BlackCloak, was the tall masked leader of the Shi'ar Death Cammandos, which was a multi-species strike squad organized by unknown members of the Shi'ar Empire. Fearing that human mutant
Rachel Grey might possess the same genetic potential as her
mother to bond with the primal cosmic
Phoenix Force, which represents the "end-of-all-there-is" in Shi'ar technology, the Shi'ar considered this an unacceptable threat and dispatched the Death Commandos to Earth to completely exterminate the Grey family genome. Arriving in a Shi'ar transport ship, the Death Commandos attacked a Grey family reunion. Despite opposition from the
X-Men, the Death Commandos took only 24 seconds to slaughter every member of the Grey family except for Rachel and her grandmother, Elaine. Under Shi'ar cannon law, BlackCloak ritually branded Rachel with a deathmark that etched itself into her DNA, marking her for life. Enforcing the Imperial edict that had condemned Rachel, BlackCloak sought to slay her but Rachel fought back, defeating him. The X-Men subsequently made short work of the Commandos; however, in a last ditch effort, BlackCloak slew Elaine before surrendering. The Death Commandos were taken into custody and incarcerated by the Office of National Emergency (O.N.E.) in the Metropolitan Correctional Facility in Manhattan.