Times have been tough for the Decepticon Justice Division. Eighteen months ago, when deep cover Decepticon agent Brainstorm alerted them to Overlord's imprisonment on the Lost Light, they had initially agreed not to kill anyone else on the ship, only to lose control and go back on their deal when they discovered Drift was on board. After slaughtering the entire crew, they went on their way, until a month ago, when their newest member—diminutive female medic Nickel—insisted that they return to salvage the vessel's quantum generators. Upon returning to the wreckage, floating above Ofsted XVII, the DJD found themselves in the middle of a battle between the Galactic Council and the Black Block Consortia, who proceeded to join forces against them. Kaon and Vos took the fight to the planet's surface, but Tarn was forced to abandon them when enemy reinforcements arrived.

Now, Tarn, Helex, and Tesarus are continuing in their duties, working their way through their list of Decepticons who have betrayed "the cause". Their present victim: Blip, condemned for practising religion by deifying sparkeaters. Blip catches Tarn off-guard when he uses his last words to ask him to remove his mask, accusing him of cowardice, so the DJD leader decides to refrain from killing him with his "weaponized conversation" ability, and lets Helex and Tesarus get their hands dirty. But secretly, Tarn looks away, tiring of violence and unwilling to watch.

Their job done, the team return to their ship the Peaceful Tyranny, where Nickel gives them all a check-up and relentlessly criticizes their poor hygiene and maintenance habits. The DJD turns out to be exceptionally bureaucratic; Tarn orders performance reviews for the team, but he and Tesarus nearly come to blows during the latter's appraisal when Tesarus accuses him of being "un-Decepticon" for leaving Vos and Kaon behind. Calming himself, Tarn reveals that he has already ordered a return to Ofsted to collect their bodies... at which point Helex comes running in to tell them that their comrades are still alive, and have returned with a datapad containing some shocking news: Megatron has renounced Decepticonism and joined the Autobots!

Returning to the DJD headquarters on Messatine to ponder the world-shattering implications of this news, Tarn recharges himself with "Nuke"—the DJD's secret stash of super-fuel, found only in the planet's mines, created when the native nucleon was exposed to chronal energy millions of years go. Pushing himself towards lethal overdose, his life flashes before his eyes, and he finds himself disappointed by the experience. Opening his eyes to see a tearful Nickel banging on the fuelling capsule window, Tarn finds something stirring within him, and he smashes his way out of the capsule to announce a "change of plans" to his team-mates.

The rest of the DJD are confused when Tarn arranges a meeting with noted Decepticon Deathsaurus, who is on their list for removing himself from Megatron's command and stealing a Warworld. Deathsaurus welcomes them to his disorganized planet-ship, handing Tarn a crate of equipment to carry for him and apologizing for the mess with the explanation that their hyperdrive is being repaired. Tarn requests a conversation in private, but Deathsaurus isn't interested—having assumed that the DJD were coming to take him down, he immediately fires upon the crate in Tarn's arms, which turns out to be full of explosives that detonate right in Tarn's face. Though rocked by the blast, Tarn is still able to defend himself, insisting as he grapples with Deathsaurus that he is just here to talk. Deathsaurus deactivates his audio receptors to protect himself from Tarn's deadly voice, but Tarn simply speaks directly to him—and all his troops—through inter-Decepticon radio, their private frequency having been hijacked by Vos. Tarn waxes lyrical on the history of the Decepticons and what he sees as their true cause: the ongoing mission to eliminate every threat to Cybe

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