Master of Thieves
Chapter 22: Micro Reconnaissance
Gameplay Warning
After being given a detailed explanation by Bentley on their next task, Terry and Sly left the hideout and traversed their way to the castle walls, before climbing up to the battlements and ran along the tightrope to where the foyer is. Seeing that the two Sniper Guards are still stationed on the upper level, Sly said as he puts on his modified Binocu-Com "Well, time to put the Miniature Intel Drone to action… Help me out, Terry, how can I control a ground-based drone?" Terry then looked at the instructions on his Binocu-Com and read aloud as Sly took manual control of the drone "More or less the same as an Aerial Drone… The Left Stick moves the drone, both the L1 and R1 buttons sends a pulse to give an update on the area the drone's currently in, the L2 trigger can switch the camera between normal vision, night vision, heat vision and blind vision." Sly then raised his brow, which Terry did the same thing in slight puzzlement at this new addition.
Terry then shook his head and continued as Sly moved the MID to the floor of the Foyer "The R2 trigger switches the drone between movement mode and camera mode, the X button makes it jump as high as a step of a staircase and the Right Stick controls the Third-Person Camera." Sly then nodded, before he looked through the MID's movement camera and moved it to the cellar doors, where he saw something pale between the crack between the double doors. Sly then asked Terry "Hey Terry, I might guess what I'm seeing here, but what do you think they are?" Terry then borrowed Sly's Binocu-Com and looked through the MID's camera to see something pale, but saw something odd about it. Just to be sure, Terry asked Sly to zoom the camera a little, which he did so, before Terry saw through the zoomed in camera a pair of metallic bars under the Cellar Door.
Terry gritted his teeth uncomfortably and noted as he gave Sly his Binocu-Com back "Damn… If I have to guess, Drake put in an electronic lock that only HE can disable, so even if we disable the front gates in the courtyard, the cellar doors will still be an obstacle." Sly then looked through the MID's camera again and asked as he scanned for another way in for the drone "You've planted the EMP, shouldn't that be enough?" Terry then pointed out "Knowing Drake and a few levels from Splinter Cell games, he most likely has a backup generator in another part of the castle he frequents just for the Electronic Locks." Sly pursed his lips and his brows furrowed a little as he saw a crack in the wall by the right side of the Cellar Doors.
He then said as he moved the drone to the crack, thankful for its Enamel Paint "I don't suppose there's any chance you brought a Splinter Cell game with you when you arrived in Paris?" Terry then pointed out "Dude, I arrived in Paris to meet/help you, not take turns as Sam Fisher. Besides, even if I could, my uncle owned the original, Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory, Double Agent, Conviction and Blacklist, which he keeps them under lock and key, so fat chance I'm afraid." Sly let out a low whistle as he saw a hole rodents use to travel in the walls, before he maneuvered the MID into the hole, which leads into the Cellar proper. He then looked stunned when he saw the villagers and royal family caged behind bars as if they were criminals, with the princess looking like Pearl, even though hadn't met her before, and one of the villagers looking like Muggshot.
Sly then said through the earpiece to Bentley "Bentley, I found the prisoners… They're right where Terry said they were, caged behind bars like criminals." Bentley then replied through the transceiver "We WILL get them out, but in order to do so, you'll have to take some Recon Photos. Activate the MID's camera mode and I'll walk you through the controls." Sly nodded, before he switched to the drone's Camera mode, which showed a deep blue screen with wire frames of points of interest.
Sly then said through the earpiece "Talk to me Bentley, how do I work this thing?" Bentley then replied matter-of-factly, as though he done this thousands of times "The controls are similar to the MID's movement mode: The Left Stick moves the drone around, the right stick moves the camera around, both the L1 and R1 buttons sends a pulse to give an update on the area and the L2 trigger switches it back to Movement Mode." Sly then moved the camera around a little and saw a hidden electronic lock behind a fake portion of the Cellar's wall. Bentley then continued "Now, unlike Movement Mode, tapping the R2 trigger zooms in the camera up to three times, with the fourth tap returning it to normal focus. If you hold down the X button, you can scan points of interest to receive intel about the scanned item; also, if you click the R3 button, or press the Right Stick, you can take a photo if there's no option to scan a point of interest. Try scanning the Electronic Lock hidden in the wall and take some photos of the imprisoned villagers, the Cellar Doors and that pipe next to the stairs leading to the foyer."
Sly nodded, before he focused the drone's camera onto the hidden Electronic Lock and scanned it, before the details was brought up on-screen. Bentley then made a thoughtful hum and noted "From the looks of it, even if the backup generator was active, the EMP would fry the circuits on that electronic lock, rendering it damaged beyond repair. We might be able to get the villagers out yet…" Sly then switched to movement mode and took snapshots of the imprisoned villagers and royal family, before moving the MID to the stairs and took a photo of the Cellars Doors locked tight by 2 metallic bars. He then went to the drain pipe and saw that it looked big enough for a remote Smoke Bomb to fit in, before taking a photo and sending the pictures to Bentley and Terry.
Feeling it would be best to retrieve the MID back now, Sly moved the drone back the way it came, pleased that its spherical body had a passive function that enables it to travel up a wall and even go across water, which he admits it's rather awesome. As he moved the MID across the foyer, Bentley said through the transceiver "Well, from what I gathered, it looks like the only visitor into the Cellar proper is Drake and, even though the locks on the cell are rusted, the villagers are terrified of being caught by their jailor. It'll take a bit, but I think I might come up with a plan to disrupt Drake's impending plan, so I'll need you two to return to the hideout now." Sly and Terry nodded, when the former held the MID in his glove and puts it in its docking station before putting away his Binocu-Com.
Terry then said after he lowered his Binocu-Com and followed Sly back to the hideout "Man, what were the odds that Muggshot's and Pearl's Scottish ancestor were in the same place?" Sly then inquired as they climbed back down the cliff face "Honestly, I didn't know that the Scottish princess was your girlfriend's ancestor until you pointed it out just now. If I may ask, where did your girlfriend came from?" Terry then replied as they Wall Shimmied "She's born and raised in a ranch over in Texas, but she moved to Paris since the ranch life wasn't remotely in her interest."
Sly nodded as they went into the cave and entered Slaigh's hideout, which the owner gave Terry a painful slap on the back, who gritted his teeth and hopped up and down in bone-crushing pain. Slaigh then said after making a hearty laugh "Glad teh see ye two laddies are in one piece! Once we free the villagers and royal famileh from their cells, we can take the fight to the pile of haggis who caused this ruckus!" Terry then replied after reconfiguring his spine again "Yeah, just don't underestimate Scaley, Slaigh. When me and Sly fought him back in Egypt, I managed to knock him out as we dived towards the pyramid and did some 'sky surfing' down towards the side of the Giza Pyramid, with the board being Drake himself." Bentley then assessed the photos carefully, when the Time Transmitter got an incoming call from the Parisian Hideout.
Deciding to let Bentley focus on building a plan, Terry answered the call by tapping on the crystal and saw on the holo-vid, much to his and Sly's surprise, Pearl calling him. She then said in her natural accent "Hey, my athletic Tumbleweed! I take this is your cousin, the famous master thief Sly Cooper?" Terry wordlessly nodded at Pearl, still surprised that she was somehow in the Parisian Hideout without any trouble. Sly then cleared his throat and said "Wait, so you're Pearl that Terry here mentioned? I mean, I'm not against the idea, but I had no idea you're attractive too." Carmelita then suddenly popped on the holo-vid angrily and said in slight fury "I HEARD THAT!"
Sly widened his eyes in a 'I'm dead' expression, knowing that ticking Carmelita off is the LAST thing he ever wants to do. Fortunately, Pearl pointed out to Carmelita "Whoa, hold on there, Wildfire… I'm already seeing your boyfriend's cousin, so I ain't filching your boyfriend, no matter how many honeyed words come from his pie-hole." Sly and Bentley led out a short snicker at the slang Pearl threw at Carmelita, though Terry puts his paws in his pockets with a gentle smile at his Girlfriend's preferrance to use diplomacy.
Slaigh then gave Terry another slap on the back, with a loud snap on impact, before Terry said with a slight painful grin and a flat tone "Ow…" Sly and Carmelita shook their heads at Terry's response to another painful 'pat' on the back by the former's Scottish Ancestor, though Pearl was fairly impressed with Slaigh's strength. She then said in amusement "Hooeee! Big fella, you've got as much strength as a pickup hauling ceramic blocks in the back!" Slaigh looked at Pearl while blinking twice without changing his expression and said "What?" Terry replied as he reconfigured his spine "She said you're generally a burly individual appreciatively." He then twisted his body with a loud *SNAP!*, which echoed in the room, before letting out a relieved sigh.
They then heard another snap, but it was a softer note, before they turned their attention to Bentley and he said "I believe I have come up with a plan… Here's how it goes…"