So this story idea is not mine. It comes from a friend on TikTok, Deckar Terdax. He came up with this plot, pitched as a movie concept in a slideshow on TikTok, and I liked it a lot! I asked if I could write the idea as a fanfiction and Deckar said I could, so here we go!
Title and cover picture were also done by Deckar!
This is the story of Deadlock becoming an Autobot and how he settled on Earth.
I hope you all like this idea as much as I do! :)
God Bless and Good Day!
~The Lupine Sojourner
Deadlock ducks behind a decrepit wreck in the shipyard, gritting his teeth as he prepares to take out the Decepticon guard nearby.
He had been slowly realizing how tyrannical and oppressive the Decepticon cause is, but his sense of honor had demanded loyalty, so he had bitten his tongue and done as ordered as the war continued to wreak havoc on the planet.
His loyalty had begun to slowly come into question, however, after Optimus Prime had been forced to eject the Allspark to keep it from Megatron's hands. He had then led a mass exodus with as many Autobots as he could find ships for, leaving some of his troops behind to carry on the battle.
Deadlock had at first been angry at the Prime, thinking him a coward for dooming their planet and running away, but then he came to realize the extent of the damages done to Cybertron throughout the war and that Megatron had been the one to drive Optimus to that extreme.
Deadlock saw that Megatron was blinded by his hatred of the Prime, beating or executing any who dared question him or his pursuit of Optimus.
Things grew worse on Cybertron without the Allspark, but the few Autobots left on the dying planet bravely fought on despite overwhelming odds.
Deadlock grew to admire their courage and their valiant struggle to save their planet, hoping the Allspark could be restored to Cybertron before the planet completely died.
Then he and a team of Vehicons were ordered to take out a ship full of Autobots that were escaping Cybertron.
He could not carry out the order, but the troopers had seen no issue with the heartless and cruel command.
Deadlock had gone ahead to scout out the ship, which had been caught before they'd even left the atmosphere, and when he saw the desperate refugees huddled in fear he could not bring his Spark to harm any of them, so he lied to the team, going so far as to say he had eliminated the crew aboard.
The team had been impressed at the alleged show of brutality and returned to their ship, but Deadlock had hesitated, talking briefly with the leader on the ship, a Wrecker he didn't recognize.
Deadlock agreed to help them reach their destination, even pointing out a better route for them.
Then a Vehicon came back aboard and saw Deadlock talking to the Wrecker, and the refugees behind them.
Deadlock had been forced to kill the trooper there and then, feeling for the first time a flicker of disgust with the Decepticons in his Spark. If they were willing to slaughter refugees, they did not have any honor.
After lying that the trooper had been killed in a surprise attack by a survivor to the other troopers on the ship, Deadlock had to assess his loyalties.
He had killed one of his own side in defense of Autobots.
He took a long look at himself in the reflection of his ship's cockpit.
What he had done was the right thing, he felt it in his Spark. How could he kill innocent refugees?
But killing the trooper was dishonorable to the Decepticons and would be seen as treason if it were discovered.
He had covered his actions as best he could and hoped his deceptions were accepted as truth. It was too late to do anything else.
As the cycles went on and nothing came of the incident, Deadlock grew increasingly conflicted. The Decepticons had repeatedly shown dishonor in their actions, but because he had sworn allegiance to them, he felt stuck.
Defecting felt like a betrayal, but more and more of his orders made him see just how dishonorable the Decepticon cause is.
The breaking point occurred when there came a new order, pairing him with Bludgeon (who Deadlock considered a brother. They had joined the Decepticons together, even).
Spies had discovered a small refugee camp and Megatron ordered it to be cleared out with no survivors.
Deadlock recoiled, but his sense of duty would not let him protest in front of Megatron, so he kept it to himself until he and Bludgeon were en route to the camp.
"Why should we kill innocents?" Deadlock asks, frowning. "It is dishonorable."
Bludgeon, surprisingly, scoffed. "There are no innocents when it comes to Autobots, Deadlock. You know that."
Deadlock shakes his head. "They are merely trying to survive. They have done nothing to deserve such a fate." He insists.
"Way I look at it, any Autobot is an enemy, and enemies should be eliminated with extreme prejudice." Bludgeon retorts, frowning at him, the tension rising.
Deadlock knows he'd likely be reported to the Decepticon Justice Department if he continues protesting against killing Autobots, so he holds back anything else he wanted to say and when they arrive, he says he will monitor the perimeter and ensure none escape.
But what he really did is watch in horror as his friend slaughtered everyone in the few buildings that made up the camp.
Bludgeon had a grin on his face the entire time, which made Deadlock shudder.
The vicious attack was over soon, and to make his story believable, Deadlock moved further from their transport and spun on his heel to start walking back as Bludgeon arrived, his swords dripping with Energon.
Splatters of the glowing blue liquid covered Bludgeon, making him look barbaric.
"You make sure we got all of them?" Bludgeon asks casually, almost making Deadlock's Energon pump reject its Energon.
How could he talk about slaughter so casually? Does he have no sense of honor at all?
Deadlock could do nothing but nod and head into the transport.
His mind was reeling from what he had seen. He had never once seen that side of Bludgeon. Certainly, Bludgeon had been the more aggressive of the two, typically speaking, but Deadlock had never thought his closest friend and brother capable of such a brutal attack on unarmed refugees. This threw their relationship into a whole new light. Could he still call Bludgeon a brother? Deadlock shifts uncomfortably, staring sightlessly out the window.
His mind was whirling and Spark flared in outrage at the loss of innocent life, at the way he had simply stood by, DJD or no DJD.
He knew it had been dishonorable to allow that terrible slaughter, but the thought of being hunted and perhaps tortured by the DJD was too terrifying for him to commit to preventing the slaughter.
Deadlock resolved there and then that he will never stand by again.
He could also no longer deny that the Decepticons he'd thought on the right side of this conflict would continue to spread cruelty, fear, and tyranny throughout the galaxy.
He had no choice but to defect. He understood that clearly now.
To that end, he makes up his mind that, upon his return, he would gather whatever intelligence he deemed valuable (in the hopes the intel would convince the Autobots to allow him to join their side) and then seek out a long-distance escape pod to take him to Earth, where he'd find the Prime and officially join the Autobots.
Now, after finding intelligence he knew Optimus would find extremely valuable, downloading it and hiding the data cylinder, he had snuck into the shipyard, where a few guards had spotted him, but had quickly been disposed of before an alarm could be raised.
However, it hadn't taken long for the other guards to see the bodies, and now he was being hunted.
This will not stop me. Deadlock thinks cooly, turning the tables on his opponents and eliminating them one by one as he searches for a pod.
He soon has only one final opponent, cornered against a mostly functional ship.
"Traitor!" The guard yells, blasting at him, but Deadlock grits his teeth, dodging the blasts as he races forward, stabbing the unfortunate guard directly in the Spark Chamber.
Deadlock watches as the life seeps from the guard. "May you all find peace with Primus upon your return to the Allspark." He bows briefly in the general direction of his victims, acknowledging he had taken lives precious to Primus, before sheathing his sword and climbing into the ship.
There! At last, an operational long-distance escape pod!
He programs it for Earth and settles in for the long flight as the pod's thrusters ignite and start its journey.
He reaches out on any Autobot frequency he can find to let the Autobots know he had stolen valuable intelligence to give to Optimus, and that he is defecting and joining their side.
"This is Decepticon Deadlock. I am trying to reach Optimus Prime."