Function: Special Operations Commander
Sub-group: Cyberjet

"The quiet ones are the ones you have to watch"

Profile:  Talon was originally built as a MicroheadMaster using the disabled MicroMaster, Whisper, as the template. Talon was the first Decepticon to locate and offer support to Megaton after Ratchet had deliberately crashed the Ark following the Unicron War, and he proved instrumental in helping create Megatron's Stellar Empire and guiding it through it s first few years. He loyally served the Decepticon cause-and Megatron personally-for many years. Talon's aspirations never extended to the rank of supreme command, but rather towards becoming ruler of Earth-to protect his homeworld from wanton despoiling by his fellow Decepticons.
    Matt Kirkby, Talon's Human partner, was a young, impressionable man who knew that the Decepticons would someday conquer his homeworld...and he knew that machines would not care about the well-being of the native population. So, after he hacked into a secured computer system and learned about the concept of binary bonding, he snuck into Autobot City and used its technology to undergo the process for himself-rebuilding a captured Decepticon to be his semi-willing partner. Matt was driven to these acts, not by a hunger for power, but from a desire to better protect his homeworld: he reasoned that a Human who proved his loyalty stood a good chance of becoming Governor over a conquered Earth...said Human could then exert control over the other Decepticons and prevent the needless slaughter of Humans and the complete destruction of their civilization.
     Although he held the rank of Security Forces Commander, Talon spent a lot of his time undertaking personal missions and assisting other Decepticons--often with Bludgeon, who took Talon as an apprentice and began to teach him Metallikato. Aside from personally overseeing Megatron's safety, Talon left the majority of the Security Forces' daily operations to his second-in-command, Frostwing; Frostwing never complained about the added responsibility and was more than content with new job. Talon did ferret out several plots and threats to Megatron during his missions, and Autobots and fellow Decepticons alike were subject to his scrutiny. His penchant for listening to gossip became legendary and everyone knew that if someone wanted to hear the latest rumours, then Talon was the best person to ask.
    Almost three decades after joining the Decepticons, while on a routine scouting mission, Talon was captured by the Quintessons. He was extensively re-engineered--his body altered and enhanced, and his organic and mechanical components merged into a single entity--to better function as a powerful warlord, to assist the Quintessons in their planned conquest and resubjugation of Cybertron and the TransFormers. The Quintessons believed that Talon's knowledge of current TransFormer technology, politics, and military deployment would prove invaluable to them when they exacted their vengeance on their former slaves.
     Despite the reprogramming, Talon's loyalty to Megatron remained and he eventually escaped from his would-be masters. Returning to the Empire, he resigned from his position as Chief of Security--fearing that he might be compromised and possibly be forced into unwillingly betraying his comrades--but after much contemplation and pressure from his friends, he remained the commander of Megatron's Personal Guard, knowing that Megatron is the mechanoid best suited to continue leading the Decepticons, and also fearing who might take power--Quintesson Slavelord or fellow Decepticon-following Megatron's demise.
    He still dreams of becoming Earth's governor, even though he is no longer a HeadMaster, and no longer capable of separating his Human self from his mechanical body.
    Talon is also gripped by fear and regret. He misses his ability to separate his component selves, though he still views Earth as his homeworld and wants to protect it. Knowing that the Quintessons rebuilt him, he fears what secret commands might have been hidden within his subconscious programming-secrets which might one day force him to betray his friends.

    Talon is supremely confident in his body and its innate abilities, fiercely loyal to his friends and comrades, and still dedicated to protecting Earth from the ravages of his allies. He has a strong sense of personal honour and will extend it even to Autobots; he will not fight innocents or those who cannot defend themselves. He has been known to stand up to his fellow Decepticons in battle to protect Humans. He never lies, but has been known to stretch the truth on occasion-either by not telling the whole truth or else keeping silent entirely. He remains a gossip monger, eagerly gathering and passing along fresh rumours. He is also often quite sarcastic, engaging in verbal sniping, a trait which does not endear him to many other Decepticons-namely Starscream (whom Talon has nicknamed "The Whiner")..

    Talon is very much a loner; during meetings and social gatherings, he is most likely to be found on the outside of the crowd, watching and observing, but seldom participating. He does possess a few very close friends, to whom he has revealed much of himself...threats to his friends can bring about a quick and deadly response.
    - Megatron and Talon are friends...as much as one can be with the Supreme Commander. Although their friendship is not as deep as that between Megatron and Soundwave, and despite his usual feelings about "worthless fleshlings", Megatron does have a certain soft spot for Talon...caring enough to launch a war against the Quintessons to avenge him and to limit the devastation the Decepticons inflict on the Earth during their attacks. Megatron usually hides his feelings under a gruff exterior, and Talon normally maintains a wary attitude in public.
    - Soundwave is one of his best friends. He first befriended Talon during the HeadMaster's first days among the Decepticons-to confirm Talon's loyalties-and then helped him deal emotionally with the violation he'd felt following the Quintessons' alterations of him. They both care for Megatron, which makes them strong allies of their leader and of each other. Talon has also long viewed the Casssetticons as adopted siblings and spends much of his time interacting with them; they can usually break through his emotional detachments enough to entice him into play.
    - Bludgeon is probably Talon's best friend, as least until Talon's violation. Bludgeon has taught Talon the arts of Metallikato since shortly after Talon joined the Decepticons. He finds his student's new body to be far superior in agility and skill to his former bodyshell, but Talon is no longer as close or as open to his teachings. He worries that his student pushes himself over imagined mistakes. Despite a growing split in their friendship, Bludgeon still continues to offer Talon advice and help--very much an older brother.
    - Talon and Kitty became friends quite by accident...Talon had observed Kitty's habit of keeping a close watch upon Megatron and chose to accost her one--in the interests of Security. After they'd finished fighting--Talon had lost--they became involved in a mission to safeguard Megatron from an assassin--without Megatron's knowledge that he was even in danger! Since then, these two outsiders have drawn closer together, though neither really trusts the other.
    - Talon views Quill as a younger sister. He keeps an eye on her, and views her relationship with Starscream as a potential danger. He has warned the Seeker Commander from pursuing his relationship, or at least to exert some care in its pursuit...and should Quill be harmed through some trick or plot, Starscream knows that the personal consequences will be dire.
    Talon has some loyalties towards the other Binary Bonded, but many of them no longer see Talon as one of them because he cannot separate his organic and mechanical selves. This lost friendship hurts Talon more than his shows.
    His friendship with the members of his Terrors battle group is mostly confined to the attitude of a proper commander. He cares for his troops-despite their sometimes irritating quirks-but doesn't allow them to know that.

    Talon maintains many of his Human quirks.
    - His quarters are usually decorated with organic plant-life-often roses, and vines-and have windows with some kind of view. He has a fair amount of furniture-used to it from his Human self-and favours a Medieval Earth decor.
    - He has a fondness for ingesting liquid energon from crystal or jewelled goblets. He dislikes the large energon cubes, but doesn't mind nibbling upon the bite-sized versions.
    - He likes to listen to soft-rock music from Earth-obtained from surveillance satellites-and watching sci-fi and fantasy movie soundtracks. He enjoys British Comedies and sci-fi/fantasy movies-also obtained from the satellites.
 

Abilities:  Talon stands just under ten metres tall-about chest-height to Megatron. He's quite intelligent-having two minds-and has been given extensive combat programming. His bodyshell is agile-natural skill enhanced by Metallikato raining-as well as being strong and well-armoured with titanium crystal-lattice alloy over a deuterium endoskeleton. His power-core has been enhanced with a plasma injector which allows him to double his strength or speed for brief periods of time. His inbuilt comlink system can monitor, scramble, or jam up to ten frequencies at once; the effective range is five hundred kilometres, but can be linked into satellites or other communication systems for extended range. As a robot he wields a blue-bladed laser sword which he stores in his right leg. He has a pulse laser stored inside his left arm which can fire bolts of varying intensity-from stun to lethal settings. He has short-range swarm missiles located inside both shoulders.
     As a space-worthy fighter, Talon can fly at speeds of Mach 2-and his plasma injector can boost him to Mach 4 for up to five minutes before burning out. He can manoeuver through either atmosphere or vacuum with equal skill. In this mode, his pulse laser can hit targets up to two kilometres away.
    Some Decepticons consider Talon's sense of humour and sarcastic wit to be lethal weapons.
 

Weaknesses:  Being newly constructed, Talon's bodyshell has minor flaws and circuit glitches which manifest themselves from time-to-time; as Talon is now of Quintesson manufacture, Decepticon MedTechs are not always familiar with all aspects of his technology. His plasma injector can overload his circuits if used for more than the briefest periods-and it is extremely energy draining. Talon's greatest weakness is internal: having once been a HeadMaster, he has difficulty adapting to being a single being-neither Matt nor Whisper. Plus a mention of Quintessons can cause him to be gripped by rage or fear, either emotion can virtually cripple him. His dreams of protecting Earth have also cost him personally: he serves Megatron to make himself appear the best suited choice to rule over his homeworld and to protect it, while most Humans view him as the worst traitor in history.

Strength: 7               Speed: 10
Endurance: 8            Rank: 8
Courage: 8               Skill: 8
Intelligence: 8          Firepower: 5
  

Profile & character by Matt "Talon" Kirkby (artwork by Jay Bernal).
 
 

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