Part 134: Mission 37 (Paris Route) - Prologue

From what we've seen, things have gotten pretty crazy over in Paris. Let's go back in time and see how it all happened:



Kazuma notes in the log that the Valstork's repairs have been taking quite a while... long enough for the Orb contingent to find out some clues as to the Whispered's whereabouts.
The ever-critical Reneé has already left for Paris, and Kazuma notes that she's actually kind of cute on the occasions she keeps her sharp tongue sheathed.
Kouji and the others are already acting as security for the Federation meeting, and Kazuma supposes that with them on the job he's got time to spend daydreaming of some love affair on the banks of the Seine.



His reverie is interrupted by Carret, who's been into fortune telling lately and got an omen for Kazuma to beware of girl troubles.
This actually pleases Kazuma, because it means he gets to meet a girl before the year is out – a step in the right direction, apparently; it's all part of the Trailer Maxim that "Trouble Brings Prosperity, Difficulty is a hairsbreadth away from Opportunity".
Kazuma's full dweebishness is revealed when it turns out that the people who had Carret fetch Kazuma to the meeting step into his room; Mikoto can only manage a faint "best of luck", and while Akane can understand Kazuma's feelings, she's morally obligated to tell him how sad he is.
Mihiro has actually been brought to tears by how lame her brother turns out to be.
Wouldn't you know that this was the girl trouble Carret was alluding to.



At the United Nations conference, Rose is reporting on the sad state of mankind's struggles against the increasing Radam and Eviluder threat.
She says that the clear best option for victory is making peace with Plant and suppressing the Martian Successors to regain access to Mars.
She's already been working on the preliminaries to talks with Plant leader Siegel Klein.



General Corbett protests that it makes no sense for the executariat to be suing for peace while the military carries on the war: what will the common people think?!
Rose says that she and her branch of government are doing their job, just as the military is doing its, during this apparently unavoidable war.
She reminds him that both sides have also committed major atrocities (the “Bloody Valentine” incident, Neutron Jammers), and says that she wants to establish conditions for an equal peace to pave the way forward for mankind; Corbett assents surprisingly easily, with the additional request that plans be made ready for decisive military action should negotiations fail.



Rose, no fool, realizes from the meekness of his assent that the military must think they can upset the peace process on their own.
What Corbett wants to do is unite mankind through force and, from what he’s heard from his “contact”, Siegel won’t be a problem for long, he thinks.



Taiga then reports the scientific findings of the GGG and their academic collaborators regarding THE POWER, the Q-Parts and the Boson Jump targeting unit.
All of them are judged to be beyond mankind's current scientific and moral grasp, and ought to be guarded against use by anyone.
This time Corbett speaks up, ridiculing the prospect of not using such limitless energy sources to counteract the Neutron Jammers; Taiga reminds him that those energy sources have already been shown to be dangerously out of control, and capable of harming the whole of mankind if misused.
This is not to say that GGG is sitting on its hands: it's close to developing a counter to the Neutron Jammers, and is researching ways of controlling the Q-Parts.



Corbett blames the GGG for letting Bionet steal one of the Q-Parts, and thinks they'd be much better off as weapons in the military's hands, to be used against the Radam and Eviluders.
Taiga insists that it’s too early to even consider using the Q-Parts, as studies haven’t even made results pertaining what they were actually made FOR in the first place.



It's pretty clear to Forreston that the rift between the executariat and the military is only feeding Plant's own ambitions.
Forreston knows that unless mankind solves this internal conflict, Rose's prophecies of doom and gloom will come true in a hurry.



Kouji sounds almost sad that our people won't have much to do with the military already guarding Paris.
Ryouma is more cautious, reminding us all that there's no telling when and how the enemy might strike.



For example, a seemingly innocuous street vendor, selling souvenirs to Sayaka, turns out to be Gimlet, who proudly recounts all the trouble he went through to abduct Kaname and Tessa.



Before Kouji and crew have figured out what's going on, Reneé appears, determined to beat the location of the Q-Part out of Gimlet.
Gimlet is more than eager to oblige her.


It turns out he's actually carrying the gadget around with him and he activates it’s power…