Desperate Times is the sixth chapter of Among Thieves. Nate and Chloe ran into a large contingent of Zoran Lazarević's soldiers as they made their way to the largest hotel in the city, with the plan to use it as a vantage point that would help them spot the temple they were looking for.
Story[]
I Don't Like These Odds[]
After exiting from a wrecked building, Nate and Chloe came to a plaza in front of a small temple, where they witnessed resistance fighters being gunned down. As they took cover behind two statues, they spotted several soldiers patrolling the area. Not liking the odds, Nate suggested they find an alternate route to avoid a fight altogether. However, Chloe quickly thought up a plan in which she would flank them with a grenade, while Nate would quietly take down the RPG soldier on his side. While Nate was skeptical about it, the two went forward and did their parts, triggering a lengthy gunfight.
Going Up[]
Once the area was clear, Nate and Chloe climbed into the hotel and got onto an elevator. Seconds after they began riding up, the elevator came to a rough stop due to the soldiers disabling a generator. Since they were unable to keep the doors open long enough for them to exit together, Chloe shoved Nate out of the way before the doors slammed shut. Unable to open them back up, Nate knew he would need to fix the power to free Chloe. Upon opening the adjacent junction box, he discovered that he would find the circuit breaker on the top floor.
Nate proceeded through the heavily trashed hotel, doing a lot of climbing and gunning down several soldiers in his path. He soon reached the generator room and restored power, which allowed Chloe to ride the elevator up to him. Upon reuniting, the two climbed up to the hotel's rooftop.
Time to Go[]
After further climbing, the two finally reached their vantage point. Nate took out his binoculars and immediately located the temple they needed to visit. Unfortunately, Chloe pointed out that it was where Zoran was camped. They then received a radio transmission of Zoran ordering his men to search the city and take down Drake in sector 18. Upon seeing a helicopter sweeping the city for him, Nate realized the trouble they were in.
Upon ziplining down to a destroyed building, Nate and Chloe were halted by a large gap. Nate improvised by climbing across some handholds until the helicopter appeared and begin shooting down the structure Nate was attempting to climb across. Nate desperately managed to hold on as the structure crumbled and collided into the building behind them. Attempting to flee from the helicopter's fire, Nate and Chloe climbed and rushed across several rooftops and through buildings, fighting several groups of soldiers as they attempted to kill them. They eventually reached a dead end, and the helicopter struck their building's foundations using its missiles, causing it to fall over.
Nate and Chloe barely made it out of the collapsing structure by breaking through the windows of an adjacent building as theirs fell down next to it. Following this chain of events, Nate and Chloe proceeded up to some more rooftops, where they found some walkways built by the resistance fighters. As soon as Nate dropped to some lower-level rooftops, he was ambushed once more by the helicopter. By firing several rounds of grenades from a M32 - Hammer, he managed to blast it out of the sky, causing it to crash far off from their position. After crossing a few more rooftops, Nate and Chloe approached a zipline that connected to another building. While Chloe managed to zip safely to the window, the zip line snapped on Nate's grip, causing him to slam into the wall and fall to the ground.
Last Year's Model[]
Chloe worked her way down to him, while Nate climbed his way over the wreckage of the helicopter he took down. As he peeked around a corner, he spotted what he thought were more soldiers, but as he exposed himself, he pulled his gun on an innocent cameraman. Simultaneously he was held at gunpoint by Elena Fisher. With Nate distracted by the moment, the cameraman, Jeff Wynia, tackled and held him down until Elena explained who he was. Once Jeff let go, Nate and Elena began inquiring about their reasons for being in Nepal. Elena explained that she and Jeff were tailing Lazarević to prove to NATO (who assumed he was killed in a bombing raid) that he was alive. She then warned Nate about how dangerous the situation was, referencing all of Lazarević's actions, as well as the destruction he had caused to the city.
Nate's silence made Elena assume he had something to do with the situation. Nate, however, rubbed it off as nonsense until Chloe arrived about a second later and mentioned Lazarević, much to Elena's discontent. Chloe then began to sense the history between Nate and Elena. The latter introduced herself to Chloe, referring to herself as 'Last Year's Model'. Chloe then began to chuckle silently, referring to Elena as the white-bread, picket-fence type, but Nate assured her she is a lot tougher than she looks. Chloe teased Nate about his and Elena's connection, assuming some kind of former relationship. She then insisted they keep moving, but Nate would not agree to leave Elena and Jeff behind, despite Chloe's reminders of what would happen if Lazarević were to catch the two of them together. Elena then assured them they required no rescue, but their minds quickly changed when they spotted another helicopter flying near their location.
Walkthrough[]
Plaza shootout[]
Upon dropping down to the streets, you will watch another cutscene that leads to the combat section. After Chloe's plan is hatched, you will first need to silently subdue the RPG man in the truck. From your position, navigate from one piece of cover to the next. Once you approach the truck, take cover beside it and grapple the guard next to it before climbing up into the truck to stealth kill the RPG soldier. On cue, Chloe will toss her grenade into the open, killing a few of the guards and triggering a gunfight.
From inside the truck and in possession of the RPG - 7 you have a good view of the temple and all the soldiers around it. Emptying the RPG - 7 and tossing a few grenades to eliminate initial groups of soldiers, including the Riot Shield-wielder, is important to balance out the fight. From then on you should advance on the temple, flanking it from either side while making use of the various pieces of cover and weapons (AK-47s, FALs, Moss - 12s, and Mk-NDIs) to eliminate the remaining enemies in and outside the temple. Quickly get your bearings once most or all enemies are down as reinforcements will quickly arrive.
The truck will arrive from behind the temple, carrying a total of five soldiers and one turret gunner. A grenade or two can eliminate the entire group with little difficulty if you can catch them quickly enough, which is recommended as another group will quickly spawn from the opposite end of the plaza, including a shield bearer and shotgunner. If you managed to take out the gunner you can use it to easily dispatch the second group. If you have not yet, and are still within the temple, beware of enemies attempting to flank you from the sides.
The hotel[]
Once you clear the entire area, meet Chloe next to the hotel in the adjacent alley. Give her a boost up to the fire escape, then climb up yourself once she kicks down the ladder. Since there is no regular point of entry, vault over the front part of the railing that faces the streetlight and the signs. Use this to swing onto the rooftop and enter through the window opening. As you proceed further, two soldiers will come in from the elevator, one of which is an armored shotgunner. Due to his armor he will only be slowed down by attacks, although enough concentrated gunfire does bring him down. Focusing on the helmet will eventually cause it to fly off, letting you finish him off with a single headshot.
Enter the elevator and after the cutscene, you will be alone, as you will need to search for the circuit breaker to free Chloe. Proceed down the hall and into the left room, where you can pick up a 92FS - 9mm. Walk out onto the precarious ledge produced by the collapsed stone pillar. Jump right to the flagpole and swing across until one falls to the side of the building. Make your way through the building from here, until you reach a room in the adjacent tower. Either use the window for cover by hanging outside, or hide behind the washing machine, as three enemies enter the room shortly after you do. Dispatch the shotgunner first, and beware a fourth soldier that rushes into the room once the fighting starts.
If you exit the room you will enter a staircase, at the bottom of which you can find a Wes - 44, whereas if you go up you will be attacked by another pair of soldiers, although you can flank them easily enough if they have not yet spotted you. When you re-enter the hotel's main tower you will be ambushed by another shotgunner and standard soldier, who conveniently lands next to a propane tank. Afterwards, climb the stone pillar on the balcony and turn around to grab onto the metal bar, then shimmy to the right to reach the next floor. Defeat the last enemy here as you head for the circuit breaker, after which you can reunite with Chloe at the nearby elevator doors.
Boost her up the ladder in the room above the circuit breaker's, then climb after her once she lowers it down. This ladder will take you to the roof of the hotel, where you have the opportunity to earn the 'Marco' and 'Polo' medals and trophies, by jumping into the pool and playing 'Marco Polo'. Go forward towards the staircase and leap over the barrier to land onto the narrow section of the roof below. Follow it to the right (Nate's left) until you reach some bricks you can use to ascend to the top section to trigger a scene.
Helicopter encounter[]
Follow Chloe down the zipline, and your progress will be obstructed by the lack of a floor in the bridge between the two buildings. You will see yellow protrusions along the left side of whatever is left. Climb up a little, then begin shimmying across. You will not make it all the way across, as you will be ambushed by a helicopter the moment you end up in the middle. After the cutscene you will have to follow Chloe while the helicopter continues to impede you along the way. Jump across each gap to reach the last platform, which nearly collapses, forcing you to vault over it to continue.
Preferably shoot the two soldiers before you do, using the collapsed platform as cover, as it also blocks the helicopter. Proceeding onto the rooftops forces you to engage several more soldiers while using the cover here to hide from the helicopter (remember that you can have to hold to safely move around corners while in cover). Run to the next rooftop once they are down, from where you can jump down to a lower floor.
Continue along the linear path from here, dodging the helicopter's sporadic gunfire and the more frequent enemies as they appear until you reach the floor below, which is a dead end. Kill the few soldiers here, which triggers the helicopter to appear and begin bringing down the building with its missiles. At the same time, more enemies will drop from above, forcing you to kill them as the building plunges towards the next. When it does, everything, as well as you, will start sliding forward. Upon stumbling to the edge, jump through the window of the adjacent building once the building shouts to jump.
Proceed forwards up the stairs past the doorway until you reach a kitchen. Upon stepping outside, jump to the adjacent rooftop, then take cover from the soldiers that appear on the rooftops across from you, one of which is armed with an M32 - Hammer. Target him first, then gun down the rest. Once clear, approach the raised walkway and press to lower it, then cross over to the next set of rooftops. Be sure to grab the M32 - Hammer here and jump down to the next set of rooftops, where you will have one last encounter with the helicopter. Use the cover available to hide from the helicopter, while shooting at it with your grenade launcher.
There is plenty of ammunition placed along the rooftops if you need to grab more. At some point, depending on your difficulty, you may have enemies attacking you from the nearby rooftops. If so, clear them out quickly, then shift your aim back to the helicopter to finally bring it down. After that, search for a walkway and lower it, then proceed to another rooftop. Make your way to the rooftop behind the sign from there, then leap down onto the rooftop below. Go right to find a zipline that connects to a building ahead. After Chloe zips down into the window of said building, Nate will follow, but the line breaks, sending him down to the ground. You will need to climb over the wreckage of the helicopter to make it to the other side, after which a cutscene triggers, leading to the next chapter; "They're Coming With Us".