Task Force X

*"Listen up! In your necks, injection you got, it's a nanite explosive. It's the size of a rice grain, but it's powerful as a hand grenade. You disobey me, you die. You try to escape, you die. You otherwise irritate or vex me, and guess what? You die."*
―Rick Flag[src]
**Task Force X**, colloquially known as the **Suicide Squad**, is a government-sanctioned expendable black-ops unit founded by Amanda Waller that enlists incarcerated supervillains to undertake high-risk, covert missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences. Normally, the team is only used when all the more conventional methods fail.

Participants of Task Force X operations are promised reduced prison sentences should they succeed in their missions, but are also implanted nanotech bombs in their necks as a precautionary meassure to kill any member who tries to abandon the mission.

Two new Task Force X teams were formed in 2020 by Waller with many new members joining the ranks on a mission to a Nazi Base in Corto Maltese, along with some returning members. The mission was a success with the destruction of Project Starfish and the liberation of Corto Maltese, although they suffered the loss of their field commander. In the aftermath, Bloodsport blackmailed Waller into letting the few surviving members of the mission go free, leaving her without any Task Force X left.

Waller was informed that Peacemaker survived the Corto Maltese mission, and since he wasn't included in Bloodsport's bargain due to Peacemaker's betrayal of the team, Waller had him join a third albeit much smaller iteration of Task Force X to fight against the Butterflies. Although the mission was ultimately successful, one of Waller's operatives was killed and her own daughter came out to publicly reveal the existence of Task Force X and call for its disbandment.

## Section Header

### Leader

Amanda Waller
Rick Flag † (field commander)
Bloodsport (former strike team leader)

### Members

Peacemaker
Harley Quinn (formerly)
George Harkness †
King Shark (formerly)
Polka-Dot Man †
Ratcatcher 2 (formerly)
Savant †
Javelin †
T.D.K.
Mongal †
Blackguard †
Weasel

## History

### Project Starfish

*"I wouldn't take such extreme measures if this mission weren't more important than you could possibly imagine."*
―Amanda Waller to Robert DuBois[src]
In August 2020, Amanda Waller learned of a military coup on the nation of Corto Maltese where the military project known as Project Starfish was taking place, and that the country's new dictator planned to turn Project Starfish into a weapon to declare war against USA. In response, she and Rick Flag assembled two new iterations of the Suicide Squad. The first strike team, lead by Flag, was comprised of the recently recaptured Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang, and all-new recruits Javelin, Weasel, the Detachable Kid, Savant, Mongal, and Blackguard. The second team was lead by Bloodsport and consisted of the Peacemaker, Ratcatcher 2, Polka-Dot Man, and King Shark. Both teams were tasked with destroying the headquarters of Project Starfish, the Nazi laboratory Jotunheim, a facility made for imprisoning and experimenting on political prisoners, creating the world's first Metahumans. While there, the second strike team met Maltese rebel Sol Soria who assisted them in kidnapping the lead scientist of Project Starfish Gaius Grieves, who was then blackmailed into assisting Task Force X them, meanwhile Harley Quinn was kidnapped by the tyrannical Maltese dictator, General Presidente Silvio Luna but she promptly killed him.

Task Force X succeeded in their mission and killed Starro in the process, but also learned the dirty secret that the American government were the true perpetrators of Project Starfish the entire time. Bloodsport secured incriminating evidence of USA's involvement with Project Starfish which he used to blackmail Waller into letting the few survivors of the mission to walk away free after they rebelled against her. Waller reluctantly agreed to Bloodsport's terms then was informed that Peacemaker, who was believed to have been killed by Bloosport after Peacemaker betrayed the team, did in fact survive the ordeal and was taken to a hospital, she then assigned her staff to look after his recovery so that he can participate in Task Force X's next mission.

### Public reveal

*"This is all part of a black ops program known as Task Force X, with convicted criminals that are undertaking dangerous missions for the United States, in exchange for time off their sentences. It's been running for years in Belle Reve prison, under the command of a woman named Amanda Waller... who happens to be my mother."*
―Leota Adebayo[src]
In January 2021, Waller's next mission planned for Task Force X was to destroy the Butterflies but couldn't officially do anything about it because her higher ups would shut down any attempt to investigate the subject, so Waller created an illegal off-shot branch of Task Force X to conduct the operation "Project Butterfly" under the radar who would dub themselves "The 11th Street Kids".

Project Butterfly would ultimately be a success, but in its aftermath, one of the 11th Street Kids members and Amanda Waller's daughter Leota Adebayo, called for a press conference where she publicly revealed the existence of Task Force X as well as Waller's dirty secrets and illegal activities as the director of the black ops team, she also called for further investigation and shutting down of the Task Force X program.

## Known members

### Current

Amanda Waller

(director and founder)

Christopher Smith/Peacemaker

### Support Staff

John Economos

(mission coordinator)

Emilia Harcourt

(mission coordinator)

Fitzgibbon

(team physician)

### Former

Gunter Braun/Javelin †

Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2

Flo Crawley

(mission coordinator)

Robert DuBois/Bloodsport

(strike team leader)

Brian Durlin/Savant †

(attempted escape, nanobomb detonated)

Rick Flag †

(field commander)

Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang †

Richard Hertz/Blackguard †

(member turned enemy)

Abner Krill/Polka-Dot Man †

Mongal †

Nanaue/King Shark

Cory Pitzner/T.D.K.

Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn

Weasel

## Relationships

* Dexter Tolliver - supporter
* United States Navy
	+ Mackenzie Olsen - supporter
	+ GQ Edwards †
	+ Kowalski †
	+ Gomez †
	+ Grey †
	+ Nate †
	+ "Big Ugly" †
	+ Clark †
* Maltese resistance - victims turned assistance during Jotunheim mission
	+ Sol Soria
	+ Milton †
* Corto Maltese Armed Forces
	+ Silvio Luna † - target
	+ Mateo Suarez †
	+ Isabella †
* Starro † - target and victim
* Gaius Grieves/Thinker † - former manipulatee and indirect victim

## Trivia

* Task Force X in the DC Universe is the first live-action incarnation of the Suicide Squad, to be take part of James Gunn's DC Universe.

## Behind the scenes

* The Suicide Squad is so far the only team in the DC Universe to have an almost completely different roster in their retrofitted film in James Gunn's new universe.

## References

The **DC Universe Wiki** has a collection of images and media related to **Task Force X**.

1. ↑ Jump up to:5.0 5.1 Gunn, James (writer and director) (August 6, 2021). *The Suicide Squad*.
2. ↑ Gunn, James (writer & director) (February 17, 2022). "It's Cow or Never". *Peacemaker*. Season 1. Episode 8. Max.

## External links

* Suicide Squad on DC Database
* Suicide Squad on Wikipedia