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Tsao: This sacred forest has been the stage for hundreds of battles, as my ancestors crushed anyone who got in their way, and you will be no different.
Sly: Bentley, are you hearing this? What's he talking about?
Bentley: I've heard of these types of battlegrounds before. The energy from all the fighting that has gone on before strengthens the combatants, allowing them to soar for long distances. You should be able to fly all the way across the arena with one jump! Plus, you can probably change directions in the air with your double jump.
― Just before Sly battles Tsao

"Laptop Retrieval" is a job for Bentley and Sly Cooper in "A Cold Alliance" of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

Background[]

With the preparations complete, Bentley is ready to begin the heist that will save Jing King from General Tsao. However, while he is presenting the heist to the gang in the safe house, Tsao suddenly breaks in and steals the ThiefNet laptop. With Bentley panicking, Sly takes over the conversation and makes retrieving the laptop the gang's number one priority. He has Bentley ransack General Tsao's palace for Tsao's personal computer, just in case Tsao linked it to their laptop, while everyone else stands ready for any action.[1]

Synopsis[]

To find out where Tsao escaped to, Bentley breaks into his palace and hacked his personal computer, finding information on a secret passage located under the prayer bell, then a "walk across the heavens". He informs Sly and tells him to bring along the Guru, as it sounded like a job for him as well. When Sly and the Guru make it to the bell, Bentley hacks the bell's controls so that Sly and the Guru could get under the bell. When the bell falls, it teleports Sly and the Guru to an exit that leads to the edge of a cliff. The Guru helps Sly complete the "walk across the heavens" by levitating Tsao's guards and various objects to create a path to a faraway cliff with a cave. The Guru has to ride on Sly's back to keep the levitation going. Once they madke it across to the opposite mountain, the Guru is tired from the levitation. Sly enters the cave alone, while the Guru stays behind to rest.

The cave leads to an old, massive battlefield filled with bamboo. High up on the tips of the bamboo, Sly confronts Tsao, who explains that he specifically left a trail for Sly to follow. After briefly mocking Sly's reliance on friends, Tsao explains that the sacred forest they are standing in had been the stage for hundreds of battles his ancestors fought in. Sly asks Bentley to clarify what he is saying. Familiar with this kind of battlefield, Bentley explains that the energy from all of the previous fighting strengthened the current combatants, allowing them to soar for long distances across the arena. Sly uses that to his advantage during the ensuing battle with Tsao. After defeating Tsao, he laughs and drops down into the forest, with Sly jumping down after him. Tsao "congratulates" Sly on lasting as long as he does, in the process revealing that he knows it was Sly attempting to be hired as his wedding photographer.[2] Sly tells Tsao to release Jing King and the fight will end. Tsao refuses, stating that with her marriages under the Tsao name, a new generation of Kings will be unstoppable. He then explains that he "convinced" the Panda King to take up meditation, which makes it easier for him to capture his daughter. Sly claims Tsao to be the worst of all of the bad men he faces in his time. Tsao responds by saying it is getting much worse, as he is going easy on Sly earlier, but now he is going to get a taste of the Tsao family's ancient black magic.

The two engaged in another battle. True to his word, Tsao starts using magic to summon the dead and fire-breathing dragons. However, Sly still managed to defeat him. Tsao acknowledges that he lost the battle and gives up the computer, but warns that the war is still on. Sly has no intention of dealing with him anymore, and attempts to finish him off. However, Tsao throws a smoke bomb in Sly's face and escaped, warning Sly to beware his family's power.

Aftermath[]

Sly, Bentley and the Guru return to the safe house with the laptop. Bentley gives another presentation on where the gang will go from there, as Tsao's knowledge of what is on the laptop meant that the original plan to free Jing King is compromised. Bentley cooks up a new plan to free Jing King, but also announces that the new plan would also involve them raiding Tsao's loot from his treasure temple as payback. They still have work to do, as they need to replace the Cooper Van's battery and get rid of the hopping vampires that Tsao summons to beef up his security for the wedding.[3]

Trivia[]

  • The battle with General Tsao references modern wuxia martial arts films. The first part of the battle is similar to a scene from the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where two characters fly and fight atop a bamboo forest. The second part of the battle is similar to a scene from the 2004 film House of Flying Daggers, where multiple characters fight on the ground of a foggy bamboo forest.
  • Until the completion of this job, ThiefNet will remain inaccessible during this episode.
  • The vases at the entrance to Tsao's palace can be destroyed here without penalty, even though "Operation: Wedding Crasher" would later reveal that breaking one of the vases should trip an alarm.
  • This is the first time a boss fight with the episode's main antagonist occurs before the final mission.
    • Although Jean Bison can be engaged in combat prior to his actual boss fight, he is unable to take damage so it does not count.
  • During the second battle, if you try to use Sly's overhead attack (x, then square), he will do a regular cane swipe instead.
  • The cloud of smoke Tsao uses to get away is the same smoke the kangaroo guards use. One of the sounds the kangaroos make while doing this even plays when Tsao uses it.
  • General Tsao's escape was programmed to be a high jump where Tsao lands just off-screen to the left. This is more noticeable in the remastered version.

References[]

  1. Episode: A Cold Alliance; Slideshow #2.
  2. Episode: A Cold Alliance; Get a Job.
  3. Episode: A Cold Alliance; Slideshow #3.
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