Heist of the Centuries

 is a quest in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money.

Detailed walkthrough
To begin the quest, the speaker next to the elevator in Vera Keyes' suite must hear the password in Vera's voice. This can be done by piecing together snippets of recorded music from the receptionist terminal in the lobby, after which Christine will repeat the password into the speaker, unlocking the elevator.

Warning: Once the Courier enters the elevator, he cannot return to the Sierra Madre proper until Elijah is dealt with. Ensure that the Courier is carrying sufficient stimpacks and micro-fusion cells for the Holorifle, as there are numerous security holograms, toxic clouds and speakers which must be shot out. Place any extra items in the dresser next to the autodoc, as the Courier will have to discard everything carried in order to escape the Sierra Madre Casino Vault with any appreciable amount of treasure.

The quest begins in earnest once the Courier enters the vault. The central chamber is visible from the elevator, though access is blocked by a force field. The Courier must navigate a maze of ducts and catwalks filled with the aforementioned security holograms, toxic clouds and speakers. In some situations, the Courier may have to trigger hologram monitors to clear a path.

Enter the duct maze by using Vault Maintenance Access Terminal to open the maintenance access. There's a speaker nearby, but you can run past the beeping at first. Entering the first chamber, the speaker is immediately in front of you - an easy Holorifle shot. Halfway down the chamber you enter the range of another speaker - there's a safe spot next to the tables in the enclosure with the Worker's Note.

The next open room is a mad dash to the safe spot in the southeast corner, where another unshielded speaker is visible to the north, and another can be seen above a lit door frame. Holorifle both. Another mad dash - up the stairs and directly to the lit door, which is a safezone. Once your collar stops beeping, run west to the terminal and turn off the alarms. This shuts down the shielded speaker and clears this room.

The next room adds security holograms to the gauntlet. You'll need at least two dozen because holograms can't be damaged. Run and spam stimpaks. The first safezone is to the west of the door along the catwalk: you don't need to jump. If you have plenty of stimpaks, jump down to the lower catwalk and get the Vault Turret Terminal Password. Otherwise, jump the gap and circle the room clockwise - your destination is the Hologram Control Panel in the southeast corner. "Shut Alarms Down" and "Turn Off Security Force Field". Then head north and exit the room.

Now you are a step from the vault - and the alarms are triggering your collar. Immediately activate the Vault Security Terminal, study the "Vault Security Protocols Information", read the "Maintenance Staff Warning" then "Disengage Vault Security Protocols". This shuts down the last set of force fields and speakers, clearing the path to the vault.

Immediately before entering the vault is a toolbox; next to it is a holotape containing a venomous message to Vera Keyes, and a skeleton lies on a pipe beneath it - Sinclair's. A bag is next to it, containing a copy of Nikola Tesla and You. To get back up go east along the pipe and jump off a step to the platform.

Inside the vault itself is a assortment of weapons, armor, stealth boys, chems, money, chips... and the fabled Treasure of the Sierra Madre: 37 Gold Bars worth 10539 caps each, for a total of 389943 caps and the single greatest collection of wealth in the Mojave Wasteland - each of which weighs 35 pounds, for a total of 1295 pounds.

However, the vault door seals within seconds of entrance. Lift the lockdown using the left security terminal, then use the monitor in the back to look up the word 'Vera'. This reveals that Sinclair in fact designed the Sierra Madre Vault not to protect valuables, but a small number of people as per a Vault-Tec Vault through the Great War: namely himself and Vera Keyes. Knowing that Vera had begun an affair with Dean Domino did not change these plans, nor did Domino's plans to rob the Sierra Madre. Hardware failures meant that the Vault could not be opened from the inside once it was sealed, meaning those inside had no choice but to wait for rescue once sealed in. Sinclar left a warning for Vera, and a trap for Domino: a file marked "personal accounts", the reading of which activates a system which permanently seals the vault. Note: If the player chooses to access Sinclair's personal accounts, the game will end in with a slideshow cutscene, stating how the courier was trapped in the casino vault, eventually dying inside. The game will then load the autosave created before accessing the terminal inside the vault.

After the Courier reads this, Elijah will make contact. Skills of 75+ in Lockpick or Stealth can be used to persuade Elijah to enter the vault to confront the Courier personally. He will bypass the duct maze by deactivating a forcefield and walking directly to the vault door, where, if not confronted and killed by the Courier, he will trigger the trap Sinclair meant for Domino and seal himself inside.

Hacking the security terminal in the vault will cause the Turrets outside to turn on Elijah and if they kill him, the player will not receive the Cash out achievement/trophy.

If not killed quickly, Elijah will reactivate the forcefield and activate the Courier's collar, leaving him with only minutes to traverse the duct maze and escape up the elevator shaft before he is killed. If the Courier chooses to engage Elijah in direct combat, Elijah will activate the forcefield as soon as he notices the Courier, and Elijah's death will activate the Courier's collar.

However, the obvious solutions (killing or sneaking past Elijah before he can reactivate the forcefield or the Courier's collar), are not viable options due to programmer fiat: Elijah is immune to damage until he reactivates the forcefield blocking access to the elevator, and becomes instantly aware if the Courier steps onto the stairs below the forcefield, even if the Courier is using a Stealth Boy. Even killing Elijah once the forcefield is reactivated is problematic, as Elijah can pass through it even if it is active, after which he will activate the Courier's collar.

-If the player chooses to sneak past Elijah to the exit, sealing him inside (for the Safety Deposit Box achievement/trophy,) the simplest solution is to simply run back through the basement the way he/she came. If the player runs back through the area as quickly as possible, he/she will arrive at the back side of the maintenance door, which will be temporarily locked. When Elijah arrives at the vault door, after some grumbling, he will activate security, opening the door, and the player can simply walk out and leave Elijah to his fate.

However the Courier handles Elijah causes the explosive collar to activate, which will detonate within a minute if the Courier does not board the elevator to the surface within that time. This is not difficult if the Courier is not overloaded; in fact, the Courier can easily reach the maintenance access door before Elijah reaches the door to the casino vault(in which case it will still be locked by programmer fiat - it will open once Elijah realizes he has been deceived) The implication is that the Courier is expected to discard most possessions in order to carry a small number of gold bars through the duct maze and thus to the elevator.

Reaching the elevator causes the Courier to appear at the fountain in the Villa. The Courier can then revisit any location in the Sierra Madre - and this is recommended; the holographic vendors in the villa gift shop and the casino bar are the only vendors who can easily afford any gold bars the Courier has managed to escape with, exchanging the expensive and heavy treasures for weightless Pre-War money. Once the Courier exits the front gates of the villa, a slide show plays detailing the fates of his three fellow captives, the end of which shows the Courier deposited at the Abandoned BoS Bunker, and unable to return to the Sierra Madre.

Bugs
A bug has been reported preventing the player from leaving after finishing the quest

(360) Bug will act as if maintenance door is still locked and closed, even if opened (Invisible Wall), effectively trapping the player until their collar blows up.

It is possible to make use of the third-person glitch, that lets you activate or interact with things on the other side of walls, to drop all 37 gold bars near the force field Father Elijah uses, run around the long way, and pick them all up as one, from the other side. It all has to do with looking at it at the precise angle while crouched. Think of it as some sort of defect in the force field design.

If you have any gas cans you can make a trap along the room by putting a ton of then on the walk way. After doing that pick up all the gold bars and go to the force field, Father Elijah will not come out until three of the turrets have been destroyed, attack the turret and keep pushing to the right side of the force field. When he run though it you should fall on the ground behind the force field. However the maintenance door will not open until Father Elijah is dead, the gas tanks should take care of that, If not reload you save. Once Father Elijah is Taken care, you will know if the door along the hallway to the maintenance door will close, you can walk out and leave.