Prologue

"North Yankton, 9 years ago."

- GTA V description at the Rockstar Games Social Club.



Prologue is the first mission in Grand Theft Auto V, involving Michael Townley and Trevor Philips. It is set in 2004 in the town of Ludendorff, North Yankton.

Description
In 2004, Michael Townley, Trevor Philips and Brad Snider rob a Bobcat Security cash storage facility in Ludendorff. After locking several hostages in a room, Trevor wires an explosive to the vault doors, and Michael detonates them via his phone. Michael and Trevor enter the vault and steal just under $180,000. As the crew make their escape, Michael is held at gunpoint by a security guard, who also removes the mask from his head. Michael advises the guard to forget what he saw and leave, but Trevor shoots him in the head.

The trio blow open another door and leave the building, but are already swarmed by the local law enforcement. A massive gunfight erupts, forcing the crew to fend off the oncoming police before making their escape. The crew reach their getaway vehicle and are driven away, but they are pursued by more police vehicles, and their hired getaway driver is shot in the head. Michael pushes his body out of the door and grabs the wheel, crashing one of their pursuer's car into a roadside tree. The crew continues their journey towards the helicopter awaiting for them, but are forced to divert their course after encountering a police roadblock. They then speed over the train tracks, but aren't quick enough and the rear end of the vehicle is hit by an oncoming train, causing them to lose control and spin out into a nearby tree. The trio survive, and Trevor suggests an alternative route to the getaway chopper, but Michael insists that they stick to the original plan.

The crew then continues on foot through the town, but realize the chopper is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Agent Dave Norton, hiding around a corner, shoots Brad with a Sniper Rifle, killing him. Dave fires again, this time at Michael who falls to the ground. He behaves as if he is injured, though he is pretending and has no visible injuries. Trevor is forced to take out the oncoming police officers alone, refusing to abandon his crew, but Michael persuades Trevor to go on without him. After briefly taking a nearby woman hostage, Trevor escapes into the snowy fields while still being pursued by armed police.

Some time later, at a local cemetery, a funeral for Michael Townley is held. Dave Norton, the agent who "shot" him, supervises the proceedings, whilst Michael himself observes from a distance and flicks away his cigarette.

The next mission Franklin and Lamar will automatically begin after the introductory theme.

Gameplay
After the beginning cutscene, Trevor kicks the door open and the player gains control of Michael. The player has to go to the guard which will trigger the next cutscene.
 * Go to the guard.

After the cutscene, Trevor leaves to plant the bomb and the player has to aim at hostages to make them walk to a locked room. Killing any hostage will fail the mission. If the player takes no action, Trevor will return commenting on the lack of action and Brad will make the hostages get up and walk to a locked room.
 * Aim at the hostages to make them move.

When all hostages are locked away, Trevor returns and will tell Michael to detonate the bomb. The player has to take out the cellphone and dial a "Detonate" contact. After dialing "Detonate" a cutscene will show the vault door being blown open.
 * Use the phone to trigger the explosive charge.

The player has to walk to the vault and pick up the cash when the cutscene ends. The cash is on a trolley in far corner of the room. Cash on the ground is worth $500, totaling to $2,500, and picking it up is optional.
 * Collect the cash.

Once the cash is collected, Michael is taken hostage by a security guard during a brief cutscene. The player has to switch to Trevor and kill the guard. If the player takes no action or shoots the guard anywhere other than the head, Michael will die, failing the mission.
 * Take out the guard.

Once the guard is taken care of, the crew will proceed further to the exit. The player needs to take cover so that Brad will plant the explosive charges on the door.
 * Get to cover.

After the door is blown up, the next task is to open the shutter door. Walking near the switch will make the player lose control of Trevor who hits the shutter switch automatically, and as such no interaction is necessary. The player receives five wanted stars and has to fight through waves of North Yankton State Patrol officers. First wave consists of two Police Roadcruisers, one Police Rancher, and three on-foot officers. Each vehicle contains two officers.
 * Open the shutter door.

This objective only appears if the player attempts to abandon the crew at any time from the beginning of the shootout up until entering the getaway vehicle. Mission will fail if the player does not return to the crew on time or continues to walk further away from the crew.
 * Return to the crew.

Once the player clears the first wave, the player has to leave the lot and move forward. A Police Rancher pulls up with two officers. Then two more Police Roadcruisers pull up, also with two officers, and the player has to kill them.
 * Escape the Cops.

Once the second wave is cleared the player has to go to the getaway car. Yet another Police Roadcruiser pulls up with officers that the player has to kill. The player has to go to the getaway vehicle and enter it. Once the player is near the getaway car, two more Police Roadcruisers arrive, forming a roadblock, though the officers are not required to be killed by the player and usually Brad or Michael or Trevor deal with them if the player doesn't.
 * Get to the car.

This objective only appears if the player does not take out the final two officers and goes directly to the getaway vehicle. The player will be able to enter the getaway car once there are no more police officers alive.
 * Wait for the crew.

After the cutscene, Michael gets control of the getaway car and has to drive forwards to the helicopter pick up point. The player is clear of any wanted level, but if the player hits oncoming Police Roadcruisers the wanted level will be reinstated. Wanted level will, either way, be reinstated at the roadblock further down the road. The player only has to follow the GPS route on the minimap. After tuning right, halfway towards the marker, a cutscene will trigger where the car gets hit by a train and Michael and Brad get shot. Turning back, going off route or getting the car stuck will fail the mission.
 * Drive to the helicopter pick up point.

This objective only appears if the player decides to leave the getaway car. Regardless of the distance, the player will fail the mission after ten seconds of being outside the car.
 * Get back in the car.

When the cutscene is over the player can fight off the cops as Trevor. The player can fight off the officers up to a point there's too much of them or exit the cover and run. Regardless, the final cutscene will play and the next mission will immediately begin.
 * Hold off the Cops.

This mission will fail at any point if the player dies, abandons the crew or the car, runs out of ammo, kills hostages or the crew, makes the car undriveable or abandons the getaway route. It is not possible to get Busted during the mission. The player will also be allowed to enter and play Grand Theft Auto Online.

Deaths

 * Jaspers - Killed by Trevor Philips for brandishing a gun at Michael and for unmasking him.
 * Unknown hired driver - Killed by the police during the chase.
 * Brad Snider - Killed by Dave Norton while attempting to escape after a robbery.
 * Many unidentified North Yankton police officers

Trailers

 * Screenshots retrieved from GTA V Trailers.

Trivia

 * This mission is set in 2004, the year Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released; which was the last game before GTA V to feature Los Santos.
 * This is, chronologically, the first mission in the HD Universe, taking place four years before the events of GTA IV.
 * This mission is set either in December or early January 2004 (for the latter, after Christmas Eve 2003, but prior to 2004's Twelfth Night), due to a Christmas tree being visible in the window of the house to the right of the barn during the final shootout, as well as Christmas decorations around the main sign in the building's foyer. When the player returns to North Yankton during the mission "Bury the Hatchet", the Christmas tree is still up. This is most likely a developer oversight, as the North Yankton setting would have simply just been re-used with no alterations made to it.
 * Due to this mission being set nine years before the main storyline, Michael and Trevor's appearances are considerably different. Trevor has a mullet with no bald spots, and a mustache as opposed to his receding hair in 2013. He also lacks most of his facial scars. Michael has fewer wrinkles and a shorter haircut.
 * Also, Michael and Trevor's character icons in the selection wheel show their 2004 appearances rather than their 2013 appearance. Trevor's icon shows him wearing the ski goggles and the balaclava until the shootout with the police when he takes his mask off, then his icon changes to show his 2004 face.
 * This is technically the first heist mission in the storyline; however, it is not counted as one.
 * During the mission Friends Reunited, Trevor will mention that after Michael and Amanda got married and had children, Michael became "soft" and was less interested in crime and violence. This can be seen here as, while Trevor shouts and attacks the hostages, Michael will instead talk to them calmly to get them into the other room.
 * The aiming in this mission is set to "Traditional GTA" by default.
 * Michael and Trevor cannot use their special abilities in this mission.
 * If Michael is taking too long in moving the hostages inside the room, Brad will come and do that for him.
 * In the original version of the game, Dave wears sunglasses whilst observing "Michael"'s funeral. In the enhanced edition of the game, he wears a beanie hat instead.
 * If Michael or Trevor are killed at any time during the mission, the mission will fail and the text displayed will say "M died" or "T died" due to both characters not being properly introduced by name until the next mission.
 * An early version of this mission can be seen in the second trailer. In it, the team wore slightly different outfits.
 * Michael and Trevor's outfits from the Prologue can be worn after GTA V is complete (however, the player must choose the Deathwish ending if they want both protagonists to wear their outfits).
 * The jacket Michael wears during the funeral can only be worn if one was to have the Special/Collector's edition, or the enhanced version (PS4/Xbox One/PC)
 * Some police officers in the mission have the same character model as Dave Norton in this mission.
 * A dead security guard with a gunshot wound in his head can be found outside the building.
 * There are five small wads of money on the floor after entering the depository. They add $500 each ($2,500 total) to this heist's reward and also to Michael's “Money picked up” statistic.
 * Foreshadowing later revelations about the background of this mission, Michael does not bleed out at all when he is shot, as compared to Brad, who bleeds after he is shot. It is explained later in the game that Michael was wearing a bulletproof vest and the entire mission was a setup to get Trevor and Brad both killed or arrested, so that Michael could end his criminal lifestyle and retire in peace to Los Santos. Another piece of foreshadowing seen in this mission, is after the security guard is killed by Trevor, and Michael says to Trevor that he didn't have to do that; Trevor replies with "There will be time for grieving later" to which Michael says, "You've got that right". This is a reference to the plan that Michael and Dave had set up prior to the heist.
 * Despite that, Michael does not wear any body armor in the mission, most likely to not reveal too much of the plan before the player is able to find out themselves.
 * During the cutscene when Michael tells Trevor to run and he is going to bleed out, Brad can be seen finally succumbing to his wounds, and his body will not move after this, indicating that he has died.
 * This is the only time where the Police Roadcruiser and the Police Rancher appear, along with several snow-covered vehicles, which include the Emperor, Rancher XL and the Fieldmaster. The only difference to Bury The Hatchet is that Sadlers, Mesas and the unique Asea appear.
 * As with all the other missions (with the exception of Dead Man Walking), if the player chooses to replay this level anytime during the main storyline, the character's weapon wheel will have the weapons already collected in-game.
 * If Trevor's Carbine Rifle has a Suppressor, when shooting at the police from the getaway vehicle, the muzzle flash will appear as if the suppressor wasn't there; also, the gun's sound will not be suppressed.
 * Similarly, if Michael's Carbine Rifle has a Suppressor, once he proceeds to take the money in the cutscene, the weapon is placed near the wall and the suppressor will trespass through it.
 * The left headlight and some windows of the getaway vehicle will be broken before the player gains control of it. However, if the player fails this sequence (either by abandoning car or changing route) and repeats it, the car will be in almost perfect condition with only the windshield broken.
 * After Trevor kills the guard, he can return to the area with the hostages, but there is nothing to interact with.
 * It is possible to crash into the oncoming police car with the getaway vehicle, though it changes nothing.
 * During the final shootout, Brad's shotgun cannot be picked up (even though it flashes like any other dropped weapon), since leaving the cover will automatically skip the shootout and end the mission.
 * Trevor and Brad's balaclava designs are unique to this mission, Brad wears a striped balaclava and ski goggles, while Trevor wears a striped balaclava and a ski mask/face guard combo. These are not obtainable anywhere in-game and only appear in this mission, they are possibly exclusive to Ludendorff ski shops, as it has a snowy climate.
 * This mission shares some similarities (and some differences) with the mission The Job in GTA Vice City.
 * Both missions show three men (Tommy Vercetti, Cam Jones and Phil Cassidy in the aforementioned GTA VC mission while Trevor, Michael and Brad Snider in this mission) committing a robbery while a fourth man serves as the driver/lookout who would both be the first men to be killed (Hilary King in GTA VC and the unnamed accomplice in this mission).
 * Only two men remain after the events of this mission. Trevor and Michael from this mission and Tommy Vercetti and Phil Cassidy after the events of The Job in GTA VC. The only difference is that Brad is scripted to die in this mission, while Cam Jones' death depends on the player (he no longer appears regardless of whether he dies or not).
 * The wanted level in this mission does not add time to the wanted level-focused stats (Last Wanted Level duration, Longest Wanted Level duration, and Time spent with a five-star Wanted Level) for Michael and Trevor.
 * If the player drives the getaway vehicle off-road and onto the frozen river underneath the bridge near the train tracks, they can see an alien frozen under the ice.
 * Unlike normal pedestrians in game, hostages in this mission will take only 1 shot to die, even if the player does not shoot them in the head.

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