The Cooper Vault
This is it, Sly, the gang's assembled and are in position to help you get up to that vault. For the rest of the operation, you are "the ball."
― Mission briefing[src]
"The Cooper Vault" is a "Beginning of the End" job for Sly Cooper in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.
Background
After Sly and Bentley recruited new members into the Cooper Gang, the team sailed to Kaine Island, and Sly prepared to make his way up to the Cooper Vault.
Synopsis
Sly infiltrates the island's outskirts, taking out three elephant mutant guards in the process. After making his way to a small section of the island, Bentley briefs him on the mission, making sure that the rest of the gang was in sync.[note 1] Afterward, Sly makes his way further into the island, until he is obstructed by several guards on support beams blocking his path along a ledge. In response, Agent Heartthrob used a Yank 86 via an RC chopper to clear the way.
Not long after, Sly comes to a gap that was too large to jump across. Agent Old Rock is deployed to knock down a nearby satellite tower, that way Sly can Rail Walk across. Soon after, Sly comes across an air vent that directly leads to the ceiling of Dr. M's underground lab. He calls in Agent Monarch to launch a firework at the vent to bust it wide open, allowing Sly to enter. Once inside, Agent Deep-Six uses his harpoon gun to destroy two force fields blocking Sly's path, causing water from outside to leak into the lab.
As Sly makes his way to the top of the lab elevator, Dr. M and a henchman named Richards enter the lab and approached the elevator. Richards and Dr. M starts a seemingly harmless conversation, with the former asking Richards how his family was doing. With Sly standing on top of the elevator, just above Dr. M and Richards, the elevator begins to rise to the surface. On the ride up, Dr. M tells Richards that he will not be seeing his family again, as M poisoned his drink during the lunch break. M explains to Richards his intolerance of poor performance, for the latter forgot to change the code for a newly-installed security system from the default "1-2-3". A terrified Richards promises to do better, but Dr. M warns him he is seconds from death, at which point he tumbles over and dies. Just as the elevator reaches the surface, Dr. M then receives a call about water leaking into the lab, and heads back down the elevator to investigate, while also requesting a janitor to clean up after Richards. Sly jumps off the elevator just before it goes back down and its shaft closed, so that he can continue his approach to the Cooper Vault.
Bentley tells Sly that he is on his way to meet Sly at the vault for the hauling of the vault's loot. Sly makes his way across several wires towards the vault, but accidentally sets off the alarm in the process, causing turrets to open fire on him. He reachs the security system and inputted the 1-2-3 code, causing the vault's security to deactivate. Sly inserts his cane into the vault lock, and the vault proceeds to open. Just before the vault can open all the way, a missile struck the vault door, knocking Sly away and shutting the vault again. The shooter is revealed to be none other than Dr. M himself, flying a jetpack. After a brief confrontation, Bentley sneaks up behind the doctor and fires a sleep dart at him, disorienting him long enough for Sly and Bentley to attempt their escape. However, just before reaching their ship, Dr. M appears with a giant mutant primate under his control and captures Bentley. Sly saves his friend by tossing his cane into the mouth of the monster, causing it to release Bentley. However, the monster soon launches the cane into the sea, before grabbing Sly. With the monster beginning to crush Sly, an outgunned Bentley is forced to escape to the other Cooper Gang members.
Aftermath
As Sly continues to be crushed, his life begins to flash before his eyes. Eventually, the flashbacks started to recount how he and Bentley expanded the Cooper Gang for the now ill-fated Cooper Vault heist, starting with Murray being re-recruited.
Trivia
- This job is also listed at the top of the Job Help menu of the final episode "Honor Among Thieves."