Talon Multi-role Air Superiority Fighter

The fighter is one of the first of a set of fighters to come out of the Mercurian faction’s forge worlds to compete with the Lightning and Thunderbolt fighters to be the premier aircraft of the Imperium

From the Forges of Mercury: Declassified Data Archives for the Talon Multi-role Air Superiority Fighter.
The Imperium of Man has always been the dominant power of the galaxy. It is thanks to the Emperor’s vision and his inexhaustible military forces that the Imperium was able to sweep aside Xenos and other enemies that humanity is a star ascendant comparable to the Old Ones. But the Heresy happened resulting in a resurgence of Chaos, Xeno armies, and the like. This time they are, and I hate to admit this, smarter and stronger and more driven to see all of humanity dead.

But humanity has always been adaptable with every struggle making them stronger as a whole and as such will take these obstacles as a challenge to overcome. The Mercurian faction of the Adeptus Mechanicus is no exception.

The Mercurian faction has always been at odds with Martian Adeptus Mechanicus and indeed the rivalry only intensified with the latter finding the STC design of the Lightning during the Saint-Saen Crusade. Still it was the disturbing reports of high fighter casualties and daemon-possessed engines that pushed the Mercurians for an initiative of a new series of fighter craft (1).

The Talon Multi-role Air Superiority Fighter is one of the first of a set of fighters to come out of the Mercurian faction’s forge worlds to compete with the Lightning and Thunderbolt fighters to be the premier aircraft of the Imperium. It could take a number of roles such as: fighter, bomber, interceptor, escort, long range, strike. This plane incorporates several technologies both old and new that give it an edge to gain air dominance over its myriad of enemies. It is equipped with enhanced repeating las-burners as its primary offensive weapon, a full load out of 15-20 guided burst missiles, light bombs, a nuclear powered engine for longer flights and faster speeds, and advanced cogitator and auspex systems (2). It is all housed in a compound delta wing configuration giving the plane maneuverability needed for dogfights.



The Talon design team took centuries of heavy research and development to produce the fighter it is today. It went painstaking lengths in its construction, so much so that it had to invent a few technologies. For instance the nuclear engine is not new but had went through redesign and enhancements so that it would create speeds in excess of 2500 kph, 100 kph faster than that of the Lightning. The shape of the aircraft came from old STC and surviving data archives from the Dark Age of Technology that describes the compound delta design for extreme maneuverability. The aircraft itself also comes equipped with a new stabilizer system that adds to the maneuverability and combined with a VTOL system gives it a stable hover system that let it “park” in the air. For its weapon load out the design team created a so-called compartmentalization system that let the aircraft store weapons inside the frame so much so that it would not affect the speed and maneuverability. There is a limit though as storing more weapons would affect the mass of the overall craft. Combined with a modular design the aircraft can configure multiple weapons for designated roles it is assigned to. Along with superconductive armor for dispersal of enemy fire, energy shields, and stealth technology the aircraft remains a formidable weapon in the Imperium’s arsenal (3). The design team also had to make sure that the aircraft is modular, easily maintained, cost effective in production, and easy to use. It took a better part of the development time to achieve this.

The Talon was unveiled to military personnel that were promised new weapons to give an edge on air dominance. Needless to say they were impressed once it proved itself in several skirmishes with the Tau and could be used readily in crusades. The aircraft also became another field in the Mars-Mercurian rivalry visible among Navy pilots wanting to see which plane is superior.