Keep Your Friends Close...

Keep Your Friends Close is ostensibly the finale in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, although in reality the player may be able to complete it before some other main missions are passed. It brings the game to a close and wraps up Tommy Vercetti's relationship with many of the game's major supporting characters, including Lance Vance and his old boss Sonny Forelli.

The mission has many parallels to the ending of the film Scarface and is obviously an homage to that movie (as are large parts of GTA Vice City in general).

Brief
As Tommy Vercetti's lordship over Vice City's underworld increases, so does Sonny Forelli's anger that Tommy is taking over Vice City. After failing to forcibly tax Tommy's expanding business ventures, Sonny arrives in Vice City himself to deal with Tommy in person. Forewarned of Sonny's arrival, Tommy sets aside $3 million in counterfeit cash in an attempt to placate him. However, when Sonny finally arrives, the treacherous Lance Vance openly betrays Tommy, citing "business" as his motivation. At the same time, Tommy is also reeling from the realization that the 15 years he spent in prison on behalf of the Forellis was the result of an ambush orchestrated by Sonny himself. These revelations precipitate an enormous gun battle inside Vercetti Estate.

The Mission
The mission begins in your office at the top of the main staircase. Here, your duty is to stay put and slaughter incoming enemies as they try to access your office safe. Several of Sonny's goons will attempt entry to the office, and it is your job to kill them before they get inside. A Colt Python spawns in the office at the onset of this part of the mission, making this process easier. If you need to, step outside of your office to eliminate the men. Once about 20 men are down, Lance Vance emerges from a hallway with many goons protecting him and teases Tommy to follow him.

Now it's time to kill the backstabbing prick, Lance. He will enter on the 2nd floor of the main hall, overlooking the main staircase and office door, wielding a Kruger assault rifle. You and he will engage in a short verbal pissing contest before he begins shooting at you. At this point, you need to chase Lance down the hallway leading to the interior staircase while he and numerous Forelli goons take shots at you. Upon reaching the interior staircase, Lance will head for the roof.

Crouch behind the barrels on the roof for a small amount of cover. Using the holes between the barrels, shoot Lance and his bodyguards. Once Lance's health is reduced to halfway, Tommy will yell, "This is the last dance for Lance Vance!" Lance replies, "I said, I had enough of that at school!" Once he is completely dead, Tommy will yell, "You picked the wrong side, Lance..."

Now head back down the interior staircase (the way you ran after Lance) and get back in front of the office. Kill any Forellis there and recover your health with the spawn (there are also health and body armor spawns in a small alcove at the bottom of the interior staircase). When you walk out of the office, Sonny will show up at the foot of the main staircase with two more guys, where he "reminds" you that your 15 years of incarceration were his to spend, before releasing his goons on you. Shoot Sonny as quickly as possible, as new Forelli soldatos will continue to stream into the main hall. Once Sonny is dead, the mission is over and in the ensuing cutscene, Tommy replaces the now deceased Lance with Ken Rosenberg as his right hand man, explaining that this "could be the beginning of a beautiful business relationship."

Script
(Tommy's Office, Tommy Vercetti, Lance Vance and Ken Rosenberg.)

Tommy Vercetti: What's going on?

Ken Rosenberg: Tommy! Oh good, good. Listen, listen. Uh, listen. I like fish, I love fish. I love them as pets in bowls, or as food on a plate. But as much as I love 'em, I don't want to sleep with them. Okay, but right now your Italian brothers are coming from up there to fit me with some cement shoes, and I...

Tommy: Shut up Ken. Sit down. Lance, what the hell's going on?

Lance Vance: It's your friends from up north Tommy. They ain't too happy you capped their man. They're coming down to see the business today.

Tommy: They took longer than I thought...Guys, we gotta make this final. We gotta leave no doubt that this operation is mine. Mine! Ken, you get the first run of counterfeit cash and put three mil in briefcases. Lance, you get the guys together...

(Vercetti Estate, Tommy, Lance, Ken and Sonny Forelli.)

Sonny Forelli: Tommy! What? No big hugs for your old buddy.

Tommy: I've had fifteen years out of the loop. I'm a bit rusty on family etiquette.

Sonny: Always angry, huh Tommy? Didn't I say your temper would get you into trouble, huh?

Tommy: There's three mil in the cases...

Sonny: How many was it? Ten, no, eleven men. That's how you get to be called The Hardwood Butcher! Heh-heh-heh.

Tommy: You sent me to kill one man. One man!!! They knew I was coming, Sonny...

Sonny: Tommy, Tommy, watch your tone...Anyone would think you blame me for that unfortunate set of circumstances.

Tommy: Just take the money...

Sonny: Get the damn cash. You know, Tommy, I did what I could for you, I pulled strings, called in favors...I was your friend, Tommy. I hoped you'd see sense, see what's good for business. I trusted you, Tommy, and you dissapointed me. But at least someone in your chicken shit organization knows how to do business. Isn't that right, Lance?

Lance: I'm sorry Tommy. This is Vice City. This is business.

Tommy: You sold us out...

Lance: No, I sold you out, Tommy. I sold YOU out! The real cash is upstairs in the safe.

Sonny: Tommy, what was the big plan? You think I'd just take the fake cash? Save face and run away with my tail between my legs?!

Tommy: No. I just wanted to piss you off before I kill you.

(Vercetti Estate, Tommy and Lance.)

Lance: No one to cover your ass now, eh Tommy?

Tommy: You're going down, you back-stabbing prick!

Lance: Oh, you think so?!

(Vercetti Estate Helipad, Tommy and Lance.)

Tommy: Come here, you double-crossing piece of shit.

Lance: You're history, Tommy. HISTORY!!!

Tommy: This is the last dance for Lance Vance.

Lance: I told you I had enough of that at school!

Tommy: You picked the wrong side, Lance.

(Vercetti Estate, Tommy and Sonny.)

Tommy: You took fifteen years from me Sonny! And now I'm gonna make you pay!

Sonny: You still don't get it do you? I own you, Tommy! Those fifteen years were mine to spend! Get him boys; he never understood a thing.

(Vercetti Estate, Tommy and Ken.)

Ken: Tommy? Oh my god, Tommy! What happened?

Tommy: What does it look like?

Ken: It looks like you ruined your suit, and Tommy, that was a beautiful suit! Tommy, what on earth happened!

Tommy: I had a disagreement with a business associate. You know how it is...

Ken: Tommy, I have a disagreement, I send them an angry letter. Maybe I pee in their mailbox. I don't start World War III! You know, maybe you should speak to my shrink...

Tommy: That stupid prick, Lance.

Ken: Tommy. I never liked that guy, OK? He's neurotic, he's insecure, he's self-centred - the guy's an asshole! I'm glad you took him out!

Tommy: I don't think we're gonna be getting any more heat from up north, either...'cause there ain't no more "up north", anymore. It's all down south now.

Ken: Wait, does that mean what I think it means...? Tommy, baby!

Tommy: What do you think it means?

Ken: That we're in charge...I mean, I mean that you're in charge. Oh, Tommy!

Tommy: You know, Ken. This could be the beginning of a beautiful business relationship...After all, you're a conniving, back-stabbing, two-bit thief. And I'm a convicted psychotic killer and drug dealer.

Ken: I know. Ain't it just beautiful?

Deaths

 * Sonny Forelli
 * Lance Vance

Tips
During Backstabbing Prick, you don't have to chase Lance upstairs. You can run downstairs and come back up the spiral staircase, approaching Lance from behind. With an M-4 you can shoot him down on the spot. You can also run up to the helipad and throw grenades at Lance in a surprise attack because he can not spot you up there.

During Finish Forelli, an odd loophole is you can simply crouch. Sonny will shoot into the staircase and you can easily take him out with an assault rifle or sniper rifle. You can torch him with Molotovs as well.

During the mission you are in a "wanted level" free zone. You can stray outside this zone, get your wanted level to six, and the moment you come back into the mansion grounds your wanted level drops to zero.

Errors
For some reason, when the audio was first done, Tommy says put 20 million in the briefcases, not three.