Talion A.D.

Talion A.D. is a side quest in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Overview
To start this side mission the player will need to go to the LIMB clinic in the Jiu Shichang District (if approaching from the subway in the Youzhao district) or the northernmost section of the Kuaigan district (if already in said district). This quest is only available during the second visit to Hengsha Island, after the scripted sequence showing a severe biochip glitch (in the case of a civilian, a nearly fatal glitch).

Speak to Dr. Wing, who will be standing with a clipboard to the left of the LIMB desk and terminal. He will ask you to find an ex-Belltower operative, Michael Zelazny.

Locate the butcher shop where Zelazny is hiding
In the Youzhao district.

Enter the back room of the butcher shop
Self-explanatory

Find information on Zelazny's current whereabouts
The body at the bottom of the stairs has a pocket secretary that must be collected.

Read the dead agent's pocket secretary
After reading the pocket secretary, the player will need to travel back to the Jiu Shichang District (Northern Kuaigan District) and find an entrance to the sewers. The sewage entrance is in the sewage strip in front of the Alice Garden Pods where you fought the goons during the side quest Corporate Warfare.



Deal with Zelazny and his team
Once inside the sewers turn left then left again. Zelazny and his men will be standing nearby. The player can follow a series of inquiries and then either fight them, or side with Zelazny, thereby letting him go to finish his mission (his mission is to kill the "corrupt officials" who used experimental augmentations to control his team and used them as an assassination squad). Zelazny cannot be reasoned with and will attack the player if the "reason" option is used three times during the conversation; in addition, like Faridah Malik he is not affected by the CASIE Augmentation and will point this out if the player tries to use it. The only options are to fight him or let him go. If you fight him, it makes no difference if you talk to him first and the quest will be completed either way. Zelazny and his men can be knocked out; the quest doesn't make a distinction between lethal and non-lethal methods.

One benefit of letting Zelazny go is that, after you exit the sewer, he contacts you to say that he has called some Belltower operatives and they will leave their patrols in the area, making it easier to move around Hengsha.

Return to Dr. Wing
Once Zelazny and his men have been dealt with, return to Dr. Wing at the LIMB Clinic. Depending on the choice of actions with Zelazny, you may need to lie to Dr. Wing or convince him of the morality of his actions in order to receive a Praxis kit as a reward. Dr. Wing's dialogue will not change if the player knocked Zelazny out instead of killing him.

Suggested tactics

 * Fighting Zelazny after the conversation is complicated by the fact that the player starts right next to four heavily armed, augmented soldiers, all with automatic weapons; three have Combat rifles, while Zelazny carries a Heavy rifle. The Typhoon augmentation can be useful here, or, if the player has EMP resistance, throwing an EMP grenade straight at Zelazny can buy enough time to break for cover, since his heavy rifle takes a moment to spin up before it fires.
 * If the player has the rebreather augment a gas grenade at the feet will knock out all four and satisfy the mission parameters. You can also throw a gas grenade at them from a distance before talking to Zelazny, which also completes the objective and doesn't require a rebreather. If one is more violently inclined, a single frag grenade can also take out the whole troop instantly.
 * After climbing down into the sewer, you will find a doorway immediately on the left and a ladder leading up to a balcony that over-looks Zelazny and his group. You can attack the group from above without hiding or fear of being attacked. They will not respond. Simply dropping a gas or frag grenade will work, using a rocket launcher, sniper rifle for a headshot on Zelazny, etc. Almost anything will work, they cannot get to you, the railing acts as a shield and survivors are easily picked off.
 * Another excellent and simple tactic is to kill Zelazny with a quick headshot from behind a wall or the balcony over-looking him and his men, no need to talk to him first. A headshot is easily done with a sniper rifle and does not even require cloak. After Zelazny is dead, kill the rest of his men.
 * For another pacifist approach if the player has the Icarus Landing System augmentation it is possible to stun Zelazny and his team by jumping from the balcony. Afterwards, if they are not knocked out already, use the Stun gun while they are recovering.
 * Finally, if the player has the Quicksilver Reflex Booster and has at least two full energy cells, they can eliminate the group with two well-executed double take downs. Otherwise it is a matter of turning and running for the tunnel, then taking cover and attacking with the strongest weapon available.
 * To take out Zelazny and all of his men in one fell swoop without speaking to him first, walk up to them to the point just before the cutscene triggers, then deploy a fully-upgraded Typhoon assault. They will all be killed instantly.
 * If the player happens to have a Laser Rifle, they can quickly dispatch all foes within a few bursts.

Behind the scenes

 * The word "żelazny" means "made of iron" in Polish, a fitting name for a character with such extensive mechanical augmentations.
 * Also, in keeping with the multitude of names of science fiction authors in email addresses and so forth, Zelazny may be a reference to Roger Zelazny, author of many science-fiction novels including Creatures of Light and Darkness (one cover shows the main character, Wakim, inspecting his recently acquired augmentations. ) This theory is further supported by the password RZELAZNY being used on an ATM in Paris, in the original Deus Ex game.
 * Talion is an old principle of law holding that a criminal should suffer the same things they have done; It is essentially an eye-for-an-eye law. This ties in with Zelazny's background story and future intentions.