Talon Company

The 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
A bounty may be taken out on your life, and Talon Company is one of the groups looking for you. However, even if they are not doing so, they will be hostile towards the player if encountered. If you have completed The Power of the Atom by disarming the bomb Mr. Burke will contract them to kill you. Telling Lucas Simms about Mister Burke will also have them tracking you down. 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 it is unknown why they are besieging them. 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 ammo, 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 of 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. Another live female can be encountered as part of 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 Mr. Gutsys 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 west of the Nuka-Cola Plant and South of the Red Racer Factory two Talon Mercs are fighting with 2-3 Raiders over a crate of 4 barrels of Aqua Pura. One of the Talon Mercenaries has a Flamer.

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 (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 weapon. 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 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.

When they have the hit on you, the main places for them to ambush you (this is the same for the regulators) are Northwest Seneca Metro Station near Arefu, Anacostia Crossing near Rivet City, Lucky's just near Tenpenny Tower and Warrington Station, randomly near Megaton and the player can run into them in the Wasteland. They also often appear at the Jury Street Metro Station and the Super Duper Mart.

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".

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