Decepticon Justice Division

The Decepticon Justice Division is a group from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

So it's just "Or Death" then?

“	Find. Kill. Cleanse.	”
—The D.J.D. motto

The Decepticon Justice Division is a division of the Decepticon army that handles justice. And by justice, we mean "unmarked graves". Assuming there's enough left of their victims to bury.

Traitors, deserters, and any manner of transgressors to the Decepticon cause end up on "The List", and are targeted by these enforcers of Megatron's will. If the rumors are to be believed, they always find their quarry, and execute them in the messiest fashion possible to make an example of them. Several of them are living torture devices, either having horrific instruments of pain built into their bodies, or having alternate modes that become such devices. As a group, they're even able to take down the mighty Phase Sixers. So fearsome is their reputation that many Decepticons prefer suicide to waiting for the D.J.D. to find them... unfortunately, many Decepticons only find out they were on The List right as the D.J.D. arrive. Obviously, this makes them incredibly unpopular among the rank-and-file, many wondering just what level of minor infraction will get you on The List in the first damn place.

Their usual killing fields are in the proximity of the planet Messatine, and they pursue targets in their spaceship the Peaceful Tyranny.

The group's lineup has changed over the years, but its core five members always use the same five code-names: those of the first five cities to fall to the Decepticons. Should one member die, another Decepticon is eventually selected to take their place and name. Only the group's leader, Tarn, is known to have been in the group from the start.

Known members include:

• Tarn (leader)
• Helex
• Kaon
• Tesarus
• Agent 113 (as "Vos")
• Vos
• Nickel

Fiction

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Tarn runs a tight ship. Each of his team have to do health and safety reports and are subjected to constant performance reviews. It's not all fun and games! The Permanent Revolution

The late and unlamented Crosscut was often mistaken for a Justice Division man, which he used to his advantage. Crosscut's Squadron X profile

The D.J.D. has killed quite a few of the renegade Decepticon warlord Deathsaurus's troops for their desertion. The Permanent Revolution But while the Division are primarily about killing Decepticons, they looooove killing Autobots too. They had a reputation of being Megatron's personal assassins and Gripper lost many good friends to them. Words Hang in the Air slaughterhouse

Vos AKA Agent 113 AKA Dominus Ambus AKA Matches Malone AKA Keyser Soze.

The last-but-one Vos had hooks for hands and feet. Footage of him doing his usual business with the rest of the D.J.D. was recorded and presented as evidence during Megatron's trial. Words Hang in the Air Unknown to the Decepticons, that Vos was an Autobot mole, the famous Dominus Ambus, codenamed Agent 113! The Not KnowingAt Close of Day He used his position to passing information to the Autobots and due to a justifiably extreme paranoia about being found out, he used info-slugs disguised as bullets to pass message covertly. Usually this information would be the turncoats and traitors that the Division was hunting down, whom the Autobots could protect from justice in return for information. Bullets

In order to ensure the safety of the Autobot medical facility of Delphi on the planet Messatine, deep within D.J.D. territory, the facility's chief medical officer Pharma entered into a deal with the Division's leader. In return for their leaving Delphi be, Pharma would provide Tarn with a constant supply of fresh transformation cogs from Delphi's dead, in order to feed his addiction to changing shape that caused him to constantly burn through cogs. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back

During Ambus's time, the Division had learned the mysterious Necrobot was real and the existence of his planet, Necroworld. They didn't bother to investigate it. The Not Knowing Shortly after, he fired a warning about numerous issues, as well as the Necroworld's location, into Swerve, when he was witnessing a typical D.J.D. atrocity. Unfortunately, Swerve was never aware this had been a message bullet and none of the alerted medics ever saw him. The shock rendered Swerve speechless for six months, which was quite a feat for him. Life After the Big Bang The One Where They Go to Earth

Shortly after the Great Surge of 2008, the D.J.D. became concerned that the Decepticon forces attacking Garrus-9 hadn't reported back. They dispatched an exploratory force to the colony and learned that any attempt to get near Garrus-9 was blown out of the sky with extreme prejudice. Ambus passed this on to the Wreckers, via firing a message at Dodger when Dogfight's group had crossed the Division's path near Messatine's Serp Mines. Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 Bullets

Eventually, the D.J.D. came across a ship piloted by none other than Shockwave who was also on their list. Shockwave attempted to broker a deal with Tarn, offering his crew (consisting of virtually every Decepticon imprisoned in Garrus-9 who were on the list beneath him) in exchange for letting him live. However, the zealous Tarn had no intention of letting any of them live and attacked with his lethal voice. While Scorponok and a few others abandoned ship, salvation came in the form of Shockwave blasting out the radio and back-up arriving in the form of the Torment. Rather than face Bludgeon and Monstructor, the D.J.D. retreated. The Ties That Bind

Shortly after the Dogfight battle, the Division found out who "Vos" was. When a new Vos appeared, the Autobots assumed Agent 113 was dead The Not Knowing but in fact the Division had "domesticated" Ambus: a sadistic form of torture directed at beast-mode Transformers that leaves them lobotimised as a 'pet'. Now simply called "the Pet" and dragged around on a lead by Kaon, the once-mighty intellectual was used as a feral hunting dog and a propaganda tool (the Division claimed he was a tamed sparkeater). In a bit of Lima syndrome, Kaon developed a twisted affection for his "pet". At Close of Day

Around 2009, the D.J.D. discovered a mutated form of nucleon on Messatine. They dubbed it Nuke and kept it to themselves: only Megatron was alerted, and he was playing dead at the time. The Permanent Revolution

Some time later, the D.J.D. discovered the ravaged Cybertronian colony founded by the Titan Prion and recruited its sole survivor, Nickel, into their ranks. She took up a job as their nurse. The Permanent Revolution

With the D.J.D.'s monthly quota of cogs constantly rising, Pharma was forced into drastic action, seeking to escape the deal by shutting down the facility without implicating himself. To this end, he hired Decepticon nobodies Sonic and Boom to pose as Monoformers and seek asylum at Delphi, professing to be on the run from the D.J.D. Once inside, they detonated a viral soundbomb that infected Delphi with a corrosive plague that would be blamed on D.J.D. chemical warfare. Life After the Big Bang How Ratchet Got His Hands Back

Meanwhile, the D.J.D. caught up with Black Shadow and brutally tortured him to death after he sold his services to the Autobots. Despite popular conceptions, Tarn declared the war wasn't over until Megatron personally said it was over. Kaon then alerted Tarn to a signal on the planet Clemency from an undetonated K-Class named Fulcrum. When they arrived, Tarn gave Fulcrum's companions fifteen minutes to give him up and watch him die or be killed themselves. Rules of Disengagement

Only Brainstorm invites genocidal murderers not to genocidally murder everyone on his ship.

The so-called Scavengers chose to fight, turning an incidentally captive Grimlock against Tarn and the others. The initial surprise wore off, though, and the Scavengers got brutalized. Tesarus ground up Flywheels in his chest compartment, while Vos made Krok "wear his face". Even a Cybernought barely helped improve their odds. The remaining hapless Decepticons only survived because Kaon detected Overlord's spark signature, and Fulcrum had seemingly died moments prior in a failed suicide-bomb attempt (he hadn't, but everyone was a little too busy to double-check). Tarn ordered the D.J.D. off to hunt for bigger fish, but not before warning the surviving Scavengers that their names had all been added to the List. Who's Afraid of the DJD?

And the fandom collectively wept. Whether it was because they had souls or because they loved watching the D.J.D. kill people has yet to be determined.

‎

Following a tip-off from the Decepticon mole Brainstorm, the D.J.D. caught up with the Lost Light (unbeknownst to anyone, one of two created by a quantum engine accident) over Ofsted XVII. Though Tarn had initially agreed to spare them in return for Overlord, after learning that known defector Drift was also onboard they slaughtered the entire crew before reaching the rogue Phase Sixer in his slow cell beneath the ship and sawing off his head. The D.J.D, however, left one member of the crew — Rewind, whom they'd sadistically forced to record their atrocities in exchange for his partner Chromedome's life (and then killed Chromedome anyway when he refused to erase all memory of Rewind from his mind). slaughterhouse The Road Not Taken The Permanent Revolution

Unbeknownst to them, on Cybertron they were being used as boogeymen for Onslaught to get a "protection" gig with Starscream. Applicable Skills When the Necrotitan marched on the city a year later, Megatron listed the Division as a loyal force he could call on to help them retake Cybertron from Shockwave's forces if a retreat was needed. Burning Bright Finally, at Megatron's trial, their atrocities were part of the evidence. Words Hang in the Air

Seventeen months later, the Division returned to the shattered Lost Light at Nickel's urging in order to steal the ship's quantum engines. This turned out to be a mistake: the D.J.D. arrived in the middle of a battle between the Galactic Council and Black Block Consortia, both of whom were also after the engines. Rather than leave Cybertronian technology in the hands of organics, the D.J.D. attacked both sides, which simply led to the two organizations teaming up against them. The Permanent Revolution

Pursuing Council forces to the surface of Ofsted XVII, Vos and Kaon were trapped on the planet when an overwhelming number of organic reinforcements forced the Peaceful Tyranny to retreat. The Permanent Revolution The two Decepticons were left badly damaged and close to death by the battle. The pair's salvation arrived when a trio of Autobots (from the surviving Lost Light duplicate) helped them, initially unaware of who they were; after learning just who Vos was, Trailcutter still did the ethical thing and helped. He was rewarded by getting trapped in his panic bubble forcefield with Kaon and butchered to death. Vos and Kaon were able to call for a teleport back to their ship, bringing with them the new postwar edition of Towards Peace. Births, Deaths, and Interventions

The rest of the D.J.D. caught up with and murdered Blip in the interim. Tesarus was feeling guilty about abandoning their two comrades, considering it "un-Decepticon"; this got him a beating from Tarn and a threat of death. The Permanent Revolution

Watching Megatron renounce and denounce the Decepticon cause in Towards Peace shook Tarn's faith in the movement, and he nearly killed himself by Nuke overdose before realizing a better option. The D.J.D. leader organized a meeting with the rogue Deathsaurus, not to murder him but to ally with him. In exchange, he and all of his troops would be stricken from The List. Despite some initial friction, Deathsaurus agreed to the alliance. With the D.J.D. now bolstered by the addition of Deathsaurus's considerable forces, Tarn declared their new objective: kill the traitorous Megatron and all of his allies aboard the Lost Light. The Permanent Revolution

Meanwhile the Lost Light medics finally found and extracted the message bullet from Swerve, The One Where They Go to Earth but it had deteriorated: the only usable data was the location of the Necrobot Censere. The Not Knowing

Upon detecting long-missing AWOLs that had been on the List on Necroworld, the D.J.D. returned to the planet and learned that the Lost Light had been there not too long ago. Formulating a plan, the D.J.D. sent a distress signal to the Autobot ship using the Necrobot's own computers in order to lure them back. Do Not Go Gentle The Division then butchered the Necrobot and ambushed Megatron, and his only loyal crew members, when they arrived. How Bright Their Frail Deeds As they'd been taught, and to Megatron's dismay, they made a display of strength before departing, promising to return at sundown: thus, they assumed, terrifying their foes (Deathsaurus thought this was dumb). While some of the Lost Light crew searched for an escape ship, Megatron tried to negotiate his surrender with Tarn. The Sun in Flight

The DJD were determined to get into the Titans Return line.

That's when things began to deteriorate: the Pet was captured by the Autobots and Kaon let two new arrivals, Drift and Ratchet, reach the others for fear of the Pet being hurt. Meanwhile, disgusted by how far his former leader had fallen, Tarn savagely attacked Megatron but was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Overlord! Megatron escaped in the commotion and Tarn reluctantly brought Overlord into the plan. As the Phase Sixer constantly sniped at him, Kaon came in crying about the loss of his Pet and that they had to get him back... so, to Nickel's horror, Tarn killed him for the sin of emotion (and smooshed his head on Overlord's chest to shut the guy up), an act that disgusted even Overlord. Your Fierce Tears

Shortly before sunset, the Autobots learned the fate of Dominus Ambus and Rewind was forced to mercy-kill him. At Close of Day

The DJD learn the very hard way that as an Autobot leader, Megatron does indeed now have The Touch. The Touch of Destruction.

During the final battle, the Autobots were worn down and Tarn ripped Ravage in half to draw out Megatron. This finally succeeded and Tarn, to Nickel's dismay, ordered the troops to wade in and soak up gunfire so he could get the drop. Eventually, Megatron was disarmed and held at gunpoint, Rage, Rage surviving only because Megatron had taken Trailcutter's forcefield for himself. The Division pounded on it to get in, even as Overlord wandered off and Deathsaurus ordered his army to retreat from the pointless slaughter, a disillusioned Nickel in tow.

This, however, was a trap: Megatron had rigged the forcefield to let them in but not out, ironically leaving them just as trapped as Trailcutter had been. Once in, he could finally unleash the antimatter weapon he'd been working on for so many years. Megatron raged that they'd ruined all his chances at redemption and leaving any conflict, and he wasn't going to give them the dignity of dying under their aliases. As he tore them to pieces, each was named: Vos Forestock, Helex Crucible, Tesarus Scissorsaw, and finally Glitch, who died with his mask off after bargaining and false bravado had both failed to stay Megatron's hand. With their deaths and Nickel's defection to Deathsaurus' forces, the Decepticon Justice Division was no more. Do Not Go Gentle

Among Agonizer's rare items was an early version of The List with Starscream's name on it. An Axe to Break the Ice

Beast Wars: Uprising

During the Great War, the DJD operated out of the Mandala in Iacon under the supervision of Soundwave. Three centuries after the end of the war, statues of Kaon and Tesarus remained in the halls of the Mandala, immortalizing their deeds. Trigger Warnings

Notes

• In an early plan for "Chaos Theory", the D.J.D. were going to attack.
• James Roberts elaborated that when a D.J.D. member dies, his replacement takes his name.