[971217]
                                                                      [Preview]
The Nazitan Empire corners the Astrorangers in a nether realm on Mars to battle
Cyborg Regurgitor alone;  leaving the Nazitans free to use human beings for the
extension their own species' duration of existence.   Meanwhile, Kathy is drawn
within the Nazitan's battleship and is faced with the reality of their presence
in our solar system. However, the Nazitans are aware of her within their vessel
recharging in the desert.   And, intend to self-destruct their battleship--with
her inside in tonight's episode of Astroranger!


Artist Bros. Enterprises presents . . .


                        GALAXY TASK FORCE ASTRO RANGER
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Starring...

         Sheratan Kasei, a.k.a., Dave Marcello.  MarsAstro!

         Australis Mokusei, a.k.a., Will Richards.  JupiterAstro!

         Nashiran Dosei, a.k.a., Tom Nevison.  SaturnAstro!

         Messuta Suisei, a.k.a., Ron Michaeli.  MercuryAstro!

         Lotia Kinsei, a.k.a., Amy Leven.  VenusAstro!

  and... Commander Leto, a.k.a., Dr. Aaron Hanson.

  Featuring...

         Detective Frank Mahoney and Detective Kathy Sanchez.



Last time on Astroranger

Detectives Katherine Sanchez and Frank Mahoney were inclined to investigate the
crash site of the UFO from Pluto
     "As far as I could," Kathy replied.  "I think we should go out there and
   find out what that thing's story is.  I think it's all too coincidental
   that both it and these five guys just happen to show up all at the same
   time."
     "Especially when it was five martial artists who beat up the things
   that came out of that craft," Frank added.  "I mean, assault rifles didn't
   scratch 'em." 
However, in their travel to the Solar Sphere, Sgt. Sanchez was lost inside of
the craft.  Meanwhile...
   Amy stood with her legs together and arms ready shouting,"Genesis Gem!"
   Her left fist was on her hip while her right fist was held up.
   "AstroCharge!" she shouted before thrusting her fist in front of herself
   and, in a flash of light, the pink Astroranger appeared in the park.
     VenusAstro put her arms out into a T formation.
     "Lotia!" she shouted as she made her arms into a cross then forming a
circle on her right side.  "Venus!"
     Cyborg Regurgitor charged ahead with its horn plunging forth and
   jabbed its horned head into VenusAstro's chest as sparks blew from the
   impact VenusAstro fell into the ground
A brief, but, tell-all encounter with Tortan, personal body-guard and prized
Warrior of Adol the Great leads to a fight with Cyborg Regurgitor on the vast
wastelands on the planet Mars in another dimension.
        Suddenly, on a desert with a red tinted sky, a strobe-light like
   flashing occurred as the arcs of light stemmed from the ground into the
   sky.  The Galaxy Task Force appeared in the next flash, suddenly
   dropping slowly to the ground. 
     "_What_ was that?" VenusAstro asked, pulling herself up.
     JupiterAstro looked around.  "Somehow we got transported away from
   where we were but I don't know how."  They looked into the sky to see
   Adol, Pleadia, Igan, Tortan and Ginara's image fade into the orange sky.
     "Who are you!?" MercuryAstro asked.
     "I am Adol the Great, mission commander of the Nazitan forces in this
solar system."
  "When we get rid of this thing, we're going to track you down and flush you
out," MarsAstro shouted.
  "If you survive.  Goodbye, warriors," said Adol as their image disappeared.
Each of them looked ahead, preparing themselves for combat for they had no
escape.  On the reddish sand and rock powered ground, the blue Cyborg
Regurgitor took its first step forward...

                                   Episode 4:
                            "Fly...  The Machines!"                           


  ACT I:

     Nevada State Police had arrived in the desert over 100 yards from the busy
Interstate 15 freeway connecting Los Angeles to Las Vegas. There, fire fighters
drove in big red fire engines, already trying to cogitate on how they could
rescue anyone from within the giant battleship; a dark gray, iron-hulled sphere
which had attacked Los Angeles not more than 24 hours ago.  Detective Mahoney
was sweating from the heat and his anxiety.  He cursed himself for letting
Kathy talk him into going out to the site of the U.F.O.
  Frank Mahoney walked up to an officer that just closed the door of his police
car and asked, "Where are the paramedics?"
  "They're on their way, sir.  What happened here?"
  "We were checking out what was going on here when we'd noticed military
vehicles and weapons abandoned here," Frank explained.  "And that's when my
partner, Sgt. Kathy Sanchez was drawn under the ground."
  Suddenly, another LAPD car without a strobe light had arrived; it was an
administrative automobile for detectives and other high ranking officers.  Like
Lieutenant Newall who just got out of the car he just slowed to a stop.
  Frank looked behind himself at his superior and then back at the ship to
avoid showing his increased anxiety.  As his heart pulsed harder, he heard the
deep-voice of Lt. Newall say, "MAHONEY!"
  "Lieutenant Alexander Newall!" Frank greeted.  "What brings you here?"
  Newall's face was contorted with anger while marching up to Frank.  "Shut up!
Captain Fleishman is going to eat my butt for lunch if he finds out that you
came out here WITHOUT letting him know first!"
  "Sir, he gave Kathy and I the go ahead to do whatever we could to find out
where five unknowns that moved into L.A. came from.  And that led us here,"
Frank said.
  Newall's mouth fell open.  "WHAT does this UFO have to do with fugitives??"
  "Okay, listen; Aaron Hanson was the first guy to know anything about this UFO
and, at the same time, Kathy found a witness who drove the four guys and one
woman in question to the Observatory where Hanson worked.  Some Taxi driver."
  "You better be right about this and I mean right as in a closed case," Newall
said.
  "With all due respect sir, I'm more concerned with getting my partner out of
this thing right now," Frank said.

     With the sun shining in space, Mars, the red planet slowly moved in its
orbit of the brilliant star.  The blue scaly cyborg mutant with a wings and a
spiked dragon's tail came jogging over the red ground covered with sandy rock.
The white, black, red, blue and pink members of the galaxy task force stood
before the red-tinted sky bringing up their arms and forced them out.  As they
struck a uniform position, the battle team shouted, "Astroranger!"
  Holding his left fist low an his right hand spread out high above himself,
MarsAstro commanded, "Attack!"  The warriors charged with the red Astroranger
the last to leave.
     SaturnAstro turned around and roundhoused Cyborg Regurgitor as it
ducked.  The pink Astroranger shin-kicked at the blue cyborg but after
Regurgitor blocked her foot, the mutant spun around and lashed
VenusAstro with its spiked tail.
  After she fell, MarsAstro shouted, "Lotia, oh no!"  The red Astroranger
looked to MercuryAstro and gave him the cue.  "Messuta..."
  The white Astroranger nodded affirmatively.  "Ready!"
     JupiterAstro's punch was hammered by Regurgitor's big claw
flipping him over and looked elsewhere for more victims.
  MarsAstro brought up his white-gloved fist shouting, "Comet Kick!!" as he and
MercuryAstro jumped into the air.
  In the sky, the red and white Astrorangers leaped up into side-kicks before
flying straight ahead.
  Its leather-skinned shoulders were kicked in by two white boots which had
caused the blue beast to fly out of sight.
  Overhead, the bulky creature swam through the air.  And, as Regurgitor landed
on the dust, one could see the legs of the Astrorangers as they ran into place.
  The five of them reacted positively.  SaturnAstro looked to the others and
stepped forth. "It's not good enough, you guys!  We wont be able to escape 'til
until it's dead!"   MarsAstro stuck his hand out in front of the black
Astroranger saying, "Wait a minute, Nashiran; look!"
  As if he had never been hit, Cyborg Regurgitor stood up once again and then
managed to jump into the air.
  In the red-tinted sky, Regurgitor had used its wings to fly overhead as the
horn in its head repeatedly glowed.
  On the ground below, the task force gathered around in a circle and looked
skyward.  VenusAstro pointed up asking, "What's it doing?!"
  "I don't know!" MercuryAstro replied.  In midair, the blue, horse-headed
creature's horn has projected multiple bolts of red light.  The red bolts of
light slammed into the dirt causing dust clouds to explode as the team
scrambled out of place.
  Cyborg Regurgitor landed on the ground and flexed his arms.
  MarsAstro got up onto one of his legs, watching the cyborg.  "Well, that was
delightful."  Cyborg Regurgitor then put its hands over its mouth and then took
it away as water-like liquid streamed from its mouth.
  "Lotia!" JupiterAstro called out as he leaped after her and rolled over
getting them out of the way.  The ground was warped as the acid had melted the
surface.
  "Acidic saliva!" MercuryAstro said.  "Now what do we do?"
  "I don't know, but something tells me things are going to get a lot worse
before they get better," JupiterAstro declared.

     Pluto was alone in its distant orbit while, beneath the surface of the
planet, Adol the Great sat within his iron-clad throne observing the crystal
ball upon the pedestal before himself.
  "You have no idea, green Astroranger," Adol spoke to himself out loud; he
stood up from his throne holding his wand when suddenly, Igan came into the
stone-paved chamber.
  "Sire," Igan called out, "the battleship recharging on Earth has received an
intruder!"
  "The security parameter below the top layer of the ground apprehended these
intruders," Adol replied, "Correct?"
  Igan nodded affirmatively.  "Yes, however, all of them have not died and more
earthlings are approaching.  In re-charge mode, the battleship will not be able
to defend itself."
  "I would not panic if I were you, Igan for even the worst offensive available
to these humans can do very little harm to our inert vessel," Adol replied.
"However, I believe that the sensitive information aboard the interstellar
vehicle, if discovered, would cause unnecessary problems."
  "So what do you want me to do about it?"
  Adol sighed.  "Have Pleadia set the battleship to self-destruct by power
overload."  Igan acknowledged his command through bowing his head.
  "Dismissed."  The Nazitan cowered away while Adol observed his crystal ball
further.
  "In case of the advance of further battle teams such as this one, Ginara
should have enough footage from this conflict to determine an adequate
strategy," Adol said to himself.  "And now, it is time to dispose of our
subjects."  It was almost amusing to him what would lie in store for the doomed
Astrorangers on Mars.  As powerful as they had seemed, there is no way the
Galaxy Task Force could survive what Adol was about to present to them...  A
titan.
  From out of the shadows, Adol walked in beneath a single light from above as
he approached the glowing crystal ball on its stone pedestal.  It gleamed in
the light before a skeletal shadow was cast over the gas-filled sphere by the
boney hand of Adol the Great.  When he waved his black, pin-wheeled wand, Adol
to speak.  "Cyborg Regurgitor:  by the power of Lord Vahorra, magnify your size
one hundred fold!  Augment your strength one thousand fold!  Grow, my warrior,"
Adol commanded; the wheel on his wand began to spin on its own as fog blew like
the wind.  "Grow tall, cyborg and become...  Titan-Regurgitor!!"  The pinwheel
on his wand spun even harder, showering his crystal ball with purple bits of
light.  The energy passed through the smooth, transparent surface of the sphere
and bombard the cybernetic creature pictured on that crystal ball.
     Standing on the red sand and rock powered planet--the blue, horse-headed
mutant Cyborg Regurgitor flexed its arms as the intense stream of energy
showered the creature's leather-skinned body.  The beast's spiked tail began to
wave around violently while the horn in it's head started to glow from the
inside very brightly.
  Its arms started vibrating from the muscles within rapidly expanding on both
the left and then the right side. The reptile's legs were also quickly gaining
more and more width from increasing in length and growing more muscles.
  Bent over, Titan-Regurgitor uncrossed its arms while standing up, lifting its
enormous head over a hundred meters into the sky.

     The Astroranger SpaceBase, an opal, globe shaped satellite, stayed within
synchronous orbit with the dark-side of the Earth's moon.  Inside, the top
level marked Deck A on the floor featured a wall showing an active matrix color
monitor with five work stations on the left and right with the whole chamber
illuminated by the entire ceiling.  At the long, thin console facing that large
active matrix display, Commander Leto frantically hit keys, buttons and flipped
switches and levers before pushing and pulling on sliders and turning dials and
knobs.
  "That should do it," Commander Leto said to himself.  "Galaxy Task Force
Command, Log-On."
  "Welcome to the SpaceBase, Commander Leto," the computer played back, "Please
speak your user name for voice print authentication."
  "Leto, Commander Lionix."
  "Please enter your alpha-numerical personal identification code at your
terminal."  Commander Leto typed very quickly.
  "Access Granted."  The many tiny screens on the console he typed on began to
flicker and start up.
  Leto took a deep breath to calm himself.  "Okay, now what subatomic
vibrational frequency did they hit before vanishing?" he asked himself while
typing.  On digital counter, numbers ticked quickly when they suddenly reached
a long number in the range of billions.
  "All right, now they couldn't have gone beyond the solar system since that
power surge of unknown type originated from Pluto so I'll limit the scanners to
the solar system to save on time," Leto pondered before he began to type
quickly again.  "The less area to cover within its scanning parameter, the less
time it takes to find the GeneGem's unique energy signature."  When he entered
data into the computer, he sighed again, attempting to stay calm.  "I only hope
I'm not too late."

     Titan-Regurgitor towered in the red-tinted sky while marching in, slowed
down by the total mass that the volume of his enormous body had occupied.  As
the cyborg looked upon the red sandy ground, the blue horse head of Regurgitor
was several stories above the five, multicolored heros below.  Below, they
looked into the sky and then to each other as they jumped from side to side in
opposite directions from one another to confuse the giant beast.
  "How the HELL did this happen!?!" SaturnAstro asked.  "Sheratan, what are we
gonna do now?"
  "I don't know, damn it!" MarsAstro shouted.  "What do I look like?"
  VenusAstro pulled on the red Astroranger's shoulders.  "Do you think the
Cosmic Missile will do us any good?"
  JupiterAstro shook his head.  "I don't think so, Lotia.  All we'd succeed in
doing is to make it even more angry."
  MercuryAstro looked at the green Astroranger and replied, "It's our only shot
at holding it off until Leto can get us the hell out of here, Australis!"
  The black Astroranger nodded affirmatively.  "Messuta's right," SaturnAstro
interjected.  "Even if it wont work, we quite clearly don't have any other
choice right now!"
  The white Astroranger looked up and shouted, "Watch out!!!"  Titan-Regurgitor
picked up its big leg and straightened its knee, stomping its gigantic foot
downward.
  After the heel of the blue monster's foot had stomped the desert terrain, the
five Astrorangers leaped into rolling clear.  MarsAstro used his legs and hands
to stop before looking at the others.  "We don't have time for the cosmic
missile!" the red Astroranger said.  "Right now, we better seek shelter!!"

     In the Nevada Desert, paramedics parked ambulances while news vans were
found facing the giant, iron sphere.  A fighter fighter in a yellow fire-coat
and helmet approached Frank Mahoney and said, "Sergeant Mahoney?"  Frank looked
at him and nodded in acknowledgement.
  "Detective, there is no way we're getting through the hull of that UFO; not
unless you can get us a wrecking ball the size of the Epcot Center in Florida."
  "Terrific," Frank sarcastically replied.  "Isn't there anyway you can at
least retrieve the people through the same way they got sucked inside?  Tie a
rope around somebody and let them get inside."
  "Frank, nobody's gonna volunteer themselves to certain doom," the fire
fighter replied.  "Especially since there is no guarantee we can get those
people out of there."
  "Who's your Captain?" Frank asked.
  "Kate Parks," he replied.  "Why?"
  "Show me to her," Frank replied.  "We have to get those national guardsmen
and my partner out of there."
     Within a dark hallway, footsteps on the metal floor had echoed out from
Kathy cautiously walking by.  The lights overhead were dimmed because the ship
was recharging itself.  As she looked from side to side with her service pistol
drawn and pointed upwards, Kathy held the gun with both hands by slowly walking
towards a chamber at the end of the hallway.  While taking another step, Kathy
was forced to step back.  She looked on the ground and saw a soldier lying on
the metal floor.
  Kathy knelt down beside him and put two fingers on his neck.  She shook her
head and stood up because he was dead but not obvious how he died.  Kathy
noticed that there were more soldiers as the light began to reveal them.  She'd
assumed that if they were sucked in the same way she was, they would have died
from suffocation. They were all together unlike Kathy--who was sucked in alone.
  In the chamber she had reached, she looked around the dark chamber that was
lit by screens that displayed various images.  Kathy's eyes had bulged when she
saw pictures of humanoid aliens--the Nazitans.


ACT II:

     Extending into the red-tinted sky was the horse-like head of the
Titan-Regurgitor.  Each step the winged mutant took had brought it many yards
closer to the Galaxy Task Force on the desert terrain below.
  SaturnAstro looked at the others why they continued to back away.  "We can't
out-run this thing forever; we need a way to fight it.  Fast!"
  "There isn't anything that we've got that can we can use, Nash!" MercuryAstro
replied.
  Titan-Regurgitor continued marching forth when it stopped and ejected acid
saliva from its mouth as, like rain it poured forth.
  "RUN!" JupiterAstro shouted before he he leaped out of the way.  The green
Astroranger out-ran the others but MercuryAstro tripped and took a tumble.
  VenusAstro stopped and turned around to look at the white Astroranger on the
ground.  "Messuta!!"
  Laying on the ground, MercuryAstro was splattered by the liquid as it sizzled
on his shiny white uniform.  "Agh--damn it, this is hot!"
  The pink Astroranger ran back and MarsAstro reached out to stop her shouting,
"Lotia, come back here!!"
  VenusAstro knelt beside the white Astroranger and put her arm around his
shoulders to hold him up.  "Messuta, can you hear me?"
  MercuryAstro nodded.  "Yes, I'm fine, but I'm cooking in here."
  "Let's move!" MarsAstro commanded.  "That's an order!"
  Titan-Regurgitor sucked up enough saliva within its mouth before spitting the
acid out of it's horse-faced head.
  VenusAstro pushed the white Astroranger away from herself and stood up to do
her best to endure the acid raining down upon her pink uniform but she was
flushed backwards.
  Elsewhere, the gallons of burning fluid had thrust her body onto the red,
sand-powered ground.
  The pink Astroranger cringed while moaning, "Ahh!! it's too hot, ugh..."
  The black, green and red Astrorangers reacted vicariously as they saw the two
others unable to move from the paralyzing heat they were covered in.
SaturnAstro looked to the others and then pointed at them.  "Messuta and Lotia
just bought it!"
  "Sheratan, we are definitely not going to last very long as this rate,"
JupiterAstro interjected.  "This was a trap!  And there's no way out!"
  MarsAstro nodded.  "We just have to hold our ground until Commander Leto can
bring us the only thing that has a chance against this cyborg."

     The view of Earth from the moon in outer space was obstructed by the shiny
opal-colored globe-shaped space station that cloaked itself in the moon's dark
side.  Aboard the SpaceBase--Commander Leto looked between his terminal and the
large screen above himself.  "The scan is almost complete and still no sign of
the Astroranger task force!"  He pounded his console angrily when,
simultaneously, a double-beep had repeated several times.
  "Finally!  The computer found something," Leto said to himself while typing.
"What in the world?  Mars!?  Holy...  Uh oh; a cyborg there is too."  On the
console, LED meters were peaking from blue to green to yellow into the red.
  "That is a LOT of power it's giving off," Leto said.  "Better get this on
screen if I can."  On the theater-sized screen showing the planet Earth, the
display changed to an overhead view of the gigantic cybernetic creature with
wings on its back, a horn in its horse-headed forehead and a spike dragon's
tail.  Below on the red, sand-powered desert plane the Astrorangers were
on--MarsAstro had carried VenusAstro on his shoulder while JupiterAstro
supported MercuryAstro.
  "That's the same cyborg as before all right," Leto said while reading
biological information being listed on his console, "but it's enormous!  How in
the world did it ever get to be so big?"  Commander Leto stood up and walked
over to another console on the right wall of the chamber.  He approached the
station closest to the primary entrance and began to type on the backlit
membrane keyboard.  "The AstroShuttle Fleet is the only thing I've got that's
ready for the team to use that can help and maybe even get them out of there."
When he finished typing he leaned forth anxiously while watching the monitor on
that terminal.  "This is going to be one of the most challenging tests that all
of their training will have to endure."  Even Leto wasn't certain that the
powerful AstroShuttles could tolerate the attack of Cyborg Regurgitor.

     In the alternate dimensional world of the planet Mars, the Astrorangers
had moved away from Titan-Regurgitor relentlessly pursuing the task force as
fast as they could.  SaturnAstro looked away from the gigantic monster to see
a cliff that led to jagged rocks at the bottom of the canyon.  "Uh oh, guys;
dead end!"
  "We've got to find another way out of here!" MarsAstro shouted.
  JupiterAstro shook his head.  "There is no where to run, Sheratan!"
  "Wait a second--look!" MercuryAstro shouted.  In a ray of Magenta, Green,
Red, White and Pink, the colored silhouettes appeared in the sky when their
hulls solidified in a mesh-grid of light flying in V-formation.
  MarsAstro brought up his fist and clenched it.  "YES!"
  "The AstroShuttles!  They are here!" MercuryAstro cheered.
  JupiterAstro took a deep breath.  "And not a moment too soon."
  "Lotia, are you all right?" SaturnAstro asked.
  VenusAstro nodded.  "I think I'm okay."
  "Good," MarsAstro replied.  "Everybody ready to get on board?"  When they all
had nodded affirmatively, the red Astroranger said, "Good--let's go!"
  All of the rangers gather together and cross their arms in an X-formation.
Suddenly, they'd become glowing spheres of light all in their own color before
flying towards the airborne shuttles.  As the team had flown through the sky
together, the spheres entered the cockpits.
  Inside of the CombatShuttle, MarsAstro in his chair descended into the
cockpit before the control panel came towards him.
  "Activate Astro Shuttles," MarsAstro instructed; he put his own hands on the
navigational spool and velocity sliders as the red CombatShuttle flew threw the
sky.
     Titan-Regurgitor threw a fit--it stirred its hoof, neighed and charged
ahead.  The AstroShuttles banked and returned in formation and from another
angle, the fleet could be seen in the sky with clouds flying by in perfect
formation.
  Inside of the cockpit of the white TurboShuttle, the Primary Operator
Console's Communications Control Panel was in view as MercuryAstro pressed the
On button for the microphone and speaker pots and raised the sliders.
  "First, let's plug it's throat so we don't get more of that nasty acid spit."
  MarsAstro listened to the conclusion of the broadcast over the micro speaker
on his operator console's communication's panel.  "Okay, everyone--single file
flying formation; I'll be the decoy while the rest of you start shooting when
it opens up its mouth.  Are you with me?"
  JupiterAstro nodded within his cockpit.  "Ready to lead the others."
     In the sky, the red AstroShuttle had banked away from the other four.  The
blue titan cyborg watched CombatShuttle fly by.  Regurgitor used its arms to
force out jet streams of stringy liquid shot out of its open mouth.  The red
shuttle banked away instead of flying up to avoid the acid shower.
  The four starships flew head on and, aboard the green CommandShuttle,
JupiterAstro adjusted the X-Y controls which caused the targeting icon to
overlap the image of Titan-Regurgitor on his console. The X/Y coordinate
calculator printed the numerical location of the target-icon as it locked onto
Regurgitor's throat.  "It's time to find out how much damage we can do."
  On the tactical panel in the operator console, JupiterAstro hit On for
Shields, raised its slider and pressed Load for Rockets causing the Fire button
to flash yellow.  He hit Fire making it stay solid Red.
   CommandShuttle fired a rocket from the ventral side of its green hull.
Cyborg Regurgitor turned around and swung its tail through the air, causing the
rocket to explode without causing any harm to come to the blue mutant.
  Surprised, SaturnAstro jumped in his seat and shouted.  "Oh no!  That missile
didn't even hurt it!"

     The opal, sphere-shaped satellite in synchronous orbit of the Earth's moon
remained cloaked by the lunar body's dark side.  Onboard the hidden SpaceBase,
one of the consoles had flashed red bars along the borders of its terminal
screen.  Sitting at a workstation opposite that one, Leto turned around on the
seat, bolted to the floor and stood up.  "Why is there a Code Red alarm going
off?"  The elderly man briskly walked over to the station and bent over it to
begin typing in commands.  "The Nazitans are no where near Earth and the
AstroShuttles have already reached Mars space."
  On the screen, a window opened up showing an overhead view of the UFO in the
Nevada desert surrounded by fire fighters, paramedics, police officers, and at
a greater distance, news reporters.  Leto's eyes squinted harder.  "Hmmm," he'd
moaned, "everything looks fine except there is some kind of an energy blockage
within its power core; but, it doesn't seem like a malfunction." Another window
on screen presented a graphical representation of the solar system with lines
indicating subspace radio waves.
  "What the hell??  It's being remote controlled into self-destructing!!"  He
looked at the power levels again and then at the battleship, idling in the
desert.  "That has enough power and stored weapons to blow up a city!  Everyone
there doesn't stand a chance."

     Meanwhile, on Mars--Titan-Regurgitor stirred his hoof, neighed and began
to start charging after the AstroShuttles sluggishly from hauling several tons
of its own bodily weight.
  Onboard the red CombatShuttle--MarsAstro, aboard the cockpit, shouted over
the radio, "Everybody scatter!"
  Bolts of white light were projected from the crystalline horn built into the
horse-head of Titan-Regurgitor.  The shower of comet-shaped bolts of white
light came through the red-tinted sky and the CombatShuttle had taken its nose
up while the rockets SolarShuttle and TurboShuttle split off to the sides.  As
the green CommandShuttle had taken one of the shots on its dorsal shields,
the transparent, egg-shaped graviton shields flashed with an electric-blue
color.
  Within his cockpit, JupiterAstro yelled out while he was being jostled in
his seat.
  The pink cargo vessel, RescueShuttle, had banked off to return to the fleet.
Aboard the cockpit, VenusAstro looked to her side out of the video window.
"Australis!  Sheratan," she said as an inset-picture of the red Astroranger
appeared.  "Separately, we can't win.  We've got to form AstroMan now!"
  MarsAstro wasn't sure if they were ready--even himself but nodded
affirmatively, for he was their leader and had to show his strength when he's
needed most.  "Agreed, Lotia.  Australis, Nashiran, Messuta--are you ready?"
  The green Astroranger nodded affirmatively as well.  "CommandShuttle is in
position!"
  The black SolarShuttle flew by rejoining the white TurboShuttle. "Messuta and
I are ready to link up."
  MarsAstro sat within the cockpit of his red AstroShuttle, CombatShuttle.
"Okay!  Prepare for fleet docking sequence."  He placed his white, gloved hand
on a large, black lever beside his console before shouting, "AstroMan Unite!"
  Simultaneously, all five Astroranger's fists pulled back a large black lever.
  As the Red and Pink shuttles landed on the ground, dust came up as feet came
from the cargo bays and the wings had become shins.
  In the sky, the green CommandShuttle's nose folded under the ventral hull
while its afterburners slid onto the sides to become shoulders.
  The green starship connected to the noses of the red and pink legs, forming
the torso and shoulders.
  "Shuttle Fleet, this is SaturnAstro piloting SolarShuttle; TurboShuttle and I
are docking now."  The black and white rockets hooked up into the shoulders and
gained joints in the middle to form elbows.  And, from the afterburners of the
rocket ships, big, black fists of iron extended into place.
  Meanwhile--tubes running throughout the interior of the massive robot allowed
chairs on tracks to roll each Astroranger to the main cockpit.
  AstroMan's head ascended from between its shoulders and, through its red
visor above a metal nose and lips, one could see the Astroranger battle team
rising into place.  On the bottom level, JupiterAstro and SaturnAstro occupied
the control bank there while the top bank was manned by VenusAstro and
MercuryAstro.  The cockpit was brightly illuminated by tube lighting within the
ceiling.  MarsAstro manned the middle and center station by placing his hands
on the controls.  "AstroMan robot transformation complete!"
  Seeing all of the gigantic multi-colored robot, it held its fists' knuckles
together and while AstroMan's red visor gleamed in the sunlight, the towering
robot brought its fists apart.  Appearing behind the giant was a field of stars
in outer space showing the planets:  Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.

     In Pleadia's laboratory, he, Igan, Ginara, and even Adol the Great watched
as arcs of lightning energized AstroMan, a warrior robot equal to the size of
their titan cyborg. While observing the tilted display in the rock-like wall in
the lab, Igan reacted with shock.  "What in Lord Vahorra's name is that!?!"
  "I don't know, but I want _you_ to use Titan-Regurgitor to waste it,
Pleadia," Adol sternly told him.
  Pleadia nodded with his helmet wired into his console.  "Yes, yes, I'm
working on it."

    On Mars, the heavily armored warrior robot AstroMan assumed the Astroranger
battle pose using its metal plated arms.  Within the triple-level cockpit, the
Astrorangers saw what their robot saw through simulated 3-dimensional video on
the 40-foot screen to accompany the active matrix monitors on their consoles
featuring a numerical keypad for automated control.  Membrane buttons linked by
lines like a circuit board allowed for manual operation.
  "Okay, everybody; the simulations were fun but now, it's war," MarsAstro said
to his fellow Astrorangers, "and now, we can fight back."  The other four had
nodded affirmatively while clenching their fists.
  Titan-Regurgitor marched forth in seemingly-slow motion as the giant monster
fast approached AstroMan.  AstroMan put its fists into position walked forth as
well.
     AstroMan threw its first punch at Titan-Regurgitor which caused sparks to
blow from it's tough skin causing it stumble back.
  AstroMan hurled its other black fist into the mutant's chest and the
second blast of sparks forced it to spin around.
     Titan-Regurgitor turned around and whipped AstroMan's armor-plated
chest and sparks exploded from the friction.
  Inside of the cockpit, the team groaned, "UHN!" when they were jostled about
but quickly recovered when hanging onto their consoles.
     AstroMan stepped back as it's chest smoldered from the last attack.
  Like a charging bull, Titan-Regurgitor had lowered its head and ran
after AstroMan, using its horned-head to stab the mighty robot.
  AstroMan punched the horn away from itself and, on the red dirt, the
cyborg tumbled over, causing a thin cloud of red smoke to rise, but, it
stood up.  Regurgitor flexed its muscles to extend its wings before
taking flight.
     AstroMan looked up and, as the giant creature flew by,
Regurgitor's claws sparked off of the robot's chest from the scratch.
  Titan-Regurgitor banked and made a U-turn as it returned to scrape
AstroMan again.
     The Astrorangers within the cockpit of AstroMan were rocked back
by sparks blasting in front of themselves.  Meanwhile, MarsAstro had
resisted the blast stay in control.  "Is everyone all right?"
  VenusAstro nodded, "Yes."  She checked her console.  "Shields holding."
  "Sheratan, the VisorRay!" MercuryAstro strongly recommended.
  MarsAstro nodded.  "Right, thanks.  AstroMan--fire VisorRay, now!"
     Holding its black fists before its face, AstroMan had taken its
arms down while thrusting its face forward.  A beam of yellow light
had then streamed from its red visor.
  As Titan-Regurgitor's abs received the ray of yellow light, sparks
flashed from its body.
  Onboard AstroMan's cockpit, SaturnAstro clenched his fist victoriously while
shouting, "YEAH!  It just lost a lot in that last hit!"
  "Wait a minute, Nash!" JupiterAstro shouted, "it's not threw with us yet!!"
     Titan-Regurgitor's hands were in front of its mouth before taking
them away, allowing steaming jets of saliva to shoot out from its stomach.
  JupiterAstro used arm gestures to signal AstroMan's cockpit sensors for vocal
input before shouting, "AstroMan--form DeltaShield, now!"
   AstroMan took a step forward while forcing out its right arm as a triangular
shaped grid of pink lights formed on its black fist.  In a flash of light, the
grid was filled in by metal featuring the uniform design of the Astrorangers on
the shield's face.
  In the red tinted sky, the sticky acid was blasted against the shield as if
it were water from a garden hose.  However, the splash-back caused the saliva
to rain on Titan-Regurgitor.
  Aboard the AstroMan cockpit, VenusAstro almost stood up out of her seat to
point at the main viewer, shouting, "Look at that!"
     Its wings burnt to a crisp, smoke had risen from holes forming in
Regurgitor's blue-green flesh, showing its brown muscles.
  As the Astrorangers sat within AstroMan's cockpit observing the titan writhe,
JupiterAstro looked to the others.  "That thing is being eaten alive by its own
chemical weapons."
  "Sheratan, the SunSabre will now be effective against the cyborg,"
MercuryAstro told him.  "It doesn't stand a chance against us now."
  MarsAstro looked at the white Astroranger and put up two fingers while
nodding.  "Thanks again, Messuta; that's just what I had in mind.  AstroMan:
activate SunSabre!"
    AstroMan drew a bladeless hilt from its left hip and waved it to its right.
A beam of light shot out of the hilt which formed the silver, shining blade of
the single-sided sword.
  Holding its hands up in surrender, Titan-Regurgitor watched as AstroMan held
the SunSabre while mercilessly marching towards the cowering mutant.
     Sparks exploded out of the giant creature's chest after the towering robot
slashed its chest. AstroMan struck across its abs before a white cloud of smoke
came from the sparks blasting out of its exposed muscles.
  AstroMan held up the SunSabre before striking the sword against Regurgitor.
In the red-tinted sky, the blade swung down and the cone-shaped horn on its
blue horse-like head had sparked when the SunSabre cut through it.
  On the dusty, red ground, the horn fell on the ground and Titan-Regurgitor
started making noise from sparks spraying out of the giant hole in its head.
  "Let's put it out of its much-deserved misery," MarsAstro said as a cue to
the others.  All five Astrorangers had then shouted out, "SunSabre SuperNova!"
     AstroMan held the sword's guard before its face as the visor sent a slow,
wide beam of light into the base of the SunSabre's blade.  This caused a yellow
beam to flow to the very tip of the sword.
  While standing in front of a field of stars in space, AstroMan swung the
sword around in a 360-degree circle with its blade of light forming an image of
the zodiac.  And, as the giant, multi-colored warrior robot held the SunSabre
high, AstroMan cut straight down through the center of the circle.
  A yellow streak of light sliced diagonally through Titan-Regurgitor's body as
it slipped off its foot and, before it fell on its bottom, the gigantic cyborg
had burst into flames.  The explosion bringing a black cloud of smoke into the
sky.
  Aboard AstroMan's cockpit, MarsAstro looked down into his console. "Go ahead,
Commander Leto."
    He looked into screen on his workstation's terminal and continued to glance
as his console while saying, "Sheratan, the UFO that landed on Earth will
explode, killing everyone in the area!  Act fast, Astrorangers."
     MarsAstro nodded.  "We're ready, Commander; MarsAstro out."
  VenusAstro looked over her console at the red Astroranger and asked, "What's
going on?"
  MarsAstro looked up behind himself at her.  "The aliens left Earth a deadly
gift, courtesy the UFO they used against the US Air Force."
  "What's going to happen?" SaturnAstro asked.
  "It's going to explode, killing an undesirable amount of people--any,"
MarsAstro answered.  "AstroMan:  Rocket boost--now!"
  The red and pink shuttles as the heals of the giant robot began to generated
fire that had caused AstroMan to lift off.  In the red tinted sky, the robot,
looking up, rapidly ascended with its fists pointed skyward.

     The sun was at an evening position on the vast desert terrain of Earth as
the Interstate 15 Freeway had been shut down.  Yellow tape kept people away
from the area where National Guard soldiers had been taken inside of the UFO at
the center of the taped off area.  Various military vehicles and weapons were
abandoned at the scene as before while the media continued hyped, live coverage
of paramedics standing by for fire fighters to retrieve the victims.  However,
no such even took place as the police had soon realized.  Detective Mahoney was
sweating from the heat and his nerves as his fear of what doom awaited Kathy.
  All of a sudden, two men in black suits wearing black sunglasses approached
the LAPD Sergeant.  One of them removed a wallet from his coat pocket and
opened it to show his identification.  "I'm Agent Nielson and this is my
partner, Agent Stone; Federal Bureau of Investigation."
  "What do you two want?"
  Nielson put away his I.D. and took off his sunglasses, placing them inside of
his coat pocket as well. "We'd like to know what you know about what's going on
here."
  "As much as I'm dying to give out classified information, I'm afraid your
guess is as good as mine."
  Stone said, "When it comes to matters of national security, such as our,
military men being abducted, we don't guess."  Frank sighed.
  "Mr. Mahoney, we do have authorization to..." Nielson interrupted himself
when he and Stone looked into the sky.  Frank turned around to see what it is
that could've possibly shut them up.
  Descending from the sky was AstroMan, casting a shadow over the dozens of
people in the area.  Everyone felt the Earth shake when the gigantic robot had
landed.
  Within the elaborate cockpit, equipped with high technology, MarsAstro stood
up and looked down.  "Everybody, get away from the area as fast as you can."
  Using the red Astroranger's words, AstroMan said, "The UFO will explode any
minute and I urge you to leave now!"
  Neilson looked at Mahoney and said, "You're coming with us."
  "What??" the detective asked, "why?  What for?"
  Stone took him by the arm and began to walk with Nielson.  "There is little
time to explain."  They walked towards a black luxury sedan as the fire engines
started up their ignitions and began to roll away from the area. Paramedics and
news trucks were already driving away with police cars.
  Inside of AstroMan's cockpit, VenusAstro looked over and said, "Sheratan, be
careful with the SunSabre, there are people inside but I'm only reading one
life sign."
  "Feed me the coordinates," MarsAstro replied.  "I'll do it by hand."
     AstroMan's hands picked up the sphere and, inside of the battleship, Kathy
suddenly lost her footing as she slid to the left of the chamber.  "What the?!"
AstroMan twisted each end of the iron-hulled ship as the sound of metal bending
and being crunched had been heard.  Bits of the interstellar vehicle dropped
away when dust busted loose from the UFO split in half.
  Inside, sunlight peered in as Kathy slipped off the deck and out of the ship.
  In midair, Kathy landed in the huge palm of AstroMan's black hand.  The LAPD
detective could hardly believe it as she looked up into the sky to see the face
of AstroMan.
  While holding Kathy in front of itself, AstroMan tossed the broken UFO into
the air where it had exploded like fireworks.  On the desert, metal debris fell
like rain drops on the sandy ground.
  "Oh my God," Kathy said to herself but her head quickly returned to looking
at AstroMan as it curiously looked back at her.

     Horns honked on busy Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills where, on one
corner, a building with glass doors was the entrance to a talent agency there.
  The clock on the wall struck one as Richard promptly walked into the lobby
down off the stairs leading to his office.  He was almost surprised to see Amy
already at the booth.
  "Why, you are back on time as scheduled!  I expected to see you only a couple
of minutes from now."
  "Well I try to be on time sir," Amy said.  "Why?  Were you expecting me?"
  "Well, actually, yes," Richard said.  "I was.  Care to step into my office?"
Amy ploddingly rose from her seat and walked away from her desk.
   In his office, Richard closed the door and walked behind his desk and sat
down as he looked at Amy for a short while without saying anything.  She was in
the chair situated on the other side of his desk facing Richard.
  "Did you think about what we talked about this morning, Amy?"
  Looking down, Amy replied, "Yes sir, I did."
  "Then I suppose when I speak frankly, you will not be alarmed," Richard said.
"Please forgive me if I'm being offensive, but, there is no avoiding the fact
that you are very beautiful." He let some time go by to get a reaction from Amy
but all she did was squirm.  In her mind, Amy's terranian-given extra sensory
perception enabled her to observe visuals within Richard's mind; she saw him
holding her in a dark and steam-filled place before a passionate embrace.
  "I need you Amy," Richard said as he leaned against his desk.  Amy suddenly
looked up, interrupting her viewing of his lascivious thoughts.
  Richard smiled, almost desparately.  "Say you'll have me.  Please."
  "Richard," she uncertainly replied--without a clue of what to do, "I'm afraid
that this just isn't the appropriate environment to cultivate an
intimately-oriented relationship such as you are suggesting."
  "Is there anything I can say to change your mind?" Richard asked.  "Wont you
even consider it?"
  Fretting, Amy looked off to the side.  "Well I..."
  Richard enthusiastically attempted to salvage his plea when getting up from
behind his desk.  "It isn't as if there is nothing in it for you, Amy," he said
while walking over to her.  "Remember all of those things about using your
talents and skills to get what you want?"
  "Yes," Amy answered--not noticing Richard suddenly kneel in front of her, "but..."
  "Well, you have a talent and you look like you have plenty of skill and
there's nothing wrong with getting what you want," he interrupted.  "And if you
want a better career, you don't have to wait the long, arduous duration most
everyone else has to go through to be on top of the world."
  Amy looked at him, slightly offended.  "Richard, I'm an honest woman and I
believe in hard work."
  "Of course you do!  Think of this as another duty," Richard responded with a
bright smile--still desparate.  Amy only looked at him with amazing disbelief.
  "Look, Amy, think of it this way.  I know people, perhaps there is something
that you've always wanted to do that I could help you in doing."
  I doubt it, Amy thought--knowing more than what he knows about Earth and her
home world on the other side.
  Richard rose his fist, stressing his point.  "Money is perhaps one of the
most powerful things in the world and with it, you can do almost anything you
want."
  Amy sighed.  "I don't know, Richard."
  "Amy," Richard moaned as he put his hands on her shoulders; he looked across
her chest and then into her eyes.  "How can you turn down a man who is
promising to make your dreams come true?"  Amy looked back into his eyes,
feeling his perseverance strongly.
  Richard gave a reassuring smile.  "It's what everyone wants, isn't it?"
  Amy looked away but inhaled sharply when suddenly feeling Richard's fingers
comb through her blonde hair.  "It's what I want."
  Shaking her head, Amy stood up and looked at him.  "People have said I should
bring you to court while other's claim I should let it go.  I can do neither
for very obvious reasons.  What I do want to do is understand.  If I knew why
it is that you would and could jeopardize your position and career over this, I
could help.  I don't think people are monsters and that they know they're doing
things they're not supposed to be doing for the fun of it.  They obviously have
a problem that can't be resolved in any other way."
  Richard stood up and smiled.  "Now you understand."
  Frowning, Amy shook her head.  "No I don't.  I understand you find me
attractive but, unlike a child, a mature adult supposedly can exercise
restraint against their own desires.  See that they are there and let them go.
Why must you give in to them?"
  Richard sat down in the chair next to her and sighed.  "You're young, Amy.
You wouldn't understand..."  He paused but decided that if she were answered
honestly, she wouldn't take him to court at the very least.  "You get tired of
seeing what you want and not reaching out to take it.  Everything else in life,
people are always telling you to go for it--fulfill your dreams and achieve
your goals.  It's a positive attitude but then when you want something less
noble than.. achievements and wealth and all the rest of it, you're told you
can't."  Listening intensely, Amy sat down while looking at him.
  "It's as if you were driving and came upon a traffic light.  You could accept
a red light for 30 seconds, a minute--maybe even a couple of minutes. You're in
no particular hurry anyway--you're young!  I was young.  But then I suddenly
looked up and noticed a couple of minutes turned into a couple of decades,"
Richard had explained.  "When is life going to give me the green light?  I work
hard, I'm not prejudice, spiteful, jealous and mean.  I care about people so
why can't people care about me?"  Amy had remained silent for she had no answer
to give.

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    

In next week's episode of Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . .

The task force have to stomach Australis' attempt to better everyone's diet but
his culinary expertise is put to the test with Pleadia's latest cyborg, the
hungry Cyborg Cannibal.  With the Astrorangers as the main course, this beast's
appetite for destruction devours them one by one in the episode #5, "Insatiable
Appetite"

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"Galaxy Task Force Astroranger" is a trademark of Artist Bros. Enterprises. The
above text is protected under laws of the  United States  and other  countries.
Unauthorized duplication,  distribution  or  exhibition  may  result  in  civil
liability and criminal prosecution. Copyright (c)1997 Artist Bros. Enterprises,
Artist Bros. Music and Dairenn Lombard.  All Rights Reserved.  Country Of First
Publication: United States of America.  Artist Brothers and Dairenn Lombard are
the author of the preceding text.  The characters and events depicted  in  this
story are fictional.  Any  similarity to  actual  persons,  living or dead,  is
purely coincidental and unintentional.  This copyright notice does  not  extend
to infringe upon the  existing  copyrights for `Super-Sentai' titles maintained
by  Toei Company LTD., Toei Agency, Toei International, Asahi-TV, Marvel Comics
and Ishimori Productions.                                               [TV-PG]
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