Ghost Initiative


 * For the eponymous ​​​​​​ episode in which the group appears, see ​​​.

"Give me a break, this ain't no task force. Let's call it like it is. Welcome to the Suicide Squad."

- Floyd Lawton

The Ghost Initiative, formerly known as Task Force X or the Suicide Squad, is a team of mostly incarcerated criminals who undertake high-risk missions for A.R.G.U.S. in exchange for reduced jail sentences.

Overview
To ensure their cooperation, each member of the team is implanted with a microbomb in their spinal vertebrae, which will be detonated if they demonstrate insubordination, betrayal, etc. However, if members prove themselves to be loyal, they will be given degrees of freedom. One example is Carrie Cutter/Cupid, who roamed A.R.G.U.S. freely in exchange for her work.

Task Force X is shown to be fairly successful in rehabilitating criminals and even treating mentally unstable individuals, having turned Floyd Lawton/Deadshot and Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger into loyal comrades. Furthermore, Carrie Cutter's behavior became much more stable, even though she retained her obsession with the Arrow or whichever man would save her life, but her impulse control was much better refrained.

Beginnings
The team was first put together by A.R.G.U.S. director Amanda Waller, consisting of criminals who've been incarcerated.

Lyla Michaels was in charge of a team which included Digger Harkness, but the mission went wrong. Waller ordered Lyla to terminate the team, which she did, and A.R.G.U.S. came to believe all its members were dead. Unbeknownst to them, however, Harkness' microbomb malfunctioned and didn't kill him. He subsequently escaped and became a mercenary.

Some time after their defeats by The Arrow, Floyd Lawton/Deadshot, Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger, and Mark Scheffer/Shrapnel were drafted by Waller to join the task force. Harley Quinn, Raven, and Torque were also recruited at some point.

The nerve agent and the bombing
Waller notified John Diggle and Lyla Michaels of a nerve agent being held by Gholem Qadir. She introduced them to the team made up of Shrapnel, Deadshot, and Tiger, and they proceeded to execute a plan to appropriate the nerve chemical from Qadir. During a mission meant as an attempt to gain Qadir's trust, Shrapnel was killed while attempting to escape. A while after, John and Lyla attended a party held by Qadir. They were able to find the nerve agent, but it was much bigger than they had expected. They evacuated the area above where the nerve agent was being held and Turner killed Qadir. In an attempt to destroy the nerve agent, Waller sent a drone directed towards the mansion. However, it was discovered that the drone was instead coded to the GPS in Deadshot's explosive chip. While the squad was escaping, Lyla was able to cut out the chip, saving them from imminent explosion. After the prisoners were returned later, Waller suggested that they would put the chips in their spines from then on, to ensure they could not be removed again.

Weeks following, Amanda Waller ordered a drone strike on Starling City, prompting John and Lyla to let the squad (except for Quinn and Turner) out of their cells in order to threaten Waller.

Work in Kahndaq
Following the extremist sect Onslaught coming to power, the squad was sent to the Republic of Kasnia to fight them, Deadshot and Bronze Tiger killing a number of them. Later, Lyla Michaels recruited Ravan Nassar to join the team. Deadshot and Bronze Tiger were training inside the A.R.G.U.S. headquarters as preparation for the team. Ravan Nassar was cleaned up and as they began to leave to Kahndaq, John Diggle joined them. The Squad soon arrived in Kahndaq and invaded an Onslaught camp, killing several members and leaving one alive to bring them to Khem-Adam. With information gained partly through the torture of their prisoner, the squad pursued Khem-Adam to his stronghold in the mountains of the Akh-Ton Desert, where they rescued a group of captured schoolgirls and defeated the Onslaught forces, breaking the back of the rebellion. Bronze Tiger was killed in the battle and his body was taken by Deadshot to be buried in his home country.

Work in the Republic of Kasnia
After John and Lyla Diggle were married again, Deadshot met them at their wedding and told them that they had another mission. Back at A.R.G.U.S. headquarters, Waller briefed them on the meeting - save senator Joseph Cray, who has been taken hostage in the Republic of Kasnia. The group landed in Kasnia and staked out the hospital the insurgents were operating from. Deadshot saved Cupid from being shot by the senator, who had orchestrated the whole operation, and she fell in love with him. The Squad then noticed that the hospital had been rigged with explosives and made a plan. That evening, the Squad took down most of the terrorists, and got the hostages and themselves out, with Deadshot providing cover fire from the hospital's roof. However, Lawton sacrificed himself and stayed behind to allow John and Lyla to get back to their daughter, dying in the hospital's explosion.

Disbandment
During an attack by Shadowspire, Waller was killed by Joyner. Lyla then became the new director of A.R.G.U.S. and began reforming the agency; one of her objectives included the disbandment of Task Force X and release of all its members, except for King Shark.

Reactivation
Lyla reactivated the team, now under the name "The Ghost Initiative", starting with Ricardo Diaz.

Current members

 * Ricardo Diaz/Dragon
 * Carrie Cutter/Cupid
 * Chien Na Wei/China White
 * Joe Wilson/Kane Wolfman

Former members

 * John Diggle/Freelancer/Spartan
 * Lyla Diggle Michaels/Harbinger
 * Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang (deceased)
 * Floyd Lawton/Deadshot (deceased)
 * Ravan Nassar (incarcerated)
 * Mark Scheffer/Shrapnel (deceased)
 * Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger (Transferred to Slabside Maximum Security Prison)
 * Amanda Waller/Mockingbird (leader; deceased)
 * Harley Quinn
 * Raven
 * Torque
 * Cheetah
 * Grodd

Non-canon

 * Shay Lamden/King Shark

Arrow
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