad as they investigated the area where AR Team fought Agent in order to track her. The mission was simple enough for UMP9 to handle by herself, and HK416 used the opportunity of ^AR M16A1M16A1M16A1's presence in the area to confront her alone, claiming she would use her newfound freedom from human orders to kill her, but was defeated instead. UMP45 later came to pick up 416, exchanging veiled threats with M16 as well as a cryptic Sangvis Ferri message she had picked up earlier, warning about the imminent deployment of Parapluie.

Five days after SF's assault on G&K's secret base and the deployment of Parapluie, Helian hired 404 for a large sum of money and granted them an emergency command authority over local G&K T-Dolls and equipment to conduct Operation Cube : find and capture a heavily defended comms jammer in Area S06 hampering G&K's counterattack efforts. 404 came up against the Ringleader Ouroboros and had to flee in an abandoned G&K active camo recon aircraft provided by G&K's recon doll ^HG SPP-1SPP-1SPP-1 after their initial approach was blocked by Hunter. 404 then mounted guerilla attacks against Hunter before Ouroboros remotely wiped Hunter's neural cloud to prevent her data from falling into 404's hands.

Pushing toward the jammer, 404 mounted a new guerilla operation against Executioner, but fell into her and Ouroboros' trap when they pursued Executioner into the explosive-rigged jammer base. UMP45 then bluffed her way out of the situation by promising Executioner they would give Hunter's body back to SF if Executioner delayed the explosion by two minutes so 404 could leave unharmed. Executioner accepted and 404 tracked down and killed Ouroboros, using her body and the intel gathered during the mission to compensate G&K on the loss of the jammer. However, the entire jammer defense was a trap set by Agent to lure and introduce Parapluie in the neural cloud of new T-Dolls. Despite 404's screening by ^MG MG5MG5MG5 after the operation, 416 became suspicious of 45 since she was the one who touched the jammer.

Operation Hypothermia

Helian hired 404 again during Operation Hypothermia to rescue AR Team after their aircraft was downed by Jupiter cannons in Area S03. 416 participated in the operation despite the involvement of AR Team and her suspicions toward 45. While tracking AR, 404 came into contact with Architect, who initially ignored them but later received permission to perform live-fire exercises with her Jupiter cannons using 404 as targets. After baiting Architect out of her command base, 404 bypassed her cannons field and linked up with AR, where 45 took an interest in AR's new member ^SMG RO635RO635RO635, prompting M16 to warn RO that should she rely too much on 45's strategic decisions, the Dolls that were neither part of 404 or their objective (that is, AR Team) would become casualties. They then forged a path toward the heliport where G&K would drop their reinforcements, but a delay forced them to face both Architect and Gager.

Deploying the other T-Dolls under ^SG M1887M1887M1887's command to delay Gager's forces, AR waited for 404 to infiltrate and disable the defense of Architect's base before raiding it and destroying Architect. As Gager's forces unexpectedly focused on destroying M1887's group instead of rushing to Architect's help, RO redirected AR Team to a transmission outpost to call for the Commander's help, leaving 404 to wonder if they had been betrayed. As 45 was calling the mission out despite 416's protests against abandoning the other Dolls, they received help from ^RF WA2000WA2000WA2000 and ^SMG ThompsonThompsonThompson thanks to the Commander's fast deployment. 45 decided to not hold any grudge against RO's risky decision out of fondness for her before wiping 404's involvement from the neural cloud memories of all T-Dolls on site and disappearing.

Great Retreat

Squad 404 in a non-canonical ending of Continuum Turbulence Chapter 2.

Shortly before the start of the Great Retreat, Squad 404 was dispatched to Area 15 to recover a drone shot down by Dreamer, containing the results of M16A1's mission in Sangvis Ferri Base 0. 404 clashed with Dreamer and Destroyer, but ultimately prevailed due to UMP45's OGAS system despite her infection witht the Parapluie virus.

As they were leaving Area S15 through Area S11, 404 crossed path with the Griffin troops evacuating the battlefield of Area S09 and assisted them, expecting a bonus on their pay. They were soon summoned to the battlefield by Angelia to infiltrate the main SF database. After linking up with Task Force DEFY, Angelia tasked 404 to monitor ^AR M4A1M4A1M4A1 due to her strange behavior. After the plan to use M4 as a bait to capture Elisa failed, 45 was downed by the explosion of a tank shell and had to be shut down for emergency repairs. 416 joined the “Griffin Expendables” team to secure a retreat, and working in her former team leader role at Griffin helped her reflect on her goals. 9 and G11 evacuated with 45 while 416 joined the team to rescue Angelia and the Commander. Because her body contained her memories of ^SMG UMP40UMP40UMP40 which couldn't be transferred out, 45 went through the dangerous process of patching her body instead of changing it entirely. She named 416 as the squad member who should inherit her command module should her Neural Cloud be irreparably damaged, or 9 if 416 chose to leave the squad. The repairs were successful, and 45 and 416 went on to rescue the Commander from Paradeus.

Tallinn and Paldiski

“	Friends, you say...? I wonder if I can call them that... There are these girls... rather than friends, I'd say they're more like problematic idiots that I always have to clean up after? Though to be completely honest, having been with them for so long, I know what they actually mean to me. — SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 about Squad 404	”

404 was hired to monitor M4A1 as she made her way to the Paldiski submarine base with the Commander's troops. 45 had 416 and 9 upgraded with enhanced electronic warfare suites and command protocols so they could more reliably take over her duties, so she could dedicate more resources to defending herself against the attacks aimed at her through her Parapluie infection. When M4 connected with the Isomer network in Tallinn, 45 followed her into the inverted forest virtual world, investigating her own OGAS in the process.

During the Paldiski Incident, 404 infiltrated the base's containment wall and linked up with ^MG RPK-16RPK-16RPK-16 and ^AR AK-15AK-15AK-15 to allow the Commander's armored train to enter. After opening the gates, 404 progressed into the base to search for Angelia, and were confronted by M16A1, who probed into 45's memories to investigate the events of the Butterfly Incident. 45 and 416 butted head, 416 using her experience with the Griffin Expendables to challenge 45's goals and methods. The dispute was solved when 45 admitted her true goals and gained 416's approval. G11 was abducted by a young Nyto through a hole in a ceiling, which helped 404 find Ange's team. 9 and G11 were tasked with escorting the young Nytos found by Ange back to Griffin's defensive lines while 45 and 416 went to help the Commander against the KCCO forces.

Z-W Pharma and Berlin

In the weeks following the Paldiski events, Squad 404 followed Angelia's standing orders to protect the young Nytos and helped bring Griffin's Area S09 base back to normal operations. The Commander also sent them to investigate an active server in the abandoned headquarters of Zeratul-Worcester Pharmaceuticals, a company suspected to be providing drugs to Paradeus. The mission facilitated the capture of Destroyer and Dreamer by Svarog Heavy Industries and revealed drugs samples and data used used by Paradeus. Distressed by her blunders at Paldiski and in the pharma building, G11 went through her own neural upgrade.

When Griffin Lyons called the Commander to Berlin and had them kidnap Machlian in the Paradeus community of Bohnsdorf, Helian hired and sent Squad 404 to Germany to assist them. 45 helped the Commander and AR Team navigate the Dolls-kidnapping gangs of Alt-Berlin as they met with Angelia, then monitored the bar Athena's Owl during their meeting. After Machlian's memories revealed the locations of several locations in Berlin where Paradeus had planted explosives in preparation for Operation Cocoon, the Commander deployed Squad 404 to locate and disarm the explosives at the first site in an abandoned U-Bahn station. They didn't take part in the disposal mission in Bohnsdorf but assisted in taking control of the building during the disposal mission in the Berlin prison.

When the team raided the abandoned Paradeus labs in Sector D8, AR Team, the Commander, Dandelion and Machlian entered the building while leaving Squad Griffin and Squad 404 to patrol the lab's surroundings. When a powerful jammer activated, 404 infiltrated the base through the air vents and searched for the base's control room. 404 cracked a complex jamming system just in time to enable M4A1 to take remote control of Dandelion and save the Commander's teams from Morridow and Narciss. Squad 404 hacked into Morridow's mind after she was taken prisoner, but couldn't extract actionable intel without taking significant risks. 404 intercepted the locations of Iaso's Boxes production sites when M4 hacked Morridow herself, and participated in the operation at the Berlin airport to intercept the cargo before it departed. When the deal to exchange Morridow against Angelia turned sour, 45 ordered 9, 416 and G11 to cover the rest of the team's retreat as the only Dolls with a Neural Cloud backup. 45 still took point and led her squad against the enemy despite her own self-imposed mortality. They were saved by the Assimilated Sangvis Ferri units sent by Kryuger.

Battle of the Dead Sea

UMP45 with the other squad leaders of Operation Aeneas.

During Operation Aeneas, the infiltration of Paradeus' HQ of Avernus in the Berlin Dead Sea to rescue Angelia, UMP45 and UMP9 took part as Squad Unicorn. They were in charge of maintaining the Conference Room, a strengthened network capable of sustaining transmissions in the Black Zone. 416 and G11 didn't participate in Aeneas because Dier had to repair the neural damage sustained by G11 in the last operations in Berlin. Unicorn's signal analysis located the position of Avernus, and they stayed behind in an outpost while the rest of the task force infiltrated Avernus in order to preserve the Conference Room. However, UMP9 was hacked and taken out by Bramedb and their position swarmed by enemies. The weakened 9 transferred her neural cloud backups to 45 and sacrificed herself in a suicide bombing to save 45 and preserve the task force's transmission.

After Squad Umbrella made contact with Angelia, Operation Muromets began to launch a full assault on Avernus. 416 and G11 were activated alongside ^AR ST AR-15ST AR-15ST AR-15 and Dandelion as Squad Taraxacum. 45 also requested to join the team after being recovered, and participated in the destruction of the Evangel Axis. While 45 seemed distressed and guilty over 9's destruction during the battle, 416 believed that she was actually mourning the death of Angelia, and saw it as a sign of weakness. 416 began developing the ambition of becoming the leader of Squad 404, a role which 45 was actually planning to give her.

Battle of Frankfurt

After the events of the Alte Oper and the lockdown of Frankfurt, 404 entered the city under false identities provided by Nele, alongside the Statesec Dolls selected by ^AR AR-18AR-18AR-18. As part of Operation Adrasteia, 404 infiltrated a Paradeus site in the Eschborn District and hacked into the Bee Sting System to locate the Commander. 416 was infected by a virus in the process, but when it activated during the rescue of the Commander from the White Zone, 416 decided to prove her determination as a leader by activating its payload and transmitting useful data from it before being destroyed.

H.I.D.E. 404

H.I.D.E. 404 Team One. From left to right: Mechty, Belka, Andoris and Klukai.

H.I.D.E. 404 Team Two.

At some point between 2065 and 2074, UMP45 was dispatched on a long-term mission as Kalina's aide in the URNC's Non-Military Forces Administration, and UMP9 later also joined Kalina's office consequently, 416 was left in charge of 404's operations as she wanted, but not in the circumstances she had envisioned. On UMP9's idea, she and 45 changed their names to Lenna and Leva. 416 and G11 later followed suit, changing their names to Klukai and Mechty. Andoris left her job at Springfield's Zucchero Café and joined the team, along with Belka and Vector. Squad 404 changed its name to H.I.D.E. 404.

In 2074, 404 was investigating the resurgence of Paradeus, and its connections to corporations such as the Girard Group and Cecht FABN. This led 404 to work with the Commander again after their 10 years-long self-imposed exile.

Members

• Squad 404
  • ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 (leader)
  • ^SMG UMP9UMP9UMP9
  • ^AR HK416HK416HK416
  • ^AR G11G11G11
• H.I.D.E. 404
  • Leva (UMP45)
  • Lenna (UMP9)
  • Team One
    • Klukai (416)
    • Mechty (G11)
    • Belka (G28)
    • Andoris
  • Team Two
    • Vector
• Dier (hired technician)
• Sier (hired manager)

Trivia

• The name of the squad refers to the HTTP error response status for "Not Found", as a reference that the squad has no official existence.
• ^RF DSR-50DSR-50DSR-50 appears to be the only Doll who kept her memories after working with 404, during the fight against Cerberus.
• A 16-bit style pixel illustration of the squad appears as the completion bonus for the Pixel Forest Furniture set.

• 
  Pixel 404 from the furniture set.
• 
  Animated sequence from Operation Cube CN PV.
• 
• 
  Promotional illustration for Operation Cube.
• 
  Promotional phone wallpaper from Arctic Warfare.

City Studio - Modern Art Photo

“	If this photo is real then does Squad 404 really sing at wedding ceremonies when they're not out on missions? Then let us give the newlyweds our blessings... — Furniture Description	”

The Furniture Modern Art Photo from the City Studio set, added May 2017, depicts a fan-art from August 2016 created in response to the server issues at the time of Operation Cube. The post states: “To save the potato servers, Squad 404 decided to become rock stars” (为了拯救土豆服务器，404小队决定成为摇滚偶像).

• 
  Original artwork.
• 
  In-game version.