SLY 5: LINE OF THIEVES (3)
CINEMATIC CUTSCENE (SLY POV)
We travelled back in time, to the Scottish Highlands, during the time my strongest of ancestors was active…Slaigh McCooper. He was said to be the physically most powerful of the Coopers. He could break any locked door with one single blow. And despite all his girth, was still able to pull off every move my ancestors before him had managed to pull off. But the changes in the Thievius Raccoonus didn't lie…even someone as strong as him could get in trouble, and we're about to fix it.
SLY COOPER AND THE GANG IN: HIGHLAND HEIST
MISSION: COOPER THE BRAVE
The Scottish Highlands…five hundred years ago. A Fortress, surrounded by a village, where Bears in quilts, having a supply of knives to throw and wielding torches, frog guards with shields and goats with swords patrolled the rooftops and streets…before they could act, they needed to do some recon.
Bentley: You know the drill Sly, in order for me to come up with a good plan, I need some recon photos first.
Sly: We could make a lovely picture book with all the pictures I'm taking…ok, enough with the picture jokes, what do I need to get shots off?
Bentley: I need some pictures of the surroundings first. There are some interesting spots of which I suspect valuable info and secrets are hidden.
Sly was on the move. The most notable part of the landscape was a lake. Sly took a picture of that first.
Bentley: My readings show something big is inside that lake…probably a weapon or device of value…we need to look at that later.
Sly then moved a little closer towards a certain tower and took a shot of that as well.
Bentley: judging from my history database and the build of that tower, it's a prison tower…Not sure if Slaigh is in there, we'll have to investigate later. Now, we better get some pictures inside the fortress itself. You should be able to climb over the walls and sneak in.
Sly made his way towards the fortress, used some rubble in the water to cross the moat and then started climbing around wires and hooks all around the fortress wall to climb over. He then entered the fortress. He spotted security measures that didn't belong in the timeline, like spotlights and stuff. He took some pictures of it.
Bentley: Those certainly don't belong here. I bet Penelope and Kaluk might be behind this.
It was then that they found some doors opening. From it came a Ram in a quilt, sporting armor that had some digital outlines on it, futuristic tech for sure. Behind him floated a huge iron box (hover tech on the bottom) with a small window with bars, probably a prisoner. Behind him three bear guards followed him.
Bentley: Sly, a DNA scan shows DNA similar to yours in that cage, it must be Slaigh. If you want to free him, you first need to swipe the keys of the three guards following the big boss and then take them out one by one. Then you can open the cage.
Sly: They can consider themselves robbed.
Sly managed to sneak up on each guard, snag a key, lure them away from the rest of the group, take it out, and repeat so for the other two bears. Then he snuck closer to Slaigh's cage. He opened the lock and let the muscular Scottish raccoon out, while the ram continued marching on with the empty cage, obvious to the release of the Cooper.
Slaigh: That darn McGuffin, if I had all my strength I would have let him see me cane up close…Say, thanks for releasing me, little fella, what's yer name?
Sly: I'm Sly…you could say I'm distantly related to you.
Slaigh: So yer a Cooper? Look a bit scrawny to me…(he then takes Sly by surprise when Slaigh tried to punch him, only for Sly to jump over it and spire jump onto one of his massive knuckles) Whoa, yer really a Cooper, ye know one of our secret techniques…I imagined someone with more flesh on his bones, but since ye saved me, I shall not complain.
Sly: Now, I suggest that we meet up with my gang…there are definitely some problems going on and we want to help fix it…
Slaigh: You got food…this massive body needs a lot of fuel.
Sly: Plenty.
MISSION COMPLETE
CINEMATIC CUTSCENE (SLY POV)
We got Slaigh to the hideout…and let's just say we'll be doing twice the grocery shopping during our stay, as his appetite rivaled Murray's. In fact he seemed to get along with Murray rather nicely. But there were more dire matters at hand. It appears another bad guy from the local time period has been supplied with futuristic tech.
Slaigh told us about McGuffin, the ram I saw. His clan was the arch-rival of the Cooper Clan, but his actions to upstage Slaigh were as successful as the Paradox family…not much. He bested Slaigh using his new technology during some games, and captured him, his clan and swiped his cane. It appears we got to get back to stealing back canes again, and take down McGuffin and his suppliers.
CHALKTALK
OK, gang. We know that McGuffin is being supplied with future tech, and he still has Slaigh's cane and his top archer locked away somewhere. First we should be stealing Slaigh's cane back, we need Slaigh's special moves to bust into the Prison Tower, and then bust out the archer. If what Slaigh told me is true, we could use a sharpshooter with less destructive attributes. Sly, you tail some guards and see if they can lead you to the cane, if there is hacking involved, I can back you up. Once we can get into the tower, we need all the raw power we have, so Murray shall back up Slaigh. With that said, let's get started.
CANE THEFT
Bentley: Sly, you see that bear? I put a holo marker on him, so you can follow him. He's the head of security so if you tail him, he'll eventually lead you to Slaigh's cane.
Sly: You know the fun things about tailing guards who think they're alone, they reveal funny and embarrassing things they like to do when no one's around, like pulling out some dolls or boasting how awesome they are…
Bentley: SLY!
Sly: I'm going, I'm going!
Sly followed the guard all the way to a hidden entrance near some stone circle. He had pulled a secret switch to make a staircase appear, so he could go underground. Sly smiled as he also pulled the switch and followed.
Inside, he saw some guards patrol, alongside some security systems. He snuck by some spotlights, climbed some poles and ropes while avoiding lasers and spire jumped from point to point until he reached the vault containing the cane. He planted a device so Bentley could do his stuff.
COMMENCING HACK
Bentley's alter ego was ready once more. It kept on collecting the ion bits to upgrade the weapons and avoid or destroy the nano-enemies. He at times came across laser traps he had to avoid, and sometimes he got trapped in a single room where he had to survive multiple waves of enemies. But then he reached the end and found the CPU…shaped like a huge emblem shield of the McGiffin clan. After pelting it with his upgraded weaponry, it was down and the hack was complete.
Once the hack was complete, Sly opened the vault and tried to pull out the huge cane…only it was too big to carry.
Sly: Murray, could really use your help here!
Murray: Fear not, the Murray is on his way!
Murray had to go on the ground and take out the guards with his fists before he could reach Sly. He then grabbed the huge cane, while Sly walked ahead to place cushions to safely place the cane on in case Murray needed to crack some skulls or jump over gaps, but eventually they made out with the cane.
MISSION COMPLETE
MISSION: FREE ROBIN
Bentley: Ok Slaigh, now we got your cane back, we can save that archer teammate of yours. If Robin is really as skilled as you say, it would make our jobs in the future far easier.
Robin: Ye better believe it, turtle lad. So…we're goin' to best in that tower, just like that?
Bentley: Sometimes we don't need to rely on complex plans, but we need brute force as well. And your special Atlas smash is the only thing that can break through special parts of those reinforced walls…
Slaigh: Then I'll just get to it. I'll just have to press L1 to smash those doors open.
Slaigh showed off his technique, as he moved towards the wall and knocked it loose with one fell swoop of his mighty cane. He then moved down further, occasionally stealth strike down a few guards and stay clear of security as he busted through walls.
Bentley: Your Atlas smash can also smash through certain pieces of floor.
Slaigh: I know…just jump and L1 and I'm breaking it up.
Slaigh then performed a jumping Atlas Smash and broke through some floorboards to go down to a deeper part of the dungeon, smashing more guards and breaking walls along the way. He then came across a large gate.
Slaigh: Say, turtle lad, can ye send in Murray? This door has two levers and they need to be pulled at the same time to open it.
Bentley: He's on his way.
Murray caught up quickly and the two buffs put themselves on the levers. Rapidly tapping square, triangle, circle and x and both levers were pulled.
The door pulled up and a young female cat in a green archer's suit and red curly hair came out.
Robin: Slaigh
Slaigh: Of course, lassie! I couldn't let my sister rot in the dungeons at the hand of sheephead McGuffin! Of course, I had some help from a relative and his friends, here's one of them, meet Murray. His brawn helped us get here.
Murray: Er…H-h-hi!
Robin: You must have great strength to be able to pull that lever. Thanks, Murray.
MISSION COMPLETE
CINEMATIC CUTSCENE (MURRAY)
Ok, this is the first time I get to talk in these transitions, I'm normally not good with words unless they're battle cries. But we saved Robin now…and she's an awesome chick. She's the only one who likes my pepperoni and chocolate chip burrito's. And I know that I don't have the physique to impress the ladies in my time, but Robin seemed to think having some meat on your bones looks good.
For only the second time in my life, I didn't feel hungry…is this what having a crush is like? I mean I saw Carmelita and Sly flirt and when Penelope was still on our team, she and Bentley have good time together. I am one to normally talk with my fists, so I have no idea how to handle matters of the mind, or express feelings…
She's not the powerhouse I or Slaigh are, but she did a really cool thing where she pinned a fly to wall with her arrow without killing it so she's really good! And Bentley believes she'll be a nice addition to the team when doing missions. Well, I hope to see her do more cool stuff.
CHALKTALK
Ok, we know McGuffin is upping security since Robin and Slaigh's escape…if we want to take him down, we need to disable all of his major security networks. Now, for one of those we need a special emblem shield. Robin's archery should be useful in retrieving it. And Murray, your van, equipped with a nice battering ram should be able to take out some security towers. And there is something hiding in that lake, but whatever it is, we need to take it out. Sly, you check it out, and in case something goes wrong, Carmelita has your back on this. Next, I have to do another hack, but to get me to the main terminal, Slaigh and Robin need to cover me on this one. Once McGuffin's security is out of the way, we'll need to find a way to get Slaigh's castle back.
MISSION: SHIELDED
Bentley: Okay Robin…for some future heists we're going to need to steal a shield. One of McGuffin's priced artifacts, which he keeps at his personal castle. But there is no way to get to the tower with the shield…unless you make a pathway for us. You have special rope arrows right?
Robin: Of course I have. I just hold L1 to target and let go to fire the special arrow. Once it hit a surface it can embed itself into, there will be plenty of ropes for us to walk on!
Bentley: That's good, now if you'd kindly make a way for Sly in there, we can continue.
Robin had to aim at a bull's-eye, the rope arrow selected in the gadget grid, so that once she fired and hit the target, Sly had a rope to walk over. Robin had to do this several times but eventually Sly could make his way towards the Tower.
Sly went inside and saw the floor was full of lasers so he had to climb on the furniture and the rafters to get to the shield. But eventually he got it and he got near the shield. Something odd happened when he got the shield though, once it was removed the floor lasers disappeared and instead vertical lasers appeared and the windows locked down..
Bentley: With that shield the Highlander costume is complete. Select it on your gadget grid and try it out. You'll need it to pass these lasers (Sly then changed into the outfit) Okay, hold L1 to hold out the shield forward. You can use it to deflect that laser and use it to slice through the bars blocking the window.
Sly did as told and reflected the lasers, cutting himself an escape route before getting out. As he left, McGuffin had come in.
McGuffin: Argh! My precious family emblem shield…those Coopers have messed with the McGuffins for the last time, next time I'll see them, I'll break every bone in their body and put their heads above my fireplace as a trophy!
MISSION COMPLETE
MISSION: VAN-DALISM
Bentley: Robin, I need you again on this one. This time we need your razor arrows, they can cut through the ropes holding up the bridge. Murray needs to get in with his van and wreck stuff.
Robin: No need to ask twice. I'd love to see how that bizarre yet awe-inspiring vehicle without horses can pull down those towers…
Robin switched arrows in the gadget grid, and now fired arrows that cut some arrows of the bridge, so now Murray could drive in.
Murray revved up his van and rushed inside. Thanks to the battering ram system, holding Square, he could run into the towers and two rams from each would take them out. There were lasers that shot at him, but he had to make sharp turns to avoid, and also avoided running over mines they dropped from the tower. Soon Murray had all towers down.
Murray: Timber!
Robin: Whoa! Did you see the destructions of those towers? So wonderful.
Murray: She likes destruction too…she's so wonderful.
Bentley: Hey Romeo, your com link is still open.
Murray: Oh!
MISSION COMPLETE
MISSION: THE MONSTER OF MCGUFFIN LAKE
Bentley: You know the weapon I am certain is hidden in the lake? It moved its location to a cave which is connected to some underwater caves. I need you to check it out and if you can, disable it.
Sly: Destruction is more Murray's job, but I'll roll with it. Hey, the McGuffin lake monster…would that make a good title for a B-Movie?
Bentley: You have to make jokes about everything, do you?
Sly: What can I say, it's part of my charm.
Sly got in the cave. He saw some sort of underground docking bay in it. There were no guards, but there was some climbing involved and some traps like fire and lasers, but for an experienced climber like Sly it was nothing; He got down fast.
Sly: Now, where would that weapon be?
It was then that a huge mechanical Loch Ness-like monster came from the water and roared loudly.
Sly: Whoa, this really turns into a B- Movie…
'Nessie' began with shooting electric charges from his mouth, which Sly dodged. After it fired a charge that send out shockwaves over which Sly had to jump. The monster charged up a laser in his mouth, but Sly switched to Highlander costume and deflected the laser back at the monster, knocking him down, his head in reach of Sly, who whacked him with his cane to damage him. Once the Nessie awoke it created lasers on the floor, Sly having to dodge in between gaps of overlapping lasers to stay safe. Nessie repeated this battle style several times, and after three deflected lasers and some whacking, it's head was broken…but it was not out. It's headless body started to transform into a more humanoid form.
Sly: Penelope sure upped the design for moat monsters this time around.
The transformed Nessie backhanded Sly, knocking the shield and cane of him. Sly wanted to make a run for it but the huge mecha blocked his path with his hand.
Carmelita: No worries Ringtail, I'll turn that thing to scrap…
Sly: Glad to know you have my back gorgeous.
Carmelita: Don't congratulate me yet, I haven't begun to fight…
Sly: My money is on you. No dumb machine can handle you.
Carmelita: Keep the compliments for after the wrecking.
The new humanoid form of Nessie tried to sweep with his arm, but Carmelit's jumped over it. Then it shot several more of the charges that create shockwaves, over which Carmelita also jumped. He then fired lasers across the floor, which like Sly she had to dodge by jumping in between gaps. Then parts of his body opened up as it started charging electricity in each one. Carmelita quickly targeted the bodyparts with her Crackshot ability before it could be done charging it's uber-attack. The charge shots to these bodyparts made it short circuit, the fact plate open up, and all Carmelita had to do is shoot at the exposed face several times to damage it. Then the face closed down and the process repeated itself. After doing this three times, the machine fell and broke down.
Carmelita (blows smoke of her gun): And that's that…I wanted to say something witty, but I think that's your job.
Sly: As long you look good doing it…this is the moment I can let compliments come, right?
MISSION COMPLETE
LIGHT IN THE DARK
Bentley: Ok, Robin, Slaigh. I need your help on this one. One, the center of McGuffin's security is at the top of prison tower…two, I need Robin's fire arrows to get up there, three, Slaigh's Atlas Smash is what I need to safely reach it, since I can't do it from a distance due to some signal.
Robin: One lightshow, comin' right up!
Slaigh: With a side order of smash!
Slaigh got in first, Atlas Smashing in from another way. He had to climb to the upper levels and bash in some supports to lower some platforms, so Bentley could hover safely towards the terminal with his hoverpack.
But first Robin had to light the way. She used her fire arrows (selected in the gadget grid) and lit some torches with it. With that Bentley could safely make it to the terminal and start hacking.
He started out in a green shell code. He had to blast some enemies and a firewall to get a key to open a lock, basic enough. But then he found himself with a new code.
Bentley: I need my Speed Code for this. His shots can ricochet of the borders so he's good for shooting around corners.
Bentley disposed of some turret codes which waited around the corner for him, blasting them away easily. He then saw a pad on the ground.
Bentley: By holding L1, I can laserloop around these one to activate the switch and open the gate.
Bentley did so, and the laser loop activate the door ahead. He then came into a huge room…he first needed to laser loop over multiple pads, opening the gate to a a Panzer Code. Bentley used it to dispose of some crystals so he could get his Shell Code back, plus the key. He opened a gate up, and had to switch back to Speed Code up ahead, to activate three switches, while fully mastering the shooting around corners thing with the ricochet shots. Once that was done, the hack was complete.
MISSION COMPLETE
CHALKTALK
All right, we haven't seen much of McGuffin's plans, but it appears he had no other plan but to come out on top above Slaigh. Pretty single-minded if you ask me. Now, he bested Slaigh in the games last time by using future tech to cheat. If Slaigh wants to reclaim his honor, we must disable the cheating devices and make the next set of games go fair. First, we swap the arrows, which have magnets that draw them to the metallic bulls-eyes, for normal ones, so Robin can easily win.
Then, there is an eating contest. The food of the competition is spiked, so we'll add an antidote to it. Then, armwrestling. McGuffin has the advantage with his power suit, but with my darts I can disable it, and McGuffin needs to rely on his natural strength. Then we can bring him down.
OPERATION HIGHLAND HEIST
Bentley: Ok, Sly, step one is up to you, you need to get to the weaponry and swap the arrows. The weaponry is very secure so Carmelita will cover you as you climb upwards.
Sly: Fine by me…hey, takes me back to the time we first faced Clockwerk…romantic getaway on top of that volcano.
Carmelita: You had me cuffed to the railing.
Sly: But admit it, you enjoyed the kiss.
Carmelita: I'll give you that…just get up there and leave the robo-falcons to me.
Sly just had to climb up, Carmelita just had to shoot down the robotic flying minions. Sly could swap the arrows.
Bentley: All right…now Sly, you need to put antidote in the food for the eating contest. Crawl into the kitchen through that small gap and stay under the tables to avoid being seen.
Sly made it in the kitchens and stayed under the tables to avoid being detected. Once it was safe to come out, he put the antidote in the food and crawled back out.
Bentley: Ok, I'm in position for when the armwrestling commences, now everyone prepare for the games!
Robin, Slaigh and Murray came onto the site of the games.
McGuffin: Looks whose coming back to get locked up again. Tired of running?
Slaigh: No, I want another shot at trying to kick your butt in the games.
McGuffin: You think you can win, after last time? Oh well, seeing you fail twice in a row will be satisfying. But if I win, you're back in the box and this time you'll not get out!
First up was Robin. All she had to do is hit three moving bullseyes with her arrows as close to the center as she could. And since McGuffin no longer had magnetic arrows, he failed.
McGuffin: What? These arrows are ordinary…dang it…oh well, they can't possibly eat more than me.
The eating contest was the saloon stage in reverse. Murray needed to move himself across the table to catch and eat the dishes that slid across the table. He had to catch each dish before it hit the ground, dropping food three times is disqualification. But Murray managed to eat enough.
Murray: The Murray's a bottomless pit.
McGuffin: I don't feel so good…shouldn't have snacked before the eating contest…
Slaigh: No more juice left for a bit of armwrestling.
McGuffin: Nothing can prevent me from a good humiliation of you.
Bentley: That's what he thinks. I'm in position…now, all I need to do is hit the three red probes on the back of his armor with my shock ammo to disable that suit.
Bentley switched to shock ammo in his gadget grid, zoomed in with the binocucom and shot three darts at the probes, disabling the armor. All Slaigh had to do is push the circle, square, triangle and x buttons rapidly, to win the armwrestling.
McGuffin: No…I refuse to be upstaged again by you McCoopers…
Then some guards came in, holding Robin by her arms.
Robin: Slaigh!
Slaigh: Sis…let her go, you cheating runt!
McGuffin: Of course I cheat, playing fair is for the weaklings…now, my other guards should be here right away with the hippo, you can all rot away at the same time in my dungeon.
Murray arrived on the scene, two unconscious guards being dragged along.
Murray: It takes more than that to disable the Murray! (tosses the guards into the ones holding Robin, releasing her.
Robin: Thanks, Murray! You're my hero!
Murray: I'm not done yet! I'm going to put this cheater into his place…
McGuffin: If you have a death wish, I'm not stopping you (talks into communicator) Penelope, reactivate the armor.
Penelope: You botched up again? Oh well…I'll reboot the system. Money is on the hippo…shut up, wench, he's no match for our battle armor…Murray will win…shut up, he won't!
McGuffin: Are you ok?
Penelope: I'm fine, suit is operational, get the hippo! (several devices pop from the ground, which zap and empower McGuffin's suit)
McGuffin: All right then…say yer prayer, pink butterball!
Murray: You'll pray that you will get out of this without bruises!
With his armor, McGuffin was invincible. He lifted up some nearby objects and tossed them at Murray, who moved out of the way to dodge. McGuffin then jumped up and landed, creating a shockwave, over which Murray jumped. McGuffin then scraped his foot across the ground, and blew steam from his nose, like a bull ready to charge. Murray moved out of the way at the last second, McGuffin ran into a wall and was dazed. Murray picked him up and tossed him into one of the devices. Once all devices were gone, it was Slaigh's turn.
McGuffin sported a huge shield this time. He shot fireballs from his shield, Slaigh dodged. McGuffin still attacked using a shockwave, but Slaigh jumped over it. He then lured McGuffin into charging into the wall again. Then he used his Atlas smash to break his shield, and wailed away until another third of his health was gone.
Murray took over for the last part. This time McGuffin's suit was in overdrive, as it allowed him to punch the ground, creating landslides, make it rain fireballs in the sky and create double or even triple shockwaves. Once in a while, there would be a clash, where McGuffin and Murray's fists would meet, and the circle button had to be mashed to win the clash. Once the clash was won, Murray picks up McGuffin and use his pickpocket feature to shake of the damaged armor, before tossing him into a wall and keep wailing at him.
Square…Murray punches him in the gut…Triangle, he gives McGuffin a headbutt. X, and Slaigh jumps in and smashes both his fists down on McGuffin's back. Pressing both L1 and R1 and Murray and Slaigh grab each one of McGuffin's horns and violently toss him in the opposite wall.
McGuffin: No mommy, I can't eat any more haggis…I'm full…(faints)
Slaigh: Nobody messes with my family!
Murray: The Murray beats down injustice where ever he goes.
MISSION COMPLETE
CINEMATIC CUTSCENE (SLY POV)
McGuffin was down…Slaigh reclaimed his fortress and the McCooper clan was once again the top thieving clan. But he's not the only one who gained something. Robin and Murray seemed to have become really close. I couldn't notice to have Bentley look on in envy…I could understand. I hope he finds another love in the future as well. But Robin had decided she wanted to stay with Murray and us…after a heartbreaking goodbye with Slaigh, she would part with us.
Interesting to note, I believe to have read something in the Thievius raccoonus of one of the adoptive McCooper Clan members disappearing without a trace…I guess Robin was meant to come with us…and be with Murray.
Speaking of the Thievius Racconus, Dimitri had contacted us, and this time he said something about twelve men on a death man's chest and a new gig he had. He referenced to our heist at Blood Bath Bay, and I knew that we had to go back to the time period pirates roamed the sea.
After giving Robin a quick history of the Cooper Clan and modern times (she especially quickly got hooked on the music), we pulled off a small heist of a golden dubloon, which we'd use to pay a visit to the most famous female Cooper, Henriette Cooper…