The Paleto Score

"Time to face the music!"

- Trevor

The Paleto Score is a mission in Grand Theft Auto V. It is the fourth heist mission in the game that protagonists Michael De Santa, Trevor Philips, and Franklin Clinton execute.

Preparation
In order to perform the heist, Michael or Trevor must perform a side-mission (Heist Setup) to get the necessary equipment. Only one preparation mission has to be performed, Military Hardware requires stealing a military convoy that is driving around in Grand Senora Desert.

Mission
The crew drives to Paleto Bay, where they drop off Franklin, and then go to the bank entrance. They get out of the van and inside the bank. Inside, Trevor will shoot out the camera, causing the alarm to go off. Trevor and Michael handle crowd control while the gunman welds the safe deposit box room's door open with a blowtorch. Michael kicks the door open after it has been weakened. Meanwhile, Trevor sees cops outside, talking about killing the alarm guy. He fires a warning shot and shouts that they have hostages. The officers take cover behind their cruiser and tell dispatch that the 2-11 (armed robbery) is confirmed and they need everything they have.

Michael, Trevor, and the gunman all convene in the safe deposit box room and collect all the money - consistently $8,016,020. Police have now swarmed and surrounded the bank entrance, the deputy sheriff orders them to surrender and let the hostages go so they can "talk like gentleman". With all guns trained on the doors, the three men emerge and now don heavy weaponry and body armor acquired from the military convoy. Trevor brings out a minigun, scaring and shocking the police. They take out the cops, including a helicopter, which crashes into a nearby apartment building. The crew heads through the remains of it, and into the backyards of a few houses. After escaping past the houses NOOSE now appear, and the crew makes its way down the street, and eventually into a construction yard. If an unskilled gunman is chosen, he will be crushed by a police car at this point - his weapon and money bag can be collected near his body, allowing the player to retain the ~$2.5 million held within. If a skilled gunman is chosen, the police car won't show up at all. The Military shows up, bringing a few Rhinos and many soldiers. A Cargobob will appear, flying a Rhino past them.

Franklin, still in charge of the getaway after the original plan (him waiting in a boat in the bay collecting the money and then escaping) is botched, finds a Dozer and drives it towards the crew, while they desperately hold off the military onslaught, guaranteed to lose ~$20,000 in the process. Once Franklin arrives, Michael and Trevor escape in the bucket of the Dozer. Franklin drives to the Cluckin' Bell chicken factory, where the three enter. Eventually, they get to the railway platform, and hold off one last wave of soldiers. If the gunman is alive, he'll help by distracting and holding back some of the soldiers outside, while eventually slipping out of Paleto Bay on his own. If he died, then the trio will be forced to engage all the soldiers on their own in the factory. A train eventually arrives at the factory, and the three protagonists jump on and escape.

Nightfall comes and the crew leaves the train after arriving in Sandy Shores. Agent Sanchez soon approaches the players, leaving with the majority of the take (78%; ~$6.23 million), after divvying up the relatively small remainder (~$1.75 million) between the three characters (~$425,000 - $463,000 cut, per character). Michael says to split up, as the authorities will be looking for a group of three. Trevor and Franklin drive off in a Utility Truck, leaving Michael by himself.

Mission Objectives

 * Enter in the van. - (Michael)
 * Go to Paleto Bay. - (Michael)
 * Go to Blaine County Savings Bank. - (Michael)
 * Go to the safe. - (Michael)
 * Go to the safe. - (Trevor)
 * Take down the helicopter. - (Trevor)
 * Follow the crew through Paleto Bay. - (Michael or Trevor)
 * (Optional) Pick up the money bag. - (Michael or Trevor) (Only if you selected a bad gunman)
 * Hold on the Military. - (Michael or Trevor)
 * Go to Michael and Trevor. - (Franklin)
 * Go to the chicken factory. - (Franklin)
 * Go to the train line. - (Michael, Trevor or Franklin)
 * Hold off the military. - (Michael, Trevor or Franklin)
 * Enter in the train. - (Michael, Trevor or Franklin)

Gold Medal Objectives

 * Let it Rain - Fire over 4000 bullets.
 * Trevor's minigun is essential.
 * Accuracy - Finish with a shooting accuracy of at least 50%.
 * Michael's special ability is useful, concentrate on body shots.
 * Time - Complete within 16:00.
 * Skip cutscenes, consistently move 'forward'.
 * Collateral Damage - Cause $1,000,000 damage in Paleto Bay.
 * Destroy the gas station on the left when the player first leaves the bank - shoot a pump.

The Senora Beacon Newspaper
"If you don't own a gun, go out and buy one. If you already own some guns, go out and buy some more. If your criminal record, age, or bill of mental health prevents you from purchasing a gun at a gun store, go to a fair or become an antique gun collector. Three criminals went into the Blaine County Savings Bank in Paleto Bay earlier today, and came out covered from head to toe in body armour with the contents of several safety deposit boxes in bags on their backs. Paleto Bay has some of the highest gun ownership per capital in the country, but there's no one wishing that number wasn't even higher today."

Bleeter Posts

 * @PaletoJeremy - "In complete shock. Paleto Bay looks like Fallujah right now. Whole place torn apart. If this doesn't bring traffic to my blog, nothing will."
 * @isaacnewdong - "I caught a glimpse of the crew that hit the Blaine County Savings Bank while I was cowering in a pool of my own waste - you should have seen the crazy space age armor they had on. Like something out of a video game for real!!"

Trivia

 * In the beta, Franklin had the option to use a tank rather than a Dozer to save the rest of the crew.
 * The brazen takeover of the bank, heavy suits of body armor worn by the crew, and the large shootout with police is reminiscent of the February 28, 1997 North Hollywood bank robbery with the exception of the crew managing to actually pull off the score. It's possible the in-game heist was inspired by this event.
 * One of the robbers in the North Hollywood bank robbery had the same last name as Trevor.
 * If the player chooses Packie to be a gunman on this heist, he will mention Niko, Derrick, Michael, and the events of Three Leaf Clover from GTA IV. He may also mention it again right before the first NOOSE team shows up.
 * During the motion capture recording for this mission, the actors were wearing weights attached to their motion capture suits to make it look like they were struggling under the weight of the suits.
 * Also, in Packie's telling of the events of Three Leaf Clover, when mentioning Derrick, he will say, "God rest his soul." Which means one of two things: either Derrick is canonically killed in Blood Brothers or Derrick died sometime between the events of GTA IV and GTA V, as it is unknown whether Francis is alive or dead during GTA V. Packie is uncertain whether Niko Bellic is alive or dead.
 * It makes sense that Packie would not mention Francis, mainly because this would make it appear that Derrick's death happened in Blood Brothers, and because Packie and Francis did not like each other.
 * During the battle in Paleto Bay, cops can be heard commenting on the crew's body armor.
 * During the drive to the bank, Trevor asks everyone what their first bank job was like. Michael reveals that his first job was at a bank on the outskirts of Carcer City in 1988, making him the first GTA protagonist to ever been in or near Carcer City, as well as the first to mention it.
 * If the player visits Paleto Bay after doing the mission, he/she will still be able to see the wreckage of the helicopter that crashed and the destroyed apartment building. Strangely, the building will still be burning. It is also possible to visit the burning helicopter in Paleto Bay before even playing this mission, though it is thought to be a glitch.
 * This was fixed in the enhanced version.
 * Strangely though, if the player destroys the Xero gas station across the street, the destruction of the gas station will not be there in free roam mode. The gas station will be back to normal as if it hasn't been destroyed. Either it has been repaired in the aftermath of the mission, or it is a possible developer oversight. Destroying this will easily grant the player the Collateral Damage gold medal objective.
 * In reality, the military would not airlift tanks into a civilian zone without permission from the state's governor, especially not for personnel that are on foot.
 * It is not explicitly explained why the military responds to the robbery. The characters theorize the police paid them off, but this is unlikely. It is most likely due to the fact the characters are using stolen military-grade equipment to pull off the heist. It is also possible that they were called in as the police were unable to put up a good resistance or the police forces were all killed in the fight. However, Posse Comitatus prevents the military from being used as law enforcement, and they would not be called in such a situation. It is likely the police called in a unit of the National Guard.
 * At the end of this mission, Trevor tells Andreas Sanchez, "You got to be careful buddy, because they're looking around these trains for illegals, and if you're mistaken, pow, pow! You'll be shot amigo." This is most likely either referencing the Civil Border Patrol, as they are trying to rid Blaine County of people of Mexican decent, or plainly the Police, as they may be searching the train lines for the three of them.
 * The way Trevor got rid of the security camera during the heist is very similar to the one used by Claude during the Introduction in GTA III.
 * The Cargobob and the Rhino that fly over the heads of the protagonists have infinite health. Also, the winch is replaced by ropes over the tank, in order to get better grip, unlike the normal winch.
 * When that shows up, if the gunman is still alive, he'll tell the crew about that, or if dead, Michael will mention it.
 * After passing through fences, the NOOSE team arrives in 2 Police Riots, which are only seen in road blocks.
 * This mission can be seen in the first couple of seconds in the Official GTA V Trailer. In it, Michael, Franklin and Trevor are wearing their default outfits instead of their heist outfits and Lester along with the chosen gunmen aren't seen. Also, an APC (in the beta) was seen.
 * If the player did not not choose Rickie Lukens as the hacker in The Jewel Store Job, he will call Michael after this mission asking for a job.
 * Strangely, Trevor won't use his Minigun after entering the Chicken factory, if the player changes over to him and draws it, he will switch back to his shotgun when not being controlled. A reason is that the shotgun is more suitable for closed areas.
 * To get the most money the player should recruit either Packie McReary or Chef as the gunman.
 * This mission has the most unlockable weapons following it, they are Combat MG, Assault Shotgun and Minigun.
 * Trevor gets to keep the minigun in his inventory after the mission (along with approximately 8,000 rounds of ammo). This isn't actually indicated by any on-screen message. The player will only notice it when cycling through Trevor's inventory later.
 * If the player destroys the car Norm Richards got stuck behind (if Norm had been chosen as the gunman), the explosion will throw the car away and Norm will walk away alive like a usual pedestrian. He does not shoot the police and isn't shot by them either. Also he cannot be shot by the player with gunfire.
 * This is the first storyline mission since The Jewel Store Job, and certainly the first heist mission, to actually score the protagonists a major financial reward, as most missions since the early heist have either had only a modest payout or no financial reward at all.
 * An odd glitch may occur after the mission. Franklin and Trevor leave in a stolen utility van. If the player switches to Franklin, he will already be back in Los Santos, either driving the utility van or it will be parked nearby in lieu of his default vehicle. If he/she then switches to Trevor, he'll be back in Blaine County -- and he also will either be driving the same utility van or it will be parked nearby.
 * Optionally, combining the minigun and Trevor's ability during the shootout, will result to a devastating firepower against any enemies, as Trevor's ability inflicts more damage to them.
 * Michael's black suit with blue shirt will appear with a unique striped tie and a pair of gloves that won't appear in his wardrobe at the end of the main storyline unless you completed The Jewel Store Job by the loud approach.