Talon Company Merc

s are members of Talon Company, an exceptionally brutal and amoral faction of mercenaries and hitmen. Unlike other factions, they are nearly exclusively male.

General
If the player has good karma, a bounty will be placed on his or her head and Talon Company Mercs will periodically attempt to collect. They may also be contracted by Mr. Burke if the player chooses to disarm the bomb in Megaton. However, when sent by Mr. Burke, their V.A.T.S. caption changes to "Hitman." Talon Company search parties typically operate in 3-man squads when patrolling the wastes looking for the player character.

Three Dog mentions that Talon Company mercs pick up jobs other mercenary companies won't do. Reilly of Reilly's Rangers notes her particular dislike of Talon Company, recalling a job they did which involved the killing of women and children, and commenting that they give all mercenaries a bad name. If the player converses with her rudely she will mention that the player sounds like a Talon Company merc.

Fort Bannister seems to be their main base of operations, being that it is exclusively populated by Talon Mercenaries, (not counting guard dogs) and contains an even larger underground base crawling with more high level mercs. Bannister also happens to be the dwelling of Talon's ridiculously powerful commander, Jabsco.

Besides the fixed locations and roving packs of bounty hunters, there is a rare random encounter in which the player can encounter a group of Talon Company Mercs, even if they have never had good Karma. Despite not having a contract to kill the player, they are just as hostile towards him/her as those that do.

Talon Company mercs are equipped with Talon Combat Armor (a slightly weaker and heavier variant of standard Combat Armor), and are armed with an assortment of relatively powerful weapons, including hunting rifles, combat shotguns, assault rifles, Chinese assault rifles, laser pistols, laser rifles, various melee weapons and frag grenades. They can also carry one aid item and a note titled contract for extermination: < >.

In terms of durability and combat challenge, they're generally tougher than Raiders, and their tendency to carry powerful automatic weapons generally make them more challenging than low-level standard super mutants (who typically carry hunting rifles or melee weapons). They are, however, a lesser threat than super mutant brutes, super mutant masters, or Enclave Soldiers.

In fact, Talon Company mercs are on par with Brotherhood of Steel forces in terms of skill and health. However, Talon Company has inferior armor and weapons.

Like most major factions, there are actually 3 "ranks" of Talon Company mercs, with the higher ranks appearing as the player's level increases. Higher-ranking Talon Company mercs have better weapons (i.e. heavy weapons, energy weapons, and Chinese assault rifles) and more health.

The player will most often, and most annoyingly, run into Talon Company mercs when fast traveling. This is particularly dangerous at lower levels as they can take the player by surprise and kill them before they have a chance to react.

Appearances
These characters appear only in Fallout 3.

Bugs

 * A bug has been reported where, after talking with supposedly friendly mercenaries, the mercs stayed friendly but showed hostile on the crosshair and compass. (Xbox)


 * The "Hitmen" will still contain a bounty for the player from Mr. Burke even if you kill Burke prior to ever having karma go up to good.


 * Talon Company Mercs have been observed, rarely, expressing different races in different parts of their body, such as a caucasian head, with an african body. This is rather common amongst Flamer TCMs.


 * With the Contract Killer perk, you can stop Talon Company attacking you. By going to the Scrapyard and trading ears, you can postpone any attacks with TCM. This works with the Regulators As well. NOTE: This doesn't work if you go to a TCM base, whether it be the small camp north of Megaton or Fort Bannister, they will attack you on sight, regardless of Karma...
 * Sometimes upon seeing Talon Company Mercs without them noticing you a large group of about 15 "clones" of one of the mercs attack from behind.