The Black Watch

Membership: Clinton Rogers, Woodrow Green, Bruce Higashi, Aaron Leonard, Patricia Sobrero

Purpose: To defend Earth from the forces of the Horde

Affiliations: The Padeia, Commander Nion, Dr.Tuolema

Enemies: The Horde

Base of Operations: Bio-War Facility Alpha

First Appearance: Strikeforce: Morituri #1 (Marvel Comics)

History: In 2069 an alien race called the Horde arrived in Earth's solar system. They were technologically advanced far beyond humanity's capabilities, but also extremely savage, and they viewed the Earth as a resource to be plundered. If the Horde had wanted to completely conquer mankind, then they would easily have done so. Instead, the contented themselves with brutal raids at their whim, leaving the Earth functioning but reeling under the impact. The Padeia Institute which ruled the planet began to organise the defence of the Earth against these attacks.

Mankind's best hope was discovered in 2072, when Dr.Tuolema, a scientist working at Bio-War Facility Alpha perfected the "Morituri Process". This allowed people with a specific type of rare genetic structure to have a new metabolism implanted over their original one, granting them superhuman powers unique to each individual. However, as became clear with the first group of test subjects, the host would eventually reject the implant as a foreign body, resulting in an inevitable and violent death, occurring randomly any time between the completion of the process and a year later.

The first group of subjects were veteran soldiers who became known as the Black Watch - Clinton Brian Rogers, Woodrow Joshua Green, Bruce Hisgashi, Patricia Lynne Sobrero and Aaron Ray Leonard. Of the five who underwent the process, two did not live to see action. Sent into the Garden, a booby-trapped test facility designed to heighten stress levels and precipitate the emergence of each candidate's powers, both Patricia and Aaron's bodies rejected the process catastrophically, and they died.

The remaining three had their first field test in Cape Town, taking on Horde forces there, attacking their surface command base. Rogers slew the Horde's commander on Earth, the First in the Field, but was killed in return by his forces. The two survivors retreated, but Green died on board the escape vehicle when he underwent the Morituri effect; The escape craft was then knocked out the air when the Horde deployed a nuclear device; though his body was never found, Higashi was presumed to have been killed in the crash.

Tuolema later deduced that the older the subject, the quicker their system would reject the process (all of the Black Watch had been in their thirties), and the decision was taken that all subsequent Morituri recipients were to be between 18 and 21 to maximise life expectancy.

Comments: Created by Carl Potts.

There's minimal information available about the individual members of the Black Watch:

Clinton Rogers was a farmer from Kansas. He possessed enhanced strength.

Woodrow Green was an industrial designer from Toronto.  He could fire beams of energy from his eyes.

Bruce Higashi was a stress therapist from Hiroshima. He possessed enhanced speed.

Thanks to Enrique Acosta for images and information.

CLARIFICATIONS: None.

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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