Once the gang was done with their break in Monaco, and were refreshed enough to return to their search for the stolen Clockwerk parts, they started hunting down any and all information on Rajan, who happened to be a mysterious spice lord that was operating out in India. Rajan, as it turned out, was a self-made man who actually grew up poor on the streets of Calcutta, where he started his life of crime by selling illegal spices in the black market and eventually grew his small outfit into a sizable operation. In the end that helped him earn himself a seat in the prestigious Klaww Gang, which was followed by him crowning himself 'Lord of the Hills', and it appeared that he went to great lengths to convince others of his royalty, though the gang knew he was mostly trying to convince himself of that fact. As it turned out he was actually holding a lavish ball in his newly purchased ancestral palace, though the reason behind that was to show off one of his latest acquisitions, the Clockwerk Wings... the symbol of the Cooper Clan's ancient enemy.
They had the feeling that Rajan assumed that the ancient symbol of such a powerful creature, and an infamous one at that, would bring him prestige as he displayed it to those that came to his lavish ball, but at the same time it was bringing Sly and the rest of the gang as well.
Once they knew where their next target was located, and the exact date of the ball, Carmelita informed Secretary Sen about who they were moving against and, much to their surprise, he actually had invitations ready for her, Neyla, their boss Contessa, and even Sly to enter the ball undercover. While one of the ladies was happy to hear that Sly was coming with them, especially since they were trying to bring Rajan to justice and reacquire the stolen Clockwerk parts, the other two were annoyed that they were working with a thief. Since Sly was personally being invited to the ball as Carmelita's partner, which meant that he would have to stay at the party until his gang was ready for the heist and to make off with the Wings, he was entrusting the rest of the operation to his gang, who would contact him if they needed either his or Carmelita's assistance with something. Fortunately Secretary Sen also sent a tuxedo for Sly to wear while he was at the party, further revealing that he was on their side and wanted them to succeed, which Sly packed into his belongings before he followed Carmelita aboard the plane that she and the others would be taking to India.
The rest of the gang found their own mode of transportation and went to India ahead of Sly, giving them time to scout out the area near Rajan's 'ancestral' palace and found an ruined tower that was slightly obscured at the top, allowing them to stare out at the palace without having to worry about guards finding them... unless they bothered to look at the top of the tower while the large feral elephant patrolled the area in front of the raised gate that was in front of them. They had a good view of the last people to arrive for the part, which included Sly and Carmelita, before they were escorted to the area that guests were allowed to reside in for the duration of the party, but at the same time they were mostly required to be at the party until it was over. Gilda and Derpy, knowing that they needed to scout out the area and see if there was anyone at Rajan's ball they needed to be aware of before they started to plan out their operation, walked out of the hideout and approached the gate... though they avoided the elephant that was walking around the are, and were also surprised when Diz followed after them, to understand the beginning mission of every operation a little better.
As they quickly discovered the way forward was to use the Ninja Spire Jump technique to cross the spiked rocks that were resting in the river, since they didn't want to alarm the guards to their presence by using their wings, and watched as Diz repeated the movements as well. From there the three of them carefully made their way into the palace grounds and investigated the area around them, carefully watching the flashlight wielding rhino guards that were patrolling the area while also avoiding the ibex and baboon guards that were on the various roofs around them. While they made their way to the actual palace, where the ball was being held, Gilda spotted a helicopter that was flying over the guest quarters and knew that it was an obstacle that needed to be taken out in the future, but she put it out of her mind as they reached the side of the palace that Bentley wanted them to investigate. It appeared that, when they stopped moving for a moment, they discovered an opening on what was the upper level of the palace... though as the three of them climbed up to that area, and entered the palace, they looked out at the fully booked ball that was in progress at that very moment.
The first thing Gilda took a picture of was both of the Clockwerk Wings, which appeared to have been welded to the statue that was in the center of the ballroom, before snapping a picture of the motorized winch that was above the room and another one of Rajan himself. From what she could tell Rajan was also a bengal tiger, with the normal coloration that came with his species, though while he wasn't wearing a shirt he was wearing some royal like leggings, sandals, and a turban on his head, but he also carried a wooden staff. After that Bentley quietly whispered that they also needed pictures of any important quests, where Diz took point and used his binocucom to snap a picture of the Contessa, the black widow spider that was normally Carmelita's superior, unless Carmelita was under Secretary Sen's orders, which she was at the moment. After taking the Contessa's picture Diz was able to snap a picture of Jean Bison and Arpeggio, who they had discovered were members of the Klaww Gang before Carmelita and Sly headed to the party, and a picture of Neyla as well, who was wearing a dress that came in two pieces while showing off her midriff and was meant to entice others to come and talk to her during the party.
The last picture Diz took was of a certain pair of people, as he was able to nab a photo of Sly, in his tuxedo, walking alongside Carmelita, who was wearing a nice looking black dress, though while they appeared to be enjoying themselves, and the gang knew they were, they also knew that the duo was keeping their eyes on Rajan and the Wings... but since they couldn't do much at the moment Bentley called the three of them back so he could create a proper plan of attack for this operation, especially since they actually couldn't get to the Wings just yet.
When the trio got back to the hideout, and handed over the pictures that they had taken inside the ballroom, Bentley stared at them for a few moments and occasionally glanced at the palace grounds, as if he was studying them for something that would allow them to move forward with the operation. In the end he determined that their first order of business would be to take out the chopper that was flying over the area, though in order for them to do that, without relying on Derpy's lightning or Gilda's wind, since there weren't supposed to be any storms for the next few days, they had to rely on something more traditional. That turned out to be a turret that was resting on the palace grounds, but since Murray was the only one of them that could flip the switch and turn it on, since the model had a heavy switch that went with it, the first mission would be dropping the drawbridge that was near their hideout. The group immediately knew what he was talking about, as both Gilda and Derpy promised Bentley that they would get the bridge lowered so they could all begin the real work that Bentley had planned.
Fortunately the path to the mission start area was right inside the palace, as all they had to do was use the Ninja Spire Jump, pull themselves up the vine to reach the rampart, and then use a bounce pad to reach the the small tower that the beacon was attached to, where they pulled their binocucoms up and readied themselves.
"Gilda, Derpy, as you know Murray and I can't get inside the palace unless you lower the drawbridge for us." Bentley said, to which their binocucoms zeroed in on the winch that controlled the drawbridge, which was currently locked down by five locks.
"Well, the winch is locked down at the moment." Derpy commented, staring at the locks for a moment, before she remembered what she and Sly had done back in the theater of Dimitri's nightclub, "I take it you already know where we can find the keys?"
"Keyguards have recently taken up position around the palace." Bentley told them, to which they turned their gaze towards one of the rhino guards that was currently patrolling the area that he was assigned to watch over, where his pocket had a bluish glow to it, "We just need the two of you to sneak in, pick all of their pockets, and bring the keys back to the locked-down winch."
Since one of the keyguards was right outside the gate, patrolling the area with the large elephant that was outside their hideout, Derpy and Gilda decided to focus on the other four keyguards that were scattered throughout the palace and the guest area. Derpy immediately headed towards the part of the palace that the ball was being held in, leaving Gilda to head over to the other building over the bridge, though as she did that she found one of the keyguards standing near some railing with his flashlight shining at the entire area in front of him. As she observed her target for a moment she came to the conclusion that she would have to lure this particular keyguard away from his post, meaning that she was going to have to use noise to do so. Fortunately there was a gong nearby that, when she slammed her cane against it, let off a noise that caused the keyguard to walk over to the gong so he could investigate the noise, allowing Derpy to move behind him and claim the key that he was holding.
Her second target was nearby as well, as he was near the trees they had used to get into the upper level of the ballroom earlier, but from what she discovered he was like the first one and there was no obvious way to get at him immediately. That was, however, until she spotted a vine connecting the rampart to where he was standing, to which she smiled and headed down into the street, making sure to avoid the guards that were patrolling the area while also stealing the treasures in their pockets, before she jumped onto the vine. From there she carefully walked over the vine and silently approached the keyguard that she was going after, where she quickly looted his pocket, claimed his key, and departed from the area before he realized what was going on. After that she returned to where the winch was located and jumped down to the area that was in front of the hideout, where she approached the other keyguard she and Gilda had noticed earlier and looted his key as well... before heading back up to the winch as she waited for Gilda to return.
Gilda, on the other hand, found that she was fortunate in where her keyguards were located, as the first one was patrolling the bridge between the palace and the guest quarters, so she followed after him and stayed in the shadows as she picked his pocket. In the end she walked away with his key and headed into the grounds of the guest quarters, to which she carefully walked around the area, picked the pockets of the various guards she passed by, and eventually found the second keyguard on the backside of the building. Getting to him was easy, as she only had to drop down behind him while he was patrolling the balcony he was on and swipe his key while he was distracted by constantly moving, to which she smiled as she took the key and headed back down to the area below her. With both of the keys in her possession Gilda headed back towards the winch with the intent of claiming the key from the guard that was near the hideout, but as she arrived at the winch she found Derpy standing next to it... and three of the locks had keys waiting inside them, revealing that her sister had beaten her to the punch and had taken the fifth key while she was busy.
"Well, that makes things much easier." Gilda said, as she wasn't annoyed that Derpy had finished gathering her keys before she could, as she must have been extremely lucky in terms of where her keyguards were located, though at the same time she slipped her keys into the remaining locks.
The two of them then turned the keys and let the locks come undone, allowing them to pull the lever on the winch and watch as the drawbridge lowered before their eyes, creating an open passage for Bentley and Murray to come into the palace grounds so they could complete some missions as well.
"Thanks you two," Bentley said, his voice revealing that he was extremely pleased with this outcome, even though he knew that they would have completed the mission and opened the drawbridge the moment he told them what they needed to do, "now Murray and I can access the palace grounds."
Gilda and Derpy smiled as they headed back towards the hideout, using the drawbridge this time around, as now they were one step closer to the heist that would allow them to make off with the Clockwerk Wings... and either end in Rajan being arrested or him being forced to flee, with them chasing him to put him in jail anyway.