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August 15, 2279
MEGATON - A massive attack force of approximately ninety mercenaries of Talon Company attacked Megaton this morning, completely overrunning the exterior defenses of the city. The defenders from 3rd and 4th Squads, 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 4th Infantry Battalion, outnumbered five-to-one, were forced to retreat against the onslaught. The situation was dire as the capture of the teleporter outside Megaton prevented immediate aid from the Olympus, further compounded by the death of their commanding officer, Lieutenant Felicia Stein. Help did not arrive until twenty minutes later when 5th Platoon of Bravo Company were airdropped by Valkyrie at Moriarty's Saloon, one of only two TSC-held positions left in the city. Talon Company was eventually routed after hours of building-to-building fighting by the newly arrived platoon.

The TSC victory was not without suffering, however. Six TSC personnel were killed, one by friendly fire when attempting to clear the Commander's house, and three other wounded. One hundred and fifty civilians were killed and another ninety were wounded in the battle, many in defense of the city, where they inflicted an estimated one third of Talon Company's losses. The Church of the Children of Atom, a part of the city from the beginning, were massacred and their bodies burned. There were only three survivors. One of them, a young girl of sixteen, was taken to the Olympus medical bay for psychological treatment pertaining to her rape and witnessing of the murder of the congregation. Her rapist surrendered to TSC forces and is scheduled to be tried for war crimes, along with the other fourteen prisoners of war captured in the battle.

Private First Class Jeremy Darling, part of the squad who rescued the girl, said to the Olympus Circular, "This is the worst attack in the history of Megaton. What makes it worse is that the bastard holding her hostage said that the Brotherhood of Steel hired them for this. Part of some rant about how we were still the Enclave underneath the 'smiles and sunshine.'"

When questioned, the platoon's commanding officer, Lieutenant Fawkes, confirmed Private Darling's statement, further commenting, "Talon Company has been allowed to run free for far too long. Though we have fought before when we encountered them, neither of us actively sought confrontation between our organizations. This ends now. I have received word from the Commander that we will start burning out all Talon Company positions in the Capital Wasteland and my men will lead the charge."

Sergeant First Class Scott Dornan, the platoon sergeant of 5th Platoon, had this to say. "Those cowardly bastards, murdering civilians. Taking a damned sneak attack, too. Well, we got them good anyway. We just killed or captured a fifth of the entire organization, including one of their damned elite captains in power armor."

When the Commander finally arrived, the following statement was issued: "I am sorry that I was unable to fight in the defense of the city. I was visiting a friend in Vault 101 and Talon Company sealed the entrance before the battle. Megaton was my first home outside the vault. Those who gave their lives today in defense of the city will be avenged. Talon Company is going down. You have my word."
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This story was written with my overhaul mod in mind, hence the presence of a Talon merc with power armor. They're more common in the actual mod, worn by all Talon mercs from Broken Steel, but they're still relatively rare. Since I'm not given much information on how Talon Company is organized, I borrowed a lot of its structure from Caesar's Legion, with the least experienced mercs getting crappy armor and more experienced ones getting better armor and equipment, ending with the centurion-equivalent being issued power armor taken from dead Brotherhood troops.