Lester McCarthy (Talon)

 Membership: Freelance

Race: Human

Height: 5’9

Weight: 175

Apparent Age: 30

Archetype: Gunslinger Adept: Circle Unknown

Preferred Weapon: DAOD Assault Pistol

Runner Song:

Bio: The infamous Talon has returned to the shadows to spill gallons of blood and bath in the hordes of credits he will be earning all the while the victims families mourn, he reigned supreme during the 2050’s into the 2060’s when he would simply fall off the radar; well a man like Talon doesn’t simply just go away. Talon entered the streets as a very young man in the early part of 2048 and would learn through the school of hard knocks and spend quite a few nights camped out within the ruins of Old Seattle and fighting with the rats for his daily intake of food. Talon was a product of the environment that he would eventually enter and the cycle of violence would continue as Talon would cause many youngsters to become orphans like he is. Talon was originally born within the suburban district of Maple to working class parents who would slave away at their meaningless jobs to put a roof over Talon and his three sisters heads, they would make sure the kids where clothed and feed even if it meant they would go without. So when his parents and sisters would meet a violent end on a cold winters evening while they where attending a recital at the girls dance studio, Talon would be left with nothing in a blink of an eye. His family would fall victim to the dangers of Seattle’s urban jungle and this tragedy would create one of the most dangerous gunfighters to ever live.

Talon was not with his family when they where gunned down and when the police would come knocking early the next morning, he would learn of his parents demise and with know known kin they would attempt to bring Talon into custody so he can be handed off to child services. This was something that Talon didn’t want as he knew it was safer to live within the sprawl then gamble with the cities corrupt foster system. So when the police attempted to lure young Talon out of the house he would slip away from their watchful eye and vanish into the cold dark night; only to return to gather items of value to sell for food, clothing and weapons to stay one step ahead of those that wished to harm the young Talon. During his first few weeks on the streets the young Talon would learn that the sprawl was a very dangerous place and it was a kill or be killed environment with reputation counting for everything as he would witness many troubled lives being snuffed out for a blanket, a ration bar or even a bottle of water; he would learn that only the strong would survive and you had to stand up for yourself cause no one else will. This would begin his decent into the morality abyss and soon Talon was not taking any crap from anyone and would begin engaging other drifters for their supplies over actually seeking out his own.

Now you would think that a young child would be at a disadvantage to survive the mean streets of Seattle especially during the bitterly cold winter of 2047; this would normally be the case but Talon had a advantage that others didn’t, he was a physical adept and his magical spark had granted him some very dangerous abilities including the rare and lost art of adaption where the environmental conditions meant nothing to him and he was gifted with a preternatural sixth sense that would act as a rare form of danger sense. This would allow Talon to stay one step ahead of his attackers and even be able to predict their movements in advance, this early magical training would come form his need for survival and the magic that flowed through his body was second nature. We would come to learn that Talon is what would be called a magical progeny and it’s a shame it would be wasted on a dirt bag like him. This street kid would quickly earn a reputation of being the baddest ass on D Street and not one of the drifters and poor residents would dare to cross paths with Talon, as he wouldn’t think twice about putting a bullet in someone for their shoes or even a few credits.

It was this reputation that would land Talon his first shadow operation within the fall of 2048 and from there history was made, Talon would go from street rat to big time in the course of a single operation. He might not have made it big, but for a kid from D street this was the dream as he could afford to move into a motel, eat actual synthetic food and purchase actual street gear besides what he could steal and scrounge. He was also able to afford the fee’s of trainers and fully hone his magical prowess. Talon would become the net big thing and the runner that all Johnson’s wanted do to his very low morale structure, his lake of concern when it came to murder and his natural talent of obfuscation. This would suddenly mean that Talon was looking at a steady stream of work, and with nothing to live for this kid would go to the extremes taking jobs that where far above his skill and abilty, though the universe seemed to be looking out for the young Talon and he would not only survive but return from each job successful. The one job that seemed to follow Talon was murder for hire and he would take any job that came before him and he didn’t care who the target was or what the reason was, he would just simply pull the trigger and carry on with his day, the only thing Talon cared about was the money.

Now Talon having been living on the streets knew about the founders and the rise of the net generation and those killers where his idols, and the warriors he looked up to. Though he didn’t consider himself to be one of them as he was just a gun for hire and quite frankly enjoyed killing for a living, though it would be a steamy summer evening in 2053 when Talon was hanging out down at Dante’s Inferno when he would be approached by non other than living legend Quickdraw and offered a place within the newly forming Mariners. Talon would gladly accept the invitation to join with other kindred spirits and finally he could be considered a runner, and for a kid from the streets this was a great honour; for the first time he would have back up and others to share the experience with.

Talon would become one of the earliest members of this soon to be legendary team, though it would be what Talon would do while he was moonlighting that would cause his reputation to skyrocket and all the lives he stole during the war of the shadows that would send it crashing down back to earth. Talon would remain with his brothers and sisters of the Mariners throughout their run and when the team would have it’s break and split into to separate teams he would go his separate ways and eventually slip back into the shadows where he crawled out of. Though as the Mariners would begin to become a household name and the runners within being idolised and gaining public attention even attracting fans that would flock to them as they tried to remain inconspicuous. Talon would be able to avoid the direct spotlight, though his popularity within the shadows itself was off the charts, he didn’t care about fans and what people thought of him; all Talon cared about was the work and spilling blood. This runner though would find himself directly within the spotlight overnight after he completed the legendary Four Houses job or simply the Full House, Talon along with a few other Mariners and some independent runners would become overnight sensations as well the most wanted people in Seattle by the police department do to this operation.

Talon along with Arrow, Utah, Avenger,  Mad Dog, Desperado, Bonfire,Wickerman, Edge, Witcher, Proxy, Telsa and Rogue would assault the Upper Seddle district of Seattle and target four of the manor homes within the Crown sector that was home to four of Seattle’s most powerful families. This operation would expose a level of corruption and the eventual axis of evil that would exist truly within Seattle’s elite. This operation would make these runners famous and would eventually cause many of them to have to slip back within the shadows and follow the ways of the founding fathers. The Four Houses job would send shivers through the Emerald Cities power structure and show them just how venerable they are to being removed from power, for this job would also allow the Krieghoffs to seize complete control of the city as they played their final card and established themselves as the one true power family.

This operation would also expose the direct corruption within the city and show the people and media just how deep the rabbit hole goes and that the cities elite where planning on unleashing an array of components to further divide and enslave the people of Seattle. So in actuality we can thank the Krieghoffs and their power play for officially saving Seattle back in 2056; though many innocent lives would be lost during this engagement and the case has since gone cold and with the Krieghoffs currently in full command of the city it will surly be buried, The Four Houses operation would entail a full and simultaneously targeted assault on the manor homes of these four families in the dead of the night; the runners branch off into four teams of three with the matrix back up of Tesla to strike these homes and leave no stone untouched and no resident left alive. They would also have to do this operation in complete stealth and not allow any witness to survive nor an alarm to sound; seeing that these families where well connected and the police response time in the Crown sector was mere seconds. They would also have to slide past veteran mercenaries and the best electronic security money could buy, not only did these runners succeed they where triumphant and would in a single night remove the power brokers, gather the evidence and remove the taint of corruption from within the halls of Seattle’s elite.

According to police records and surveillance reports of the nights events the runners where in the homes and out within minutes and no one ever heard a sound, they would slip through the halls of these homes murdering servants, children, guests and family alike and any security officer unlucky enough to cross their path would be given a permanent retirement. This operation would shack Seattle to it’s core and cause those within the legal community to finally publicly address the issue of the runners; though the media would turn these hired killers into icons overnight with nightly coverage of the chaos they caused within the capital building, mayors office, DA’s office and police department. Though not everyone was thrilled with the runners and their operation, while it might have exposed corruption and actually did some good, the chaos they left in their wake would devastate the Upper Seddle region and cause many innocent citizens to be uprooted from their homes for many months. The runners as a final part of defiance to the cities elite would set the homes ablaze and ignite the midnight sky with the fires of hell, though before the fire department would be able to arrive on the scene the fires would burn out of control as they jumped from roof to roof and tree to tree causing a bad situation to turn dire as a large portion of the Crown region would be engulfed into the blaze and threaten the remainder of Upper Seddle for many hours as the multiple fire departments battled the five alarm blaze for hours just trying to contain it; they would give up trying to extinguish the blaze and just allow the homes to burn, as their primary objective would be to prevent the fires of Bonfire from spreading.

These fires and the chaos that would ensue after would cause the residents of Upper Seddle to band together out of anger as they were displaced either by the fires or the evacuations that happened afterwords. This operation would cause millions in property damage, displace hundreds of innocent residents that watched their homes burn to the ground also the lives of the innocent residents that would burn alive trapped inside the blaze. The runners would as well bring to end four family lines as they butchered women and child alike during the raids on the homes. This operation would show just how degraded and desensitised the people of Seattle had become as they would begin to hail these runners as hero’s and the protectors of the people. The city would begin it’s division as those with a moral compass and a sense of compassion would mourn the deaths and those that cheered them on, for many years to come the Four Houses Job would be spoken about and debated for it’s possible merits. Though church leaders would fear the end times as the people where openly praising these killers and showing no remorse for any of the lives lost or affected by this operation. The police could no longer ignore the runners and with there corrupt leaders now dead they could move freely to restore order within Seattle (Though this would not happen till 2073 when Lone Star would be forced out by SPD).

Though as the city was being torn asunder by the Four Houses Job it was still recovering from the many operations of the founders, and more chaos was still to erupt within the troubled city. Runners had become a household name, the media reporting on their activities nightly and shadow beat breaking all broadcast records and the big action movies now dropping their money making stars for darker runner themed movies that showcased their special talents and as well underplayed the dangers of working within the shadows. This paired up with the events of Quickdraw’s mishap that would bring the media into their world, the stage was set for a dangerous play and so would begin the arrival of the dreamers and the war of the shadows with the murder of Exodus being the tipping point.

It would be the shadow war that would cause Talon to go from household name for being a hero to being a villain in a blink of an eye, this runner would be one of the most proactive hunters of the dreamers since only Fraggle new the streets as well as Talon and even saying that is questionable. Talon new where these kids hung out and he was young enough to pass for them until he got close enough to expose his face. Talon would just walk into these locations gun in hand and open fire killing anyone that was in his path, dreamer and innocent alike; he would even engage the police if they attempted to stop him and so Talon would become known as a cop killer. This would slam his reputation as the people cold stand behind a man that fought corruption but not one that murders innocents and police alike, the dreamers where also considered innocent citizens and not portrayed as the villains they actually were. This would send the city further into division as the media reported on both aspects of the dreamers and the shadow war would make for great television and the ratings of Shadow Beat and other similar shows would grow in popularity as the citizens sat safe in their living rooms watching the blood flow live on television.

Talon wouldn’t stop with just the dreamers and he would target anyone that stood in his path and anyone that even threatened his livelihood; he would claim that he was getting justice for Exodus when in reality he was on a warpath and the people where his enemy. Talon would partner up with Mad Dog and Witcher of the Mariners during these days and go dreamer hunting as they called it, if they found a group of dreamers they would make short work of them and send bits and pieces back home to Mamma and Papa. With the madmen unleashed into the streets it wouldn’t be long before these runners would be portrayed as the murderers they actually are, though with even the police department looking for these hunters it wouldn’t slow down the killing and eventually even the police would give up the chase causing the public to cry out wondering why the killers of the innocent where being allowed to remain free while other would be hunted to the ends of the earth. We now know that both the Krieghoffs and Robert Hill where stacking the deck in the Mariners favour, also add McNair and Branch and you would have a legal dream team keeping the Mariners free from the police interference. Though something would cause Talon to slip back into the shadows and vanish from the minds eye, he would leave the city with a serious black eye and countless lives stolen in his wake though his departure would not be forever as we have recently learned Talon has returned to the game. This hunter has returned to the shadows and returned to his brothers within the Mariners once again, so anything is possible though with Talon it is certain that tears will flow again at the funerals of his victims; the dreamers are once again on the street and they will once again be tagged and bagged by none other than Talon as he picks directly up where he left off over a decade ago.

This street killer is not a samurai or mercenary, he is just a killer with zero remorse so be very careful when dealing with Talon this adept does not discriminate and all are created equal in front of his guns. He is one of the rare gunslinger adepts and has been reported to be on the same level as Billy the Kid if not better some call Talon the Gunslinger of the Next Generation; though with what I have scene I wouldn’t argue the claim. He is a well a master gunsmith and has created his own special brand of armour piercing ammunition that expands into a four pronged devils crown as it twists and tears it’s way through flesh and bone. This adept is serious business and has killed thousands during his day and thats what can be confirmed, he is a true menace as he actually goes out of his way to gun down security and innocent corporate employees; while other runners attempt to avoid confrontation he seeks it out to test his skill and stay on his toes. Talon even once engaged the famed agent Johnathan White, though reports are foggy if this wasn’t the governments vain attempt to capture Talon or get one of their own agents killed in the line of duty. Talon has no remorse, he actually enjoys the art of killing and it doesn’t matter if they die instantly or it’s a prolonged painful death for Talon it’s all about the end game.

This man is a true master of the hunt and has mastered quite a few adept abilities some of witch are his own creation so be very cautious as his powers are mostly unknown and he has never been registered under the Treaty of Denver; he has been in this game since he was 6 years old and the streets are his home, this killer has unknown levels of cybernetics and bio-organic implants that give a further edge in the game. He packs twin heavily modified DAOD Assault pistols and one modified Ronin Hand Cannon under his coat so unless you want a free sucking chest wound it’s best to stay clear of Talon. Also just because he is a master gunfighter doesn’t mean that he is a slack with other weapons, this man has been trained by everyone from Quickdraw, Glacier, Edge, Revenant, Shadow and even Stamps have had a hand in training this killer. Also their are reports that Talon is related to the Listener though I find that unlikely seeing that if the Listener was his relative why would he allow the young family member to remain on the streets and grow up to become the monster he has become. So final word about Talon is that this man does not have a specific district he patrols, and he is once again on the hunt for the dreamers so if you have any intentions on travelling to Seattle please keep your children and teenagers especially your teenage and collage age kids close by and don’t allow them to wonder off on their own. For they might not be a dreamer, but to Talon all that means is target practice; so unless you want to visit one of the cities fine morgues to identify and claim your offspring I would either change the travel plans or keep a close eye on them.

 

Page Written By Sandra Helmsworth <Seattle Tymes>