[980104]
                                                                      [Preview]
After AstroMan forced Titan-Tortan to retreat, the news media report the public
demand that the government do something about the violence in Los Angeles. This
is to be made worse when Cyborg Sonic is sent brainwash the world using special
signals that it intends to broadcast world wide. Meanwhile, Tom's patience with
Dave runs out when he damages his truck from using it behind his back.  Dave is
in more danger when Tom falls pray to Cyborg Sonic -- Tonight!


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 Kate Sanchez.



  ACT I:

     The clear blue late afternoon sky could be seen over the quiet, well kept
neighborhood in the Hollywood hills here a house and garage could be seen at
the corner of the block just south of the busy thoroughfare signified by the
traffic light.  In the den, Will sat on the couch in front of the TV/stereo
system cabinet opposite a window behind him--wearing a sweater and reading the
Los Angeles Times newspaper.
  Amy walked in from the bathroom, through the kitchen and dining room and into
the den wearing a satin pink knee-high bathrobe. "Hey, 'morning Will."
  He smiled nodded.  "Good morning."
  "Nice looking day, isn't it?  Nice and warm," Amy said looking out of the
window.  Will looked over and noticed it was bright and clear out of the
window.  "Yeah."  Will folded his paper and put it down and sighed.  "I've been
reading the newspaper.  According to this, Congress has demanded action from
the U.N. about the Nazitan's forces attacking Earth.  I wonder what the
governments of the world fighting together will look like?"
  Amy shrugged and shook her head.  "Who knows.  I'm just glad we're not
counting on them to do something about the Nazitans."  Looking behind herself
into the kitchen, she changed the subject.  "Anyway, I'm going out to replenish
my cells."
  Will nodded.  "That explains the robe.  Sunbathing, huh?"
  "Yeah, it's that time again," Amy answered with a smile.  "Just like on
Terrania.  Too bad it doesn't heal human's skin like it does for us.  Plan on
getting rid of some bruises."
  Will checked his watch and looked out the kitchen window. "I don't know, Amy;
the..."
  Amy interrupted Will.  "Relax; I know how the humans feel about nudity.  I'll
be in the yard."
  Will waved his hand to stop Amy.  "Yeah but..."
  Amy grinned.  "Don't worry, I'm using the backyard."
  Will smiled and nodded his head.  "That's right, but there's a..."
  "I really should go before the wind starts gusting," Amy interrupted again.
"It's very warm today and this being Saturday, only one of two days where I
don't have to work, I just want to relax and enjoy the view of the sky."
  Will chuckles.  "Okay, I give up.  Have it your way..."
  "I can appreciate your cautiousness, but trust me, Dave is the only person
who can talk me out of stuff," Amy said as she grinned.  "I'm going out the
backdoor through the kitchen if you need to find me."
  "Good, I once went out the other backdoor and wound up in the garage," Will
replied.  "Well, anyway...  Have fun."
  "Thanks, bye!"
  "Bye," Will said as he grinned as he watched her walk off.  "I think this is
going to be too funny to miss," Will said; he put his paper on the coffee table
and stood up.
  Outside, on the backdoor, Amy's butterfly printed robe hung from the doorknob
as her bare feet were seen walking in the grass.  Will opened the backdoor and
stood at the back porch as he looked at Amy's bare back.  Amy was seen from
the shoulders up as she stopped walking.  ``Why is Will so amused?'' she
thought as she detected his mood.  In the grass, a sprinkler head popped up and
started spraying water.  So did another and another.  Amy stood there with her
shoulders shrugged and eyes closed shut as water was shooting up out of the
lawn into the sky showering her.
  "Damn timers," Amy said.  Will chuckled, turned around and walked inside.


                                   Episode 7:
                           "High Speed Brainwashing"                          

    The following Monday morning, the sky was a pale blue from bright sun which
brightly shined over the quiet neighborhood in the Hollywood hills.  There, the
house and garage could be seen at the corner of the block just south of the
busy thoroughfare signified by the traffic light.
  Inside, Tom sat on the couch facing the television cabinet next to a stand
where he talked on the telephone there.
  "Oh good!  When should I come by and leave a copy of my resume?"  Thomas took
the pen out from behind his ear and wrote in his note pad and then picked up
the newspaper to re-read classified ad he'd answered.  "Okay, thanks a lot."
After hanging up, he stood up and started walking towards the stair case to his
room when Ron was already walking downstairs.
  "Hey, Tom, what's going on?"
  "I think I can get a nicer job gardening by taking care of the plants at the
Glendale Galleria," Thomas replied with a rare smile.
  "Great!  I bet that pays way more than just mowing some house owner's lawn
for the day."
  Thomas nodded.  "Yeah.  She said they're having a hard time trying to hire
because of all 'the riff-raff with the aliens and the explosions everywhere.'"
Ron chuckled.
  "Anyway; I'm going upstairs to get a copy of my resume."
  "Don't you keep the copies in your truck?" Ron suddenly remembered.
  "Oh yeah!  Great, well in that case, I'll see you later," Thomas replied,
standing up.
  Ron held up two fingers, signaling goodbye.  "Bye-bye."  Tom nodded and left.
  He walked out of the house and saw his black Nissan truck parked.  Walking
around the hood, he couldn't help but notice that the left-turn signal light
was broken and the glass was gone.  Tom looked annoyed when he went to take a
closer look.  As it turns out, the entire left side of his truck was damaged.
Down the street, Dave was walking home with a little tiny bag from the
convenience store and he saw Thomas' anger-filled face.
  "Uh..." Dave was trying to say.
  "I wanna know how this happened," Tom tried to ask politely.
  "Well, you know my car's brakes are being fixed--and you know how bad it is
to drive when you have no brakes so I was thinking..."
  "What?  That you would go into my dresser drawer, get my keys, get into my
truck and break it?"
  "Well, it wasn't my fault, the guy was tail-gating me!"
  "That's not the point and you know it, Dave--you should know better than to
take other people's stuff and use it without their permission," Tom lectured.
"When did this happen?"
  "Last night," Dave started to answer.
  Thomas interrupted, "Last night?  What were you doing out..."
  "I put in a special request to get the night shift.  This way, I can be home
during the day in case you know who attacks.  Anyway, I was trying to go to
work but the bus was late so I had to take your truck or else I would have been
_very_ late--you wouldn't want them to dock my pay, would you?" Dave pleaded.
  "Well, even though you had a good reason for borrowing somebody else's stuff,
I still don't see why you just couldn't have asked me."
  "Because, you were asleep and you always get all pissed off and mad anytime
somebody wakes you up, Tom--come on..."
  "What do you mean `come on?'  This is probably going to cost $800 to fix."
  "$800!?" Dave reacted with shock.
  "Yes, if not more--auto repairs aren't that inexpensive.  That's another
thing you should probably know considering you're having your brakes fixed."
  "I didn't check or ask about auto body repairs, just to have the brakes fixed
so I wouldn't know--and besides, it's not like we can't afford it.  All five of
us work.  We have tons of left over money we couldn't ever use."
  "Just because we have something, doesn't mean that we should waste it," Tom
said.  "We're only living together for convenience, Dave; everybody is working
for themselves so pooling money is not exactly something that is always going
to be an option."
  "Listen--I'm sorry; but, you never let anybody use your stuff anyway."
  Tom exhaled with disbelief.  "Oh come on!  There are five of us!  If I, like
you say, wouldn't have let you use my truck, then you could've asked Will to
use his van--he always lets people borrow it because he works at home."
  "Yeah but..."
  "Listen, as much as I am (not) enjoying this, I have to go to a job interview
in my smashed up truck," Tom said while getting in.  Dave shook his head and
frowned as Thomas drove away.

     As the small, ice-covered world known as Pluto remained in the darkness of
outer space, the Nazitan outpost--a bunker beneath the surface, housed the
laboratory of their bioengineering specialist, Pleadia.  Inside of the brown,
stone walls of his oval chamber, torches were mounted on iron posts bolted to
those walls.  Between them were his video display terminal, maps of space and
various planets along with his infamous collection of cybo-eggs contained in
the freezer chest built into the wall.  This was placed opposite a circular
hatch he used to hatch and launch his remote-controlled cybernetic creatures to
planets.
  At the center of the mosaic-styled glass paved floor was Pleadia stationed at
his circular workstation.  He sat on the stool bolted on the floor before the
wrap-around console featured nothing but green, back-lit screens that were
touch sensitive; on its top was a green and black grid pad that was a
holographic projector for displaying information.  And, the three-dimension
perception of his remote controlled cyborgs.
  Igan, the gangly yes-man working there to stay out of prison for
pick-pocketing, shoplifting and other thievery stepped in at the demands of
their leader, Adol the Great.
  Pleadia, the angular but elderly looking Nazitan briefly glanced at the
subordinate and muttered, "Yes?"
  "My sincere apologies of interruption," Igan was obligated to recite,
"however, Adol the Great has requested that I gain a status report from you. He
wishes not to hesitate in presenting his orders in our next mission concerning
Earth."
  Pleadia nodded.  "Inform our majesty that I have come up with a way to make
use of the dense population in the city we have been attacking as they are.  As
a tool against the Astrorangers."
  "What?"
  Pleadia sighed; he would have to explain it to the simpleton. "Humans seem to
hate the Astrorangers almost as much as they do us--they feel insecure that
their little fantasy of being the only intelligence in the Universe has been
tarnished by the fantastic events that have happened on their tiny world.  As a
result, it wont take much to tip the scales in our favor."  He stood up and
walked away from his terminal as Igan watched Pleadia move past himself.
  Pleadia walked up to the cabinet built into the wall and opened the metal
door, releasing cool steam before revealing the racks of large, gray and green
spotted eggs.  "Cyborg Sonic is made out of the large humanoid creatures on
Kurosei VI but its needles are wired to a micro chip that transmit an ultrahigh
frequency sound."
  "I see," Igan replied while looking at the wave-table synthesized on a video
screen.
  "And according to the brains that I have examined, portions of human cerebral
folds are susceptible to these signals."  Pleadia removed the egg in a slot
marked by a X-Y coordinate and closed the chest.
  Walking over to the wall with the circular hatch, Pleadia pushed a button
popping the door open.  Pulling out the rack, he placed the egg squarely in the
center of the curved metal rod and closed the door, causing the rack to
withdraw inside of the hatch.  "Signals that have been specially programmed for
instructing the humans to be our slaves so that we needn't require warfare to
assimilate them."
  Igan nodded.  "That is pretty clever."
  "I know," Pleadia arrogantly said.  He walked back over to his console and
sat down on the stool.  "However, nobody's perfect.  And, as such, a test run
will be conducted prior to its attempt to hijack a broadcast facility and use
its instruments to send its signal worldwide."  Pleadia animated icons on the
little screens on his slanted control panel, beginning the launching sequence.
  "Let's see if the test pattern works on our Astroranger 'friends'," Pleadia
sarcastically said.  He pressed a button causing a beep before the sound of
something being ejected at high speed was heard.
  The gray world in deep space was in distant orbit of the sun when, for a
brief instant, light flashed on its surface.  Suddenly, a large glowing object
was hurled out of Pluto's orbit and out of sight.
  As the moon moved away from the view of Earth, the golden, glowing sphere of
light was flying towards the blue planet until the hatching cyborg disappeared
from view.

     It was noon now since the sun was directly overhead the two-story house in
the Los Angeles suburb of Los Feliz.  Will's van was parked on the curb because
the garage attached to the house by the kitchen was being cleaned.  Inside, Ron
walked down stairs while Will sat in his chair reading the newspaper.  Peering
into the kitchen, Ron stopped to look at Will to ask, "Where's everybody?"
  "Amy's making lunch since she got the day off while Tom's at a job interview;
Dave should be in his room," Will answered.  "Are the bad guys back in town?"
  Ron shook his head.  "Not yet; but the folks back at Uton H.Q. don't like the
sound of Ginara or Tortan based on what we've told them."  Dave was walking
down stairs in his gray sweat pants and red tank top ready to head out of the
door.
  Will sighed and nodded.  "On top of remote-controlled cybernetic monsters and
armed automaton soldiers I don't blame them."
  "Oh hey, Dave," Ron said, "Aaron called."  Amy walked out of the kitchen with
a bottle of mustard, signalled by Ron's mention of Aaron's name.
  Dave sighed.  "Now what?"
  "He called to say that the installation of the cloaked saucer above the Earth
has been complete," Ron said.  "You've driven a HydroCycle before, haven't you,
Will?"
  "Heh, I was on the development team," Will replied with a grin. "They fly out
on a G.T.F. command?"  Ron nodded affirmatively.
  "So we can AstroCharge anywhere, get our motorcycles and drive or fly out to
the scene instead of having to wade through traffic in our regular vehicles?"
Amy asked.  Ron nodded towards her as well.
  "Sounds great," Dave said, "I gotta go."  Will wondered why he was in such a
hurry to leave as Dave walked through the living room.

     Somewhat north of the Griffin Avenue entrance to the Pasadena Freeway, a
repulsive monster hid behind the bushes along the road in Ernest Debs Park. The
pudgy, purple porcupine-like creature featured horns attached to its arms and
calfs.  Cyborg Sonic's head wolf-like complete with fangs was looking around
quickly and suspiciously; a navy blue visor over its eyes enabled him to scan
for radio waves as many lines in the sky with different colors indicated
different frequencies.  Sonic's exposed spine was a long metal rod with
thinner rods angularly protruding downward on both sides like an outdoor
television antenna.
  As riggs rolled down the concrete pavement being passed by speeding cars
Cyborg Sonic stood up and put one of its boney, claw-tipped hands onto the side
of its head.  A little metal rod began to rise from gear attached to its visor
and had transmitted a local radio signal to the frequency that the truck
drivers' two-way radios were set to.
  From its point of view, Sonic could see trucks were driving into the rings of
on coming radio waves.
  The trucks started to speed up and change lanes aggressively.  Riggs with
tanks of gasoline swerved in front of compact automobiles as they had to brake
abruptly.  A driver honked and looked angry as he checked the traffic
surrounding him.  "What's his hurry?!"  Over newsradio in the driver's cars,
the traffic reporter from the helicopter above started to broadcast the news.
  "I don't know what's going on, on the 110 freeway, but, drivers better watch
out for the tankers and huge riggs on the roadway there," he announced from his
point of view of the freeway.  "They seem to be accelerating well beyond speeds
of 70 miles per hour and changing lanes without even signaling according to one
tipster.  If I were you down there, I'd just get off the freeway."  Cyborg
Sonic continued to transmit its signal to more truck drivers as they all began
to drive offensively and wrecklessly.


 ACT II:

    A pigeon flew over the Terranian's house in the Hollywood Hills and, inside
of the kitchen, Amy stood at the counter making a sandwich on a cutting board.
She wasn't paying attention to the portable television she had on while making
herself something to eat until the screen froze on a logo.  The logo being that
of their local news and the text: SPECIAL REPORT.
  "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special report," the recorded
voice said.
  "Good afternoon, I'm Harold Brown for channel 7 Eyewitnessed News; we've just
received word from the California Highway Patrol that traffic conditions on the
Pasadena Freeway in the Highland Park area have become hazardous for unusual
reasons.  Semi trucks on the 110 have been exhibiting non-stop ``road-rage''
for over a half an hour and have not responded to police requests to pull over.
Officers failed to pursue because of the sudden appearance of something that
looked like a man covered in quills obstructing traffic."
  Amy could barely turn her head away to shout of the kitchen door.  "Guys, I
think you better come hear this."
  "The CHP has written that tires have been blown out and windows of police
cars shattered from sounds emitted by the person's body."  Will and Ron
heard that as they entered the kitchen swiftly.
  "We will keep you updated on this report as the story continues.  I'm Harold
Brown for channel 7 Eyewitnessed News."
  "This has been a special report.  We now return you to your regularly
scheduled program."  Amy switched off the television.
  "Sounds like one of their goons are making a mess," Ron said.  "I think it's
time we try out those new HydroCycles and ChangeForm!"  Just as he was raising
his right fist, Will stuck his arm in the way.
  "No, Ron--this might be another trap.  We already got mixed up in one twice
before; I'll page Tom's beeper--one of you get Dave." Amy nodded affirmatively.

     Outside of the Glendale Galleria, Tom was operating a weed-whacker while
the other guys were walking towards the parking lot.  Tom turned off his
gas-powered device and looked at his co-workers noticing they were leaving.
  "Hey, where are you guys going?"
  "It's lunch time, we're all gonna take a break from renovatin' the place,"
one of the men said.  "You really need to look at your watch more often."
  Tom smiled courteously.  "Oh yeah--thanks.  By the way you guys, thanks for
the lift from my place.  For some strange reason I couldn't find my truck."
  "Yeah, good luck to you on finding it; I hope it wasn't stolen," another guy
said.
  "Oh yeah," Thomas said to himself.  "Thanks."
  "Hey, are you coming?" the last guy asked.  "If you're not it's okay.."
  "Yeah, just let me finish here then I'll try to catch up," Tom replied.
  "Okay--seeya, Tommy."  They walked away while Tom continued to work,
suddenly, his beeper started to sound as he looked at it and noticed the number
9-1-1 on the LCD display.  Putting the beeper back into its holder, Tom frowned
and took his cellular telephone from out of his back pocket and started
dialing.  After hitting send, he waited a while for his party to answer.
  "Will, this is Thomas; what's going on?"
  "Something on the freeway north of the Southwest Museum is making trucks do
battle on the road," Will said.  "You better go over there quick."
  "Will, I am NO where near there!  How am I gonna..."
  "Summon the HydroCycles," William replied.
  Tom squinted.  "We have those?  Well, thank goodness we do.  I'm not going
there in my messed up pickup truck."
  "Huh?  What's wrong with it?"
  Tom shook his head and sighed.  "It's a long story; Dave borrowed it and it's
sorta scraped up.  Anyway, I gotta go.  It'll be good to ride one of those
HydroCycles again."
  "Yeah," Will replied--slightly distracted.  "Keep in touch."
  Tom took the phone away from his ear as he had pushed down the antenna and
put it away.
     Will pushed the talk button on his cordless phone at home and Dave walked
into the living room where he stood and asked.  "Well, is he on his way?"
  Will nodded, still distracted.  "Yeah...  Go ahead; but--be careful, Dave."
  "Don't worry about it, William--with Tom out there, I know I'll be safe.
Genesis Gem!" Dave shouted before put his left fist on his hip with his right
fist pointed up.  "AstroCharge!"  Forcing his right fist ahead of himself, the
red ruby stone on his golden ring flashed so brilliantly, nothing but the white
light could be seen.
  Then, he appeared in blackness in front of a red grid before dissolving into
a black silhouette.  A white beam of light rolled across the shadowy silhouette
of his body, and across his face before returning to his right side, leaving
him in the red helmet of the Mars Astroranger.  Wearing white gloves and boots,
he stood in front of the grid in his red shiny uniform showing the white
arrow-head logo upon his chest above a silver, gold-star buckled belt.  Just
then, MarsAstro disappeared into a slow flash of bright light.

     Standing on the sidewalk in the neighborhood was the red Astroranger who
looked to the sky shouting, "Galaxy Task Force Command--HydroCycle Ignition!"
The clouds in the blue sky began to part as the faded image of a white saucer
began to warp into visibility.  Beneath its ventral hull, two black lines
perforated a plank that lowered out of the saucer's underside.  A motorcycle
with a red body shell rolled out of the saucer.
  With a water-pressure powered engine with a high-pitched sound, the rear
wheel guards came down and extended at the ends to become wings; two cylinders
at the base of each wing was a special jet that enabled the red HydroCycle to
fly.
  On the residential street, the motorcycle landed on its pair of wheels as the
wings reattached themselves to the shell behind the seat.
  The red Astroranger ran up to the motorcycle that'd already dropped down its
kick-stand and climbed aboard.  "Hey!  They've improved this thing."
  He looked at the console which looked like the dashboard of an automobile and
more--featuring a membrane keyboard, two small video screens, built-in
condenser microphone and micro-camera.
  On the hood below the windshield was a double-halogen lamp headlight with
three brightness modes.  Beneath them there was a slot where its Moleculatom
Guns would eject into place.
  "It's time to go!" MarsAstro said; he used his white boot to push up the kick
stand, revved the handle-bars with his white glove and put his other foot on
the gas pedal.
  While squealing, the rear tire began to roll against the black asphalt,
pushing out lots of smoke before his red motorcycle sped off.

     On the Pasadena Freeway in Arroyo Seco Park, overturned semi-trucks and
similar trucks collided with ordinary automobiles littered the roadway.  Fire
fighters parked their red fire engines by the emergency parking lane to put out
a raging fire caused by a gasoline tanker that crashed.
  With the red brake light of his black HydroCycle on, SaturnAstro gazed upon
the disaster and shook his head.
  The red HydroCycle had merged lanes with him as they began to drive
single-file around the damaged and destroyed vehicles.
  "California Drivers," SaturnAstro complained.
  "No, Nashiran, this is really bad even for Los Angeles," MarsAstro replied
over the radio.  "Start scanning for cyborgs."
  SaturnAstro looked up and saw an unusually large humanoid structure.  "Never
mind that, Sheratan--look to your right."  Cyborg Sonic continued to broadcast
its noise over the air.  Trucks with receivers picking up the sound were
causing drivers, whom were driving in an orderly way, to speed up and
wrecklessly change lanes.
  "Scanners are picking up unusual RF signals," SaturnAstro reported.  "I think
radio waves are being pirated by that cyborg.
  "The drivers must be listening to something on their radios making them act
crazy," MarsAstro replied while still driving, "but why aren't the regular
automobiles all over the road?"
  "AM/FM Radio signals are more difficult to pirate--perhaps it doesn't have
enough power to override several millions of volts worth of signal,"
SaturnAstro answered.  "Anyway, we better stop it before he gets to more trucks
and this whole freeway becomes a graveyard of dead drivers."
  "Right," MarsAstro said as he accelerated.  SaturnAstro was not far behind
as they both sped after Cyborg Sonic.
     On the freeway, Sonic heard strange engines following him from behind and
turned around.  It saw the two Astrorangers driving side by side, closing on
him.  Cyborg Sonic bent down and in a swirling tornado of light, became a huge
spiked ball and began to roll down the freeway.  MarsAstro jerked in his seat
as he saw the huge ball roll down the freeway.  "Nashiran!  Did you see that??"
  "Yes I did," SaturnAstro replied.  The ball began to pick up speed while
rolling down the highway.
  Cars and trucks, civilian and commercial were passed by the big purple spiked
ball rolling down the street.
  SaturnAstro looked at his terminal which clocked the remote velocity of the
target object on screen.  "It's picking up speed, Sheratan."
  "Stay in pursuit, Nash," MarsAstro said.  The ball turned a corner while
continuing to roll down the freeway into the Arroyo Seco Park area once passing
the York Boulevard exit.  First the red then black HydroCycles zoomed by,
chasing the cyborg now moving past 60 miles per hour; ironically exceeding the,
now, meaningless speed limit.
  While trying to stay behind Cyborg Sonic on the roadway, SaturnAstro said,
"I'll get behind it while you get in front to slow it down.  Since our
Moleculatom guns wont work at this speed, we will have to use the electro
cannon on our HydroCycles instead."
  MarsAstro nodded and radioed back, "Your HydroCycle has two photon guns while
mine only has one.  You can shoot both its guides and take it out.  I'll get in
front."  The red HydroCycle sped up as it lined up in front of Cyborg Sonic.
SaturnAstro stayed close behind Sonic at their high velocity.
  "Have the on-board computer find the target so you can lock on and fire at
will," MarsAstro commanded.
  "Acknowledged--firing electro cannons," SaturnAstro announced; his
white-gloved thumb pushed a red switch on his handle bars.
  The two barrels on the front of the black HydroCycle shot glowing capsules of
blue light before sparks exploded on the ground right behind the giant metal
ball.
  In the sky, Cyborg Sonic flew through the air before bouncing against a sound
wall; it unrolled in returning to robot mode before falling over the top of the
barrier and into the park.
  MarsAstro skidded his Red HydroCycle to a stop as SaturnAstro halted as well.
  "Good work," MarsAstro said looking beyond the freeway guard railing.
  "Sheratan, Sonic doesn't appear fatally wounded!"  Still smoking, Cyborg
Sonic got up and started to regain its stance.  MarsAstro reacted defensively.
  SaturnAstro climbed off his motorcycle and ran up to MarsAstro. "We wont make
the same mistake we made with that last cyborg."
  MarsAstro also climbed off of the red HydroCycle and clenched his fist before
nodding affirmatively.  "I know exactly what you're talking about.  Celestial
Weapons!"
  Within the blink of an eye, both rangers were armed with the black
BattleScythe and red FireSword.
  "We have to at least damage it enough so it can't start broadcasting its
signal," SaturnAstro said.  "Ready to go?"
  "When you are.  After it!" MarsAstro shouted.  The two of them ran from the
red and black HydroCycles propped up on kick stands before entering the park.
  SaturnAstro came up in midair with his black BattleScythe before
somersaulting overhead; the black Astroranger came down with his scythe aimed.
  Cyborg Sonic used its thin but strong arms to push SaturnAstro over
itself and off target.
     After the black Astroranger landed on the ground, Sonic turned
around and kicked the blade of MarsAstro's FireSword.
  The red Astroranger sliced towards the cyborg's flank but its foot
kicked the tip skyward.
  Both of Sonic's arms were coming down on MarsAstro's shoulders for a
double-chop but the length of the FireSword was used to block both hands.
  The red astroranger turned around and kicked his arms away but before
he could strike Sonic down, it slung a fist into MarsAstro's abs before
clawing his chest.
  The scratch sparked from his battle uniform, blasting him down.
     SaturnAstro stood again and jumped into the air.  Cyborg Sonic let
off two great blasts from the trumpets mounted on its arms as the bolt
of energy sparked off SaturnAstro's shiny black uniform.
  SaturnAstro hit the grass just outside the freeway guard rail when MarsAstro
came to his side and helped him up.  "Nashiran!"
  "I'm okay!  I thought close-contact fighting would be a problem for this
cyborg!!"
  MarsAstro nodded.  "You would think so."
  Booms followed two big blasts firing out of its arm mounted trumpets again.
  "Jump!!" MarsAstro said as they both split apart and rolled clear.  Big, tall
dust clouds blew apart in the grass of the park.
  SaturnAstro rolled to a stopped, got up on one knee and drew his Moleculatom
Blaster.  Cyborg Sonic stepped forth and prepared to fire again.  SaturnAstro
opened fire causing a bright blue beam to hit its scaly chest.  A white flash
preceded sparks busting out of its leathery skin.
  "Again!!" MarsAstro commanded before a yellow beam of light pulsed out of the
end of their devices before quickly being replaced by a bright blue beam of
electricity.
  Cyborg Sonic leaped to the side as multiple towers of sparks were exploding
like fountains of fire from the park.
  The red and black Astrorangers sent another pair of electric-blue beams of
raw power from their weapons before a wall of sparks exploded in front of the
cyborg.  However, Sonic couldn't be stopped--it leaped through the white cloud
of smoke, tumbled over and stood up.  There, it crossed its arms and leaped
into the air.
  In the sky, it hopped over the smoke like a kangaroo before aiming the
trumpets attached his arms, shining in the sunlight.
  "Oh no not again!" MarsAstro said as he leaped away prematurely.  However,
instead of live fire, sound waves flowed from its body's tubes.  The rings
warped the scenery as SaturnAstro writhed.  "Ahhh!!!  My head!!"
  When the red Astroranger landed, he turned around and looked at SaturnAstro.
"Nash!" MarsAstro shouted.
  Sonic turned up the volume as the black Astroranger held his head and
attempted to resist the painful intrusion of the sound waves.
  "No!!" SaturnAstro groaned.  "What are you doing to me?!"
  MarsAstro ran after him after the waves stopped.  As SaturnAstro calmed down,
the red Astroranger approached him and held his shoulders. 
  "Nashiran, are you okay??"  SaturnAstro didn't speak for a while as he stood
still.
  MarsAstro shook him.  "Answer me!"  Suddenly, the black Astroranger knocked
away his arms and turned away from him.
  "Oh no!" MarsAstro said.  "Nashiran, try to fight it.  That cyborg over there
is controlling your mind!!"  He walked over and pointed to Cyborg Sonic.
  SaturnAstro was still silent but assumed an attack position as MarsAstro
reacted defensively.  However, he was unable to be sure over what to do from
confusion over SaturnAstro's actions.
  MarsAstro put up his white-gloved hands.  "Nashiran, I don't want to fight."
  SaturnAstro could not hear him and was silent before suddenly punching
straight ahead.  The red Astroranger ducked out of the way and turned away.
  SaturnAstro turned backwards and spin-kicked at him but MarsAstro leaped to
the side and rolled over upon standing up again.
  The black Astroranger side kicked MarsAstro down and looked to make sure he
stayed their.
  The red Astroranger fell out of the air and hit the grass before rolling over
and stopping himself to look up.  "Nashiran!  Fight it!" he told him; MarsAstro
clenched his fist and said, "don't let them make you their slave!"
  Meanwhile--Cyborg Sonic was slowly nodding with satisfaction as it silently
step out of view.
     The black Astroranger punched dead ahead and MarsAstro's hand
knocked his arm down just in time.
  SaturnAstro ducked when the red Astroranger's reverse punch came
after his face.
  The black Astroranger roundhoused MarsAstro across the head, knocking
him into flipping over in midair before hitting the grass.

   In the hazy image pictured by a crystal globe upon a stone pedestal were the
two Astrorangers in hand to hand combat; SaturnAstro somersaulted overhead and
used his white-boot clad feet to bounce off the freeway sound wall before
leaping into a flying side-kick that hit MarsAstro in the masked face.
  Adol, sitting in the throne behind the crystal globe watched the red
Astroranger hit the grass, rolling over and over and looked beyond the stairs
leading to the stage he was on to Pleadia.  Speaking behind his scarf, the dark
robed one said, "Well done, Pleadia.  The black Astroranger is showing his team
mate no mercy--none whatsoever.  Sonic should now attempt to transmit a new
signal world wide.  One for Nazitan subservience."
  Pleadia nodded.  "It is already rolling through the city locating an adequate
broadcast facility for the task."
  "Good, but there are more of them so we divide and conquer," Adol replied
before standing up.  Pacing back and forth, he pondered while tapping his wand
in his black, leather gloved hands.  "As soon as the other Astrorangers are in
action, send another cyborg to Earth to fight them.  Sonic cannot ever be
distracted."
  "Understood and perfectly logical as well, my liege.  However, operating two
cyborgs at once is difficult, and not recommended," Pleadia thoughtlessly
remarked.  Adol stopped a moment to peer down on him.
  Pleadia continued, "It will unnecessarily complicate the mission."
  "Understand this now for I will never repeat this; I will decide when
something is inappropriate for the mission, Pleadia," Adol sternly stated.  "It
is your job to make _my_ plans succeed."
  Pleadia nodded.  "Yes, sire.  I will begin preparations for a warrior cyborg;
I will report to you once I am ready to launch it."
  Adol sat down in his throne, eased and pleased by his sycophantic tone.
"Good," he cheerfully replied.  "Dismissed."

    In Arroyo Seco Park beside the Pasadena Freeway, SaturnAstro's gloved hands
reached down for the red Astroranger's shoulders and as he tried to strangle
MarsAstro, he desperately tried to pry the black Astrorangers hands off his
white-cushioned neck.
  "Damn it, Nash, stop it!!" he groaned--his self-defensiveness overcoming the
urge to resist fighting back.  MarsAstro successfully pulled his hands off his
neck and shoulders before he launched two upper-cut punches into SaturnAstro's
black-clad abs.
  His rock hard stomach bore the blows, freezing him momentarily before
ducking MarsAstro's roundhouse kick.
  The black Astroranger used his hand and chopped the red Astroranger's
back, forcing him to tumble over.
  The red Astroranger fell out of the air and hit the grass before
slowly pulling himself onto one knee, trying to catch his breath.
  "Come on, Nash--don't let it keep you doing this!"
  SaturnAstro had his Moleculatom Blaster in hand and aimed it.  MarsAstro
looked at him point their own weapon at himself.  "Aw man, don't do that,
Nashiran," MarsAstro pleaded while he adjusted his weapon for full power.
  "Nash--don't!  NO!"
SaturnAstro was still unable to hear him when pressed the trigger.
  MarsAstro could do nothing but watch a bright blue ray of electricity thrust
towards himself.  A cascade of fireworks generated a mist of smoke on
MarsAstro's shiny red uniform as he screamed out.
  The red Astroranger was also surrounded by several towers of dark yellow
sparks exploding skyward, eventually blowing him off his feet and into the air.
  "No!!" he yelled before dropping through the dark cloud of smoke and into the
ground to fall backwards out of sight.

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    


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

Messuta works to uncover the code Cyborg Sonic's using to brainwash people with
soundwaves while Lotia helps Australis keep Sonic from pirating a radio station
to broadcast its hypnotic message world wide! Meanwhile, before Nashiran can be
helped at all, the Galaxy Task Force must over come the strong Cyborg Webmaster
protecting SaturnAstro in episode #8, "Saturn Vs. Mars"                       
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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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