Talon Company merc

Talon Company mercs are members of the Talon Company, a faction of mercenaries in Fallout 3.

Background
If you have good or very good karma, a 1000 cap bounty will be placed on your head, and Talon Company mercs holding a Private contract will periodically attempt to collect. Talon Company search parties operate in squads of different sizes dependent on your level.

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

Fort Bannister seems to be their main base of operations, seeing that it is exclusively populated by Talon mercenaries and contains an even larger underground base crawling with more high level mercs. Bannister is also where you will find Talon's commander, Commander Jabsco.

There will be some fighting super mutants at The Capitol Building, but they will most likely lose and retreat.

There are several random encounters in which the Lone Wanderer can encounter a group of Talon Company mercs.

The Broken Steel add-on adds a 4th rank of Talon Company merc, with higher health and better armor, that appears at higher levels. Even at level 30, Rank 4 Talon Company mercs are a relatively uncommon encounter. They are typically found in random encounters, rather than in fixed locations such as Fort Bannister. They are quite tough opponents, with good armor and very high health on par with that of an non-player character companion.

Effects of player actions
Whenever the Lone Wanderer's karma is good or very good these mercs will appear in random encounters and attack the Lone Wanderer on sight.

Appearances
Talon Company mercs appear only in Fallout 3.

Bugs

 * If you avoid triggering hostility with Talon Company, by evading (to avoid dialogue with) several of their neutral patrols (fighting with already hostile Talon Company mercs inside the D.C. area is OK), then a group of Talon Company mercs will eventually teleport to your location if you wait or fast travel outside certain locations, such as Metro stations or Rivet City. These Talon Company mercs will force dialogue with you, proclaiming that they have finally "caught you". However, they will not turn hostile and will remain marked as friendly on the HUD. They are also neutral towards wastelanders and Merchant Caravans, will even assist the player in combat against anything that attacks the player (including player-provoked wastelanders and Merchant Caravans). At this point, neutral Talon Company patrols will no longer turn hostile after speaking with the player.
 * Many Talons will spawn with two different skin colors, vitiligo, a disease that causes skin cells to lose pigment.