Bury the Hatchet
Trevor visits Michael's house and brings up breaking his old partner Brad out of prison. Then he asks who was buried in Michael's grave in North Yankton, and storms out. The first half differs depending on who starts it.
-
1
To North Yankton
As Michael, drive to the Los Santos airport and fly out, then drive to the cemetery. As Trevor, take Michael's car to the Sandy Shores airfield and fly the plane there yourself. Either way, Michael finds Trevor at the grave. The coffin holds Brad, not an unknown body, and Trevor now knows Michael's death was staged.
-
2
The Triad ambush
Wei Cheng's men attack at the cemetery. Whoever started the mission, you fight it as Michael: stay in cover, work round the church slowly, and get to the car. The mission ends with Trevor flying back to Sandy Shores; lower the landing gear before you land.
- Gold: complete within 11:00; kill 20 enemies with a headshot; finish with at least 80% accuracy.
- Story trophy: The Moment of Truth ("You have uncovered the truth about Brad").
Two of the guides add that Michael cannot be played again until Fresh Meat is done; Franklin and Trevor stay available.
Pack Man
Lamar has stolen the last car on Devin's list, and everything has to go to a truck stop near Paleto Bay. Start it as Franklin, or as Trevor at Lamar's house, where the game hands over to Franklin.
-
1
Load the truck
Pick up Lamar and the car, drive it into the car transporter where Trevor waits, and start the long drive north.
-
2
The police
Near the end the police catch up. Franklin takes the JB 700 off the truck and uses its gadgets, spikes and guns, to stop the cars chasing it while Trevor keeps driving. With the police gone, follow the truck to the meeting point. Molly comes alone, and the payment does not.
- Gold: complete within 12:00; complete with minimal damage to the JB 700; take out 3 cop cars using the spikes.
Fresh Meat
Michael has disappeared. Franklin meets Trevor at his old house in Strawberry, who will not help, so Franklin goes alone with Lester tracking Michael's phone. Wei Cheng's men are holding Michael upside down in a slaughterhouse.
-
1
Find Michael
Michael is at a slaughterhouse in Cypress Flats. For the gold objectives, drive there without setting a map waypoint, and fast.
-
2
The rescue
Fight in as Franklin. Once he reaches Michael, play switches to Michael, who shoots from where he hangs, then frees himself. Fight your way out together, then drive back to Michael's house.
- Gold: don't switch more than 3 times; finish with at least 70% accuracy; kill 10 enemies with a headshot; rescue Michael within 3:30; don't use a map waypoint.
The Ballad of Rocco
At Backlot City, Michael finds Rocco and his associate beating up Solomon. They drive off.
-
1
The chase
Get a car, chase Rocco down and kill him. Solomon then invites Michael back to the studio; you can accept or decline.
- Gold: complete within 3:00.
Cleaning out the Bureau
At Lester's garment factory, Darnell Bros. in La Mesa, Haines and Norton ask for one last job: destroy the evidence against Haines inside the FIB building. The way in is a janitor's pass.
-
1
The janitor
Drive to the FIB building and wait at the garage exit, checking the cars that come out until the janitor's appears. Follow him home without being seen, follow him into his flat, and he hands over his uniform and pass. Drive back to the garment factory.
- Gold: check all license plates; follow the janitor without being spotted; complete within 9:00.
Architect’s Plans
This one does not appear on the map. After Cleaning out the Bureau, Franklin texts Michael that he has found the architect of the FIB building; switch to Franklin to start it.
-
1
The briefcase
Follow the architect through the construction site in a hard hat and up the lift beside his. At the top, take his briefcase: holding him at gunpoint works, and so does attacking him, at the cost of a wanted level. Get off the site quickly, lose any police and take the plans to the garment factory.
- Gold: leave the construction site within 45 seconds.
-
2
The approach and the crew
Lester sets out two approaches. In the fire crew approach, Michael plants bombs as the janitor and the crew go in dressed as firefighters; it needs two setups (a fire truck and a getaway car) and two gunmen. In the roof approach, the crew parachutes onto the roof from a helicopter; it needs no setups, and takes a hacker, a gunman and a driver. The roof approach is the one with the bigger gunfight.
Fire crew: on the way out an explosion catches the gunmen, and an unskilled gunman can die in it, which costs you a casualty. Two skilled gunmen avoid it.
Roof: the hacker talks you through the hack, and a weaker one is less help. A good driver waits with an ambulance for a quiet exit; one wiki says a poor one comes late in a van, with the police after you.
Fire Truck and Getaway Vehicle (fire crew only)
-
1
Fire Truck
Lester texts that you need a fire engine. Steal one from a fire station, or call 911 for the fire department and take the one that comes, which is what the gold objective wants. Lose the police and park it at the garment factory.
The wanted level differs: IGN says taking the truck gives two stars, while GTABase and the GTA Wiki say one.
- Gold: call 911 to contact the fire department; deliver the fire truck with no damage.
-
2
Getaway Vehicle
Leave a car somewhere quiet not far from the FIB building, for the switch after the raid.
The Bureau Raid
It starts at the garment factory, which Lester is getting ready to burn: after this they will need a new base.
Fire crew approach
-
1
The janitor's shift
As Michael, enter the FIB building with the janitor's pass and ride up to the office floor. Take the mop and bucket from the maintenance room, mop the dirty spots, and plant one bomb in a locker and one in the restroom. Put the mop and bucket back and leave.
-
2
Into the fire
As Franklin in the fire truck, pick Michael up and detonate the bombs from the phone. Drive to the building, ride up, and climb the stairs to the 53rd floor. Blow the server room door and take the drive. Your oxygen is limited.
-
3
The way down
The stairs give way, so follow Michael by another route, fighting FIB agents, and abseil down the elevator shaft. Out of the building, drive the fire truck to the getaway car, destroy the truck and drive to Lester's house.
- Gold: complete within 18:00; escape with 40% oxygen remaining; complete the mopping within 3:00; abseil down the elevator shaft within 30 seconds.
Roof approach
-
1
The jump
Drive to the NOOSE headquarters, fly the helicopter to the jump point, and parachute onto the roof of the FIB building, inside the marked area. Cut through the skylight and blow the server room door.
-
2
The hack
On the computer, open My Computer, the external drive and HackConnect.exe, and pick the IP address that matches the red numbers. Then open BruteForce.exe and pick the red letter in each column to spell the password. Hold off the agents while the data downloads.
-
3
The way out
The escape helicopter is shot down. Fight down through the floors, abseil down the outside, destroy the attack helicopter, and at street level take only the marked enemies, not civilians. Get in the getaway vehicle and drive to Franklin's house.
- Gold: complete within 19:00; don't kill any innocent civilians; kill 20 enemies with a headshot; finish with at least 70% accuracy; land perfectly on the main section of the roof; hack the system within 45 seconds.
- Story trophy (either approach): The Government Gimps ("You recovered sensitive information from a highly defended federal building").
The Wrap Up
Michael meets Dave Norton at the Kortz Center, wanting to be cut loose. Haines turns up, and then the IAA, rival FIB agents and Merryweather.
-
1
The shootout
Stay in cover as Michael: the enemies are armoured. When a helicopter comes in, switch to Trevor, who is watching with a sniper rifle, and shoot its pilot. Work down to the courtyard as Michael, protect Dave, and use Trevor to clear what you cannot reach.
-
2
The escape
Get to the parking lot and a car, deal with the helicopter that follows, and drive to Morningwood to meet Trevor.
- Gold: complete within 7:00; kill 18 enemies with a headshot; shoot down the pursuing helicopter.
Stretch Completion
Next comes Reuniting the Family, which opens after Cleaning out the Bureau; some walkthroughs play it before the raid. It starts the next part.
✅ Before Moving On...
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 20 October 2026 against IGN’s GTA 5 walkthrough, GTABase’s mission pages, the GTA Wiki on Fandom (its mission pages and its heist crew page), Eurogamer’s story mission and gold medal checklist, and the trophy lists of Exophase and the GTA Wiki. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it, and what the sources do not describe is not on this page.