Al-Khalifa, Continued

Poison/Sniping

If you kill Schmutz, but keep Lateef alive, then you can grab Schmutz's briefcase (without putting a bomb in it) and make the delivery to Al-Khalifa yourself. Doing so will trigger a couple of actions. First of all, the Saudis will take your DNA sample off for testing; when it checks out, a guard will deliver the payment briefcase and take the DNA briefcase off to Lateef. After the belly dancer has been dismissed, just wait around near Al-Khalifa's position, and he'll eventually get a cell phone call.

Although difficult, it is possible to get upstairs and snipe Al-Khalifa before his phone call is complete.

As soon as this cell phone call is made, you have two options. If you want to attempt to snipe Al-Khalifa, then as soon as he stands up to receive the call, grab the payment briefcase and run as fast as you can to room 701 or 703, where you'll preferably have your W2000 unpacked and dropped on the floor. If you make it there in as little time as possible, then you should be able to spot Al-Khalifa just as he's walking across the exterior area below you, allowing you to zoom in and pop him right in the heart. He only takes a few moments for his cell phone call, though, so you don't have any time to spare here.

Alternately, if you want to kill him up close and personal like, wait for the cell phone call to arrive, then attempt to follow Al-Khalifa out the doors leading to the exterior area. As soon as the double doors open and you step through, one of his guards will run up and detain you, so step back into the VIP Lounge. When the guard turns around to return to his post, open the doors again and follow Al-Khalifa out to the outdoors, where you can easily sneak up on him and either poison or strangle him as you see fit. After doing so, grab the payment briefcase and run.

(Note that if you kill Lateef before you deliver the briefcase, then neither of these events will actually occur; the courier simply never arrives and you're effectively stuck in the VIP Lounge unless you're willing to attempt to kill Al-Khalifa with your bare hands.)

Other Scenarios

There are a number of other ways in which this mission can play out, of which we'll attempt to elucidate a few here.

Schmutz Makes The Drop

If Schmutz makes the drop, then he and Al-Khalifa will sit down and chat while the DNA is checked out. If you placed a bomb in the DNA Briefcase, but didn't detonate it, then it'll be brought up to Lateef, where it'll detonate and kill him. This doesn't affect Schmutz's conversation, however, and indeed it appears to stretch on for quite a while, or at least until we got bored of waiting for him to leave the VIP Lounge. This also seems to occur if you killed Lateef ahead of the drop.

If you leave all of the participants alive, and don't place a bomb in the briefcase, then again, as far as we can tell, Schmutz and Al-Khalifa simply sit there after the exchange and talk for a long period of time. Booring! Al-Khalifa's cell phone call doesn't seem to ever arrive if Schmutz makes the drop, as an aside.

You Make The Drop

If you bring the suitcase to Al-Khalifa with a bomb in it, it'll be brought up to Lateef, where it will detonate. Soon afterwards, all of the shiek's bodyguards will turn on you and start firing, leading to a hasty death.

If you killed Lateef before you make the drop, then the courier never seems to arrive for the briefcase, and again, you're simply stuck here, unless you're willing to take on all of Al-Khalifa's guards by yourself.

The Bottom Line

If you're looking for the quietest, most nonviolent way to finish this mission off, then your best bet is probably to stand above the western elevator hatch as soon as the mission starts, then kill Lateef when he arrives and heads to the eighth floor. You can just leave the Payment Briefcase in the elevator, if you like; no one should ever grab it if it's just lying there. Alternately, you can take it down and drop it near the Exit on the map, which should likewise be well out of the way of any guard patrols. Be sure to grab his keycard as well.

When the Sheik arrives, get atop the eastern elevator and wait for Schmutz to take it up to floor seven. Strangle him and steal his suit and briefcase. At this point, you have two options for a Silent Assassin ranking. The first involves returning downstairs. When you reach the casino floor, divert through the restroom corridor to avoid any cameras that might spot you, then head towards the VIP Lounge. You'll be frisked by the guards, so you might want to drop any weapons you have in one of the bathroom stalls beforehand.

When you drop the suitcase in front of the Sheik, quickly run around him and strangle him, then book it back to the payment suitcase before exiting the level. If done properly, you should be able to strangle him without getting any guard attention, but if you do, you're screwed, so be sure to save your game ahead of time.

Alternately, if you want to snipe the Sheik, then head up to the eighth floor after killing Schmutz and Lateef in the elevators. If you have Lateef's keycard, then you can pull the fire alarm here to force all of the bodyguards away from the room. Enter and use the phone to call Al-Khalifa, who'll start walking towards the rear area of the hotel. If you run back down to your room and bust out your sniper rifle, you can pop him in the head and make a clean getaway.