Talon Company

Talon Company is a mercenary organization active in the Capital Wasteland. Doing various jobs, from bounty hunting to fighting against the super mutant occupiers of Washington, DC. Even as far as mercenaries go, these men and women are vicious, killing anyone that doesn't wear their emblem, similar to raiders. The reason for this is simple - in 2277, they are working for an unknown third party, with simple orders - keep the Capital Wasteland a lawless, disorganized place.

Interactions
They are always hostile towards the player if encountered, but they may have several motivations to specifically target you throughout the game. A bounty may be taken out on your life, and Talon Company is one of the groups looking for you. Talon Company mercs are after you for Karma reasons, not to be mistaken with Mr. Burkes' hitmen. Telling Lucas Simms about Mister Burke will also have them tracking you down. If you run into them randomly they will still attack you even if you're very evil. Having a good Karma causes them to hunt you down, even if you never initiated The Power of the Atom.

In the Capital Wasteland area, they operate out of Fort Bannister and a Talon Company Camp west of Grayditch. They are also engaged in a large battle with the super mutants in and around the Capitol Building, Takoma Park, and the Clifftop Shacks, though the purpose of the battles are unknown. You will sometimes come across a fire team of three mercs, patrolling through the Wasteland or in various towns. If they have a contract for your death, you may also be ambushed by them after either fast traveling or zoning to a new location; the first time you encounter such a fire team, they'll have a quick conversation with you before beginning their attack. Killing these fire teams provide a good supply of armor and ammunition, as they each wear a customized variant of combat armor and tend to have more advanced weaponry as you level up.

Talon Company mercenaries are almost exclusively male. Bodies of female Talon mercs can however be encountered in the bathroom in the Hall of Columns in the Capitol Building, in the Metro Central, and the Corvega Factory. A live female Talon merc can be encountered in the Fort Bannister bunker, and another can be in the first fire team that ambushes you (the one that explains that there's a hit out on you, though the merc is usually male).

In addition to conventional infantry, Talon Company controls several reprogrammed military Mister Gutsies and sentry bots, which they use sparingly to guard some of their outposts in the D.C. Ruins.

Talon Mercenaries that are known as hitmen - Mercs who are hired by Mr. Burke - have a different set of characteristics that make them stand out from the average Talon Patrol. Their characteristics consist of light armament, same in appearance (all three mercs are the same character build), and very pale skin.

With the addition of Broken Steel, you can now find a group of Brotherhood of Steel Knights outside Fort Bannister who are trying to retrieve a water caravan that the Talons have stolen. You will also find a captured Brotherhood of Steel Paladin, Paladin Jensen, in the tents in Fort Bannister. After releasing him, he will thank you and then proceed into the base to get revenge, quickly followed by his fellow Knights. The Brotherhood will then quickly kill all mercenaries inside the base including Commander Jabsco. This will make proceeding through the fort much easier than going through it by yourself.

On the highway leading to the Citadel, east of the Nuka-Cola Plant, and south of the Red Racer Factory, two Talon mercs are fighting with 2 or 3 raiders over a crate containing 4 aqua pura barrels. One of the Talon Mercenaries has a flamer.

Outside the Capitol Building you will find a large contingent of Talon Company mercs with varying robots fighting the occupying super mutants. They focus on the super mutants and will not usually attack you unless attacked first or they win the battle. If you do not interfere then they will usually be killed.

Weapons and tactics
Members of roving Talon Company fire teams typically have either police batons, combat shotguns, laser rifles, or Chinese assault rifles as their primary armament, with no more than one of each encountered per fire team (exceptions: combat shotgun and police baton). Talon Company personnel in set encounters may also have other weapons, such as sniper rifles and missile launchers. Combat knives, .32 pistols, and pulse grenades are often carried as backup weapons. On rare occasions they may all be carrying Chinese assault rifles (or maybe one R91 assault rifle instead) making them even more dangerous than usual (seems more likely to happen at the Sewer Waystation or sniper shack).

In random encounters, fire team tactics are simple: depending on the weapon type, the mercenary will close to within effective range (if necessary) and engage. At typical encounter distances, this means that riflemen will open fire from where they are, ones who use shotguns will close part of the distance and then open fire, and hand-to-hand fighters will charge at you.

When they have been contracted to assassinate you, the main locations for them to ambush you are at the Northwest Seneca Metro Station near Arefu, Anacostia Crossing near Rivet City, Lucky's just near Tenpenny Tower and Warrington Station, and the player can randomly run into them near Megaton or out in the Wasteland (this is the same for the Regulators). They also appear frequently at the Jury Street Metro Station, the Super Duper Mart, and near the Reilly's Rangers location.

Behind the scenes

 * In early previews, Pete Hines was said to have stated that "the humans going up against the mutant occupiers were mercenaries working for the Talon Corporation." However, it is most likely a previewers mistake, and Hines mistook the military term "company" as being the business term "company".
 * In the Japanese translation of Fallout 3, Talon Company is translated as "タロン社" (Talon sha) which would translate back into English as Talon Company (as in a business company and not a military company).

Bugs

 * It is possible that five or more mercenaries may ambush the PC. However, as soon as one mercenary is injured the rest will flee. These mercenaries may ambush the PC later at the same spot, but the entire party will only have one bar of health each except the mercenary who was damaged in the initial fight (who will have the same amount of health that was left when he fled).
 * On rare occasions, Talon Company mercenaries may spawn with an African-American body and a Caucasian face/head.
 * It is possible to encounter a fire team just after you leave Vault 101. This can cause slight confusion, as it is unclear as to who would want to kill you this early on in the game.