Mike Toreno: Difference between revisions

'''Mike Toreno''' is an undercover agent from a "government agency" (most likely the CIA or NSA, since his later dialogue rules out the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]) who disguises himself as a drug supplier for the [[Loco Syndicate]]. CJ first meets Mike after the agent is mistakenly abducted by a gang of [[Da Nang Boys]] who are stealing one of the syndicate's drug vans with Toreno inside. CJ and [[T-Bone Mendez]] [[Mike Toreno (mission)|locate the vehicle]] at the [[Easter Bay International Airport]], and free Toreno; the agent is immediately suspicious of CJ, but Mendez convinces Toreno not to shoot him. All three then destroy the van, with the cocaine still inside.

Following the [[Ice Cold Killa|death]] of [[Jizzy B.]], CJ and his associates plan to [[Pier 69 (mission)|ambush]] the Syndicate's drug purchase at Pier 69. CJ assists them with a [[Sniper Rifle|sniper rifle]], but Toreno, arriving by helicopter, notices CJ's victims on top of the pier buildings, and aborts his landing. CJ later tracks the chopper to another location, and [[Toreno's Last Flight|shoots it out of the sky]]; Toreno is presumed dead.

Toreno, however, was never on the helicopter, having anticipated another attack like the one at [[Pier 69]], and sent a decoy. After the Loco Syndicate plant is destroyed in [[San Fierro]], Toreno goes into hiding and, using a digitally-distorted voice, calls CJ to invite him to a secluded ranch in [[Tierra Robada]]. Carl is shocked by Toreno's survival, and curses him as a mere drug dealer; Toreno reveals that he is in fact a government agent, and explains that he was distributing the cocaine to raise funds for overseas dictators and "useful" drug suppliers.

Philosophically, Toreno is a highly cynical American imperialist. He primarily uses CJ as a courier, saboteur, and assassin. Though he knows of [[Frank Tenpenny|Tenpenny]] and [[Eddie Pulaski|Pulaski's]] dirty dealings, as well as their hold over CJ, Toreno does not use his power to stop them — he tells CJ, "we have to make decisions, kid. You know, I try to set bad people on other bad people. And sometimes, I let good guys die." Toreno, like Tenpenny, seems to have gravitated toward committing heinous acts in the name of a greater good. He equates maintenance of the American socioeconomic system with the continued survival of the free world.

Later, Toreno sends Carl to [[Verdant Meadows (mission)|purchase]] the [[Verdant Meadows|Verdant Meadows Aircraft Graveyard]], a defunct landing strip in [[Bone County]], and use the facility to have CJ trained as a pilot. At one point, a container jet lands without warning at the airstrip, and men in black suits and sunglasses empty out of it. Toreno instructs CJ to sneak onboard and [[Stowaway|bomb the plane]]. While fighting the "agents" onboard, they utter strange phrases such as "Carbon-based buffoon!" and "You evolved from shrews!"

While Toreno initially dismisses CJ as street trash, and uses Sweet as a bargaining chip to ensure CJ's obedience, his attitude changes as CJ proves his ability to get seemingly impossible jobs done, and he begins to display a sense of camaraderie with CJ, despite still thinking nothing of sending him on dangerous errands. After a lengthy hiatus, Toreno eventually returns and gives CJ one last job; he personally drives CJ to [[Easter Basin]], and sends him to infiltrate an aircraft carrier and [[Vertical Bird|steal]] a [[Hydra|V/STOL fighter jet]]. CJ successfully takes the jet, shoots down enemy planes and takes out several boats at the [[Sherman Reservoir]]; he is exasperated with the danger he has been exposed to, and his rage only increases when Toreno leaves him to deal with the burden of the stolen jet.

Toreno shows up unannounced yet again in [[Home Coming]], and tells Carl that he has one more mission. CJ snaps and holds a gun to Toreno's head, but Toreno is unperturbed; he tells CJ that the "mission" is simply to pick up Sweet — Toreno has seen to his early release from prison. CJ goes to pick up his brother, and Toreno makes no further appearances in the game.

* [[United Liberty Paper]], a CIA front company in GTA IV.