Talon Company

The Talon Company is an organization active in the Capital Wasteland which tries to resist 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.

Weapons and tactics
Members of roving Talon Company fire teams typically have as their primary armament police batons, combat shotguns, laser rifles or Chinese assault rifles, with no more than one of each encountered per fire team. 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 weapon.

In random encounters, fire team tactics are simple: depending on the weapon type, the merc 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, shotgunners will close part of the distance and then open fire, and hand-to-hand fighters will charge at the player.

Trivia

 * 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".


 * The Talon Company symbol (eagle talon) is similar to the Blackwater logo (bear claw). The concept of Talon Company is similar to real-world Private Military Companies (PMCs) like Blackwater, Aegis, Erinys, and Executive Outcomes.


 * The Talon Company's reputation as "ruthless mercs who take on contracts other mercs won't" is a Fallout 3 version of the Blackwood Company from Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The same motto was used in that game as well. On top of this, both wear black armour, and both are antagonists to the player (but Blackwood was only an antagonist if the player joined the Fighters Guild). Both groups named themselves "Company".


 * It is interesting to note that there are only male Company Mercs, and any appearances of female Talon Mercs, are usually dead before the player finds them. Perhaps even within the ranks, Talon members look down on, or even frag female mercs.


 * The Talon Company also appears to have been inspired in part by the Black Talon mercenary group from the Baldur's Gate series of games by Interplay, the original parent company of the Fallout game series.