A Starry Eyed Encounter is the second episode of Band of Thieves. It is set at a palace in India, and the main antagonist was Rajan.
Plot[]
The Setup[]
Rajan's involvement in the Klaww Gang
The gang locates another Clockwerk part in India. The gang load up the van and set out for their next target: a self-made man named Rajan who grew up poor on the streets of Calcutta. He started his life of crime by selling illegal spices on the black market. He eventually grew his small outfit into a sizable operation and soon join the Klaww Gang. He has since crowned himself "Lord of the Hills". While he goes to great lengths to convince others of his royalty, it is mostly to convince himself.
Rajan is holding a lavish ball at his Indian palace, where he wanted to show off his latest acquisition: the Clockwerk wings. Rajan believes that the wings will bring him prestige, but little does he know that the Cooper Gang is also on his tail.
Recon the Ballroom[]
Bentley needed Sly to explore the palace and then find a way to get into the ballroom and see who was at Rajan's party. By climbing up to the balcony via some tree branches, Sly managed to get inside to a room with curtains.
Sly approached the opening in the curtains and took photos of Rajan,[notes 1] the Clockwerk wings, a winch and the guests in order to plan and prepare the next set of jobs required to reach their final objective: steal the wings in front of a large crowd. The guests include the remaining Klaww Gang member, and undercover cops, the Contessa, Carmelita, and Neyla.
Lower the Drawbridge[]
Sly approached the locked winch linked to the palace's drawbridge and asked Bentley if he had any idea where he could gather the keys. Bentley pointed out that certain key-carrying guards had recently taken up positions around the palace grounds, and that Sly would have to pickpocket them each for a key. After collecting five keys, Sly used them to unlock the winch and lower the drawbridge, with Bentley thanking him for a job well done.
Battle the Chopper[]
Bentley pointed Murray to the chopper, which was constantly hovering above the palace grounds, describing it as a menace to any future aerial operations while on their job. He then pointed him to a rusty pre-war turret. Comparing the turret to a potato gun he once had, Murray felt it would work just as well. Taking control of the weapon, Murray gunned the chopper down to pieces.
Ballroom Dance Party[]
Upon knocking on the door to Rajan's ballroom, Sly was greeted by the doorman, who explained the party's dress code regarding the need for a tuxedo. Since Sly lacked one, he was denied entry to the ballroom. Bentley contacted him, however, suggesting he would probably find a spare suit inside the guest house.
Steal a Tuxedo[]
After being denied entry into the ballroom due to his lack of formal dancewear, Sly went over to the guest house to ransack each of its rooms, each of which had some of Rajan's men guarding them. One of them (Room 103) was Rajan's room, which presumably had extra security. The items Sly stole were a pair of gloves, a pair of dance shoes, a bow tie, a dress shirt and a tuxedo jacket.[notes 2] Once Sly gather all of the required items, he returned to the palace for the party.
Dominate the Dance Floor[]
"Are you using me to get at Old Ironsides?"
Once inside the ballroom dressed up, Sly approached Neyla, making himself known before asking for a dance. Neyla accepted, and the two began a tango.[notes 3] After a brief moment, Neyla asked if he was just using her to score a dance with Carmelita, to which he admitted he was, which Neyla found no problem with.
Midway through their dance, Rajan commented on Sly's gracefulness, while Bison chided Rajan for his inability to move spice shipments as gracefully. After Sly and Neyla wowed the crowd, Carmelita, not recognizing Sly, approached the two and complimented "the stranger's" ability. He then offered her a dance for later, which she accepted.
Boardroom Brawl[]
Bentley needed to hack the computers in Rajan's boardroom to get control of the electronic winch above the ballroom.
After Sly crawled into the boardroom, he needed to open the vault room from the inside to let in Bentley and Murray. The password was written under one of the four breaktables so that the guards could not forget it. Sly crawled underneath each one, looking for the code and using them to hide from the roaming flashlight guards. While he did so, Rajan addressed his men over the loudspeaker to remind them not to allow any trespassers into the inner workings of his palace.
Sly discovers the vault code underneath the last table.
Once Sly found the code, which was "46583271," he gained access to the vault room and pulled the security lockdown switch, which unlatched a door upstairs, allowing entry for Bentley and Murray. Once Sly joined them on the top section, Bentley reminded them that he needed to hack both of the security terminals in order to get control of the electronic winch above the ballroom, but warned that guards be onto them and required protection from them both.
The gang completes the task.
Bentley began hacking through the level six barrier and was immediately onset by guards.[notes 4] Sly and Murray defended him as he switched back and forth between the two terminals, eventually hacking through all six barriers and gaining control of the winch. Once they hooked up the direct feed, the gang left the room while the coast was clear.
Elephant Rampage[]
Bentley needed Sly to retrieve six gems from the headdresses of two of Rajan's prize elephants. These gems would be used to create a saw durable enough to cut the Clockwerk wings from the statue in the ballroom.
To get the elephants out of their pen, Sly crawled underneath a hole beneath the steps to find an alternate route. As he crawled further up, he frightened two rats, causing them to go up and freak out the elephants. They barged through the door and began rampaging around the palace grounds. Sly crawled back out and spots one elephant, noting how spooked he is.
The next objective was getting on top of both elephants and getting the headdress jewels off of them. However, the jewels were firmly embedded, so Sly needed to whack at them with his cane to knock them loose one by one. After Sly accomplished the mission, the elephants were returned to their pen.
RC Bombing Run[]
Bentley needed to destroy an enemy jeep so that he and the gang would have clear skies for their heist. As the jeep began its route, Bentley launched his RC chopper from his position on top of a tower. In order to neutralize the air defenses, Bentley hovered his chopper over the jeep to bomb it. It was not too hard to destroy it, just as long as he avoided the missiles by making sharp turns. Once the jeep was destroyed, the gang was free from any aerial interferences during their heist.
Operation: Hippo Drop[]
- Bomb the Bridge
The bridge successfully destroyed
Bentley needed to demolish the palace's main bridge to distract the ballroom guards watching over the Clockwerk wings and block reinforcements from the guest house. Bentley got in position near the bridge to begin bombing it, while Sly and Murray took their positions inside the ballroom. Bentley began placing charges on the lower cleats. Doing so caused the structure to destabilize, popping off the retainer rings on the upper cleats. Right before the lower platform fell apart, Bentley bounced up to the upper cleats and began bombing them. Once they were destroyed, the bridge began to crumble. Within seconds, the second platform collapsed, and the entire bridge fell down with it. Bentley then went off to warm up the van and prepare his RC chopper for the final phase.
- Tango with Carmelita
Murray hangs from the winch, ready to do his part.
Sly needed to dance with Carmelita to keep her and the crowd from noticing the Clockwerk wings being stolen. Once Rajan sent his two flashlight guards to investigate the destruction of the main bridge, Sly checked on Murray to see if he was in position, which the latter confirmed. With the two guards out of the way, the two were free to initialize the second phase.
Sly approached Carmelita, and the two began their tango. After dancing for a moment, Carmelita noticed her partner looked familiar, asking him if he was in law enforcement. Sly claimed he very often deals with police while on the job, then the dance continued. With Rajan preoccupied with watching the tango, Murray reached the statue's rear and cut the Clockwerk wings off, then began his ascent back to the exit.
Carmelita realizes who she was dancing with the whole time.
At the end of the dance, Carmelita asked the "stranger" his name, but Sly refused to spoil the moment, leaving her confused. Rajan then pointed out the disappearance of the Clockwerk wings, and as Carmelita tried to make sense of the situation, she pulled something out of her hair: a rose with Sly's calling card. She then realized that it was the work of Sly and his gang.
- Clear the Way for Murray
Now that Murray managed to escape with the wings, Bentley used his RC chopper to wipe out the ground forces. Several groups of guards confronted the hippo as he carried the wings to the van, which was waiting at the drawbridge. Once Murray made it there safely, the gang escaped from Rajan's palace.
The Getaway[]
Murray feeling uncomfortable about dancing
After the Cooper Gang makes off with Clockwerk's wings, Carmelita blows her cover and begins making arrests around the ballroom. With Rajan's reputation in shambles, he is forced to do nothing but flee from his party palace and went somewhere deep in the jungle to hide.
The gang takes a break in Bollywood, where they snuck Murray onto the set of a full-blown Indian musical. While Sly is glad that he and friends are able to unwind, he knows that Rajan is still out there and things will somehow get tough.
Map[]
The vault is located behind the laser barrier in Rajan's boardroom, and its combination is 8-5-7. Upon opening it, Sly receives Insanity Strike.
Trophies[]
PS4/PS5[]
| Image | Name | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
|
I'm Going Insane | Open the vault in this episode. |
|
Sky Turtle | As Bentley, climb to the roof of Rajan's palace.[1] |
|
Honorary Cooper | As Murray, bring a guard into the safe house. |
|
Savor the Moment | Complete all jobs in this episode. |
PS3/PS Vita[]
| Image | Name | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
|
Artful Dodger | Purchase the Combat Dodge from ThiefNet. |
|
Learn to Fox Trot | Dance with Carmelita. |
Behind the scenes[]
In an early build, "Bomb the Bridge" took place concurrently with "RC Bombing Run."[2]
References[]
- ↑ Bentley will need to purchase the Hover Pack in Episode 6 on ThiefNet to earn this trophy.
- ↑ Website: YouTube; Video: Sly 2 March 2004 Internal Build Playthrough - Part 3; URL: https://youtu.be/Afsob8OuHAs?t=1086
Notes[]
- ↑ While photographing Rajan, if you look closely, a watermelon will appear at the bottom of his stick when he stops walking.
- ↑ Even though Sly only collects five items for his tuxedo, you can also see a pocket square in his jacket pocket.
- ↑ If one looks closely at Neyla's face, she clearly shoots Sly a few dirty looks, indicating that she is not the good cop she claims to be.
- ↑ The attacking guards in this mission consist only of baboons and ibexes. At some point during the brawl, the ibexes will stop appearing, leaving only baboons to fight.