[980112]
                                                                      [Preview]
Curiously exploring American culture in Southern California leads Messuta--Ron,
while undercover, to record store clerk Lucy.  Meanwhile, the Nazitans have the
notion to use Cyborg Shadow to locate a mysterious dinosaur egg beneath Los
Angeles.  The Astrorangers must learn of this fossil before it's too late..


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.

  Co-Starring...

         Detective Frank Mahoney and Detective Kathy Sanchez.



  ACT I:

      The white building of three rotundas sitting at the foot of Mt. Hollywood
formed the land mark in Griffith Park, the Griffith Observatory. On the winding
road marked 'East Observatory', a black and white police car without a blue and
red strobe light on its roof drove towards the large structure.
  Aaron Hanson sat before his desk in front of a window in his office.  There
was a knock upon his door which drew the white-bearded man's attention away
from the document scheduling activities for the day.  Hanson pushed himself
from the desk, stood up and walked away.
  After approaching the door, the elderly man opened it to see Frank and Kathy
in suits.  "Can I help you?"
  Frank reached into his coat and showed his badge and identification.  "I'm
Sgt. Frank Mahoney and this is my partner Sgt. Kathy Sanchez and we'd like to
ask you a couple of questions.  May we come in?"
  Aaron stepped back away from the door as they walked inside of his office.
"Certainly.  Have a seat."  He closed the door as they sat down.
  Aaron sat down behind his desk and folded his hands together on the desk.
"What can I do for you two today?"
  "Dr. Hanson," Kathy started, "We understand that you escorted four men and
one woman to Los Angeles."
  "Yes.  They were friends of my family and since I was the only one in the
southern Californian area, I was asked to look after them," Prof. Hanson said.
  "What is interesting is that, according to the Canadian embassy, none of the
five that you vouch for seem to actually be citizens of that country which is
why there was trouble with their passports upon entering the U.S.," Frank
said. "How do you explain that?"
  "I'm afraid I can't, Detective," Hanson said.  "And, at risk of placing
myself in suspicion of appearing guilty of wrong doing, I fail to understand
the relativity this has.  Have they done anything illegal?"
  "Nothing that we are aware of, Dr. Hanson," Kathy said.  "However, it is
unusual to have documents and computer records of citizenship when in fact,
outside of the US, such records are non-existent."
  "So you believe that I might have tampered with federal computer systems to
allow passage for my family's friends," Hanson concluded.
  "Not necessarily you, yourself, but perhaps someone else; someone that you
might know--who could have done a favor for you," Frank suggested.
  "Well, Detective, I know of no such persons nor should I considering that my
occupation as an astronomer prevents any such free time from being wasted
accordingly."
  "Being an astronomer, I am assuming you know a considerable amount of
information about the extraterrestrial mass that attacked US military forces
and central Los Angeles several weeks ago," Frank said.
  "I know that it originated from beyond Pluto and that it entered Earth's
atmosphere at an unnatural trajectory of inertia.  And that suggested an
artificial propulsion system onboard keeping it on course.  However, I know no
more than that."
  "So there is a chance that there was intelligent life onboard that vessel or
intelligence which fabricated such a vehicle," Kathy suggested.
  "Anything is possible.  However, it isn't my field to speculate, Sergeant."
  "Can you explain the sudden arrival of the costumed battle team being almost
simultaneous with the sudden residency of your five friends?" Kathy asked.
  "No I can't," Hanson answered.  "Although you can be certain that I am just
as concerned about the violence in this city as you are."
  "So though you have knowledge regarding the ship and the five persons whom
arrived in Los Angeles, you have no knowledge of the five people in uniform who
apparently know what was onboard that alien ship well enough to fight it,"
Kathy suggested.
  "It is an interesting coincidence, Detective Sanchez" Aaron replied.
"However, the cause for your interest still neglects to become apparent to me."
  "We think that the five people that were brought here got here illegally,"
Frank said.
  "That's for the INS to investigate," Hanson said.  There was a long pause as
the two gestured to each other to speak off the record.
  "We know that, Mr. Hanson," Kathy said, "but, while investigating the alien
vehicle in Nevada. . .  I was, somehow, brought aboard."  Kathy leaned forward.
"We know there is intelligent life out there, likely inside of Pluto which sent
that ship.  And their intentions are less than friendly."
  "Then talk to the United Nations or the National Department of Defense.  I do
not understand how I can help you, I'm sorry."
  "If you know anything about these aliens, we want to know," Frank said.
"It's in your best interest to tell us anything you know so we can protect you
and the battle team that fought them."
  "From what?  From who?"
  "Obstruction," Kathy said.  "An investigation from the FBI can be very
intense.  They'll come the records and trace the past of everything relating to
you and those four men and woman."
  "And you believe that you have the ability to restrict the actions of the
Federal Government," Hanson remarked.  "Regardless, I am afraid you're out of
luck, officers.  I know no more than you do, Detective Sanchez (if not less);
and, I am afraid I must attend to an appointment--so, if you will excuse me."
  "Yes, of course," Frank said as he stood up.  Kathy stood as well.  "Thank
you for your time, sir, I appreciate what you have said and for speaking with
us."
  Aaron stood up and showed the both of them to the door.  "I'm sorry I could
not be of further assistance to you both."


                                   Episode 9:
                               "Invisible Forces"                             

     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
Pleadia's lab.  Inside of the brown, stone walls of the oval chamber, torches
were mounted on iron posts bolted to those walls.  Between them were his video
display terminal, backlit maps of space and various planets along with his
infamous collection of cybo-eggs contained in the wall's ice rack.  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 floor was Pleadia stationed at his
circular workstation.  He sat on the stool bolted on the floor before the
wrap-around console with a top that had a green and black grid pad used as a
holographic projector for displaying information.  This and the three-dimension
perception of his remote controlled cyborgs.
  "Too bad I'm at this distance; the fort's sensor's could get a much clearer
view of this egg's molecular structure.  However, based on these readings, the
computer is telling me that it can mature into a beast the Astrorangers might
not be able to handle!"
  Pleadia stood up, walked over to the wall and pressed backlit buttons on the
black, rectangular key pad beside the video screen.  The picture of Adol the
Great appeared before he said, "Sire, this is Pleadia."
  "Yes?"
  Pleadia looked over at dots connected by green lines creating the
constellation of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex dinosaur.  "I want to send another cyborg
to that city we've been attacking."
  "Why??  The Astrorangers are there!"
  "Once this drone finds what we're looking for, they wont be there for very
long."

   The black pick-up truck of Tom's rolled past the intersection of Melrose and
La Cienega Boulevard away from the mountains above.  Inside, Ron stared out of
the passenger window while Tom talked discontently to him.
  "And every since I've been away from my wife, I haven't been able to write,"
Tom finished, "Daria broke a ten year long writer's block I had before.  Then,
I had the ability to write a song about anything."
  "Well, it's hard to write when you don't have any gear, man," Ron replied, "I
think that if you put in some extra hours and save up, you could get a digital
piano and you'd be right back in the game."
  "It has been over two months since I've last played an instrument like that."
  Ron nodded and in the silence, he subtly began to notice something when
squinting at the dashboard radio.  "Hm."  He reached over and turned the tuner.
  "What are you doing?" Tom asked.
  Ron chuckled.  "Check this out."  He played a little bit of a dance song that
was playing on the station he'd turned to before switching back to the one they
were one.  "This is a different song but they sound _exactly_ the same!"
  Tom laughs.  "It's hard to be leave that a few hundred years ago, Earth had
artists like Chopin, Bach and Mozart."  During training on Terrania, the five
Astrorangers to be had been inundated with Earth music of all styles, various
types of motion pictures and television (though not all).
  "This is actually pretty funny, hehehe," Ron chuckled, "that can't be real,
live musicians."  In the midst of their conversation--there it was.
  An 8-story tall building that featured an enormous escalator staircase along
the side facing La Cienega--one of three that surrounded the triangular
structure ending with the Hard Rock Cafe on the San Vicente and Beverly
Boulevard intersection.  As the Nissan pick-up truck rolled slowly through the
left turn lane of La Cienga, it passed the bank and two restaurants before it
could turn left into the entrance behind the Macy's Men's Store.
  Inside of the parking lot, Tom drove by space upon space with every make and
model of car from the late 1970s on parked there.  He looked back and forth in
the attempt to spot a space.  "This is ridiculous; not a parking space in sight
and it's not even the weekend."
  Ron pointed and said, "There's one."  No sooner than said, the shiny, black
pickup truck made a ight turn to roll into the space before sharply braking to
a stop.
  Tom left the ignition going as Ron unbuckled his seat belt and unlocked the
passenger-side door.  "Okay, Ron, page me or William when you need a ride.
We'll pick you up at the bus stop."
  Ron stopped getting out of the truck to look at Tom.  "What about Dave?"
  "Hey, if you can stand his driving, more power to you," Tom replied with a
grin.  Ron laughed while getting out of the truck.
  "I'll seeya later, Tom."
  "Bye," Tom replied; Ron slammed the door shut and walked away from the Nissan
pickup truck.  The white, reverse lights appeared as he backed out of the
parking space while Ron stared past the parking space out at the big building
across the street with a men's suit store and a sports gear shop next to it.
And above that to the left was a view of the Hollywood sign and the television
transmitter with the skyline from downtown to the right.
  How do I get in the mall anyway? Ron thought to himself.

     The heat in the city burned away the clouds as always seen in the blue sky
over the quiet neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills where the Terranian's home
lies.  Inside, Amy sat in the den eating a sandwich while reading mail.  Will
walked in from the living room and looked around.  "Hey, where is everybody?"
  "I don't know but I decided to stay home and read all this mail we got," Amy
said.  She put down her sandwich and stood up.  "We keep getting mail that is
not really addressed to us."
  "Ah yeah, that's junk mail."
  Amy glanced at the colorful paper and then at Will again.  "So what do I do
with it?"
  "Throw it out," Will said with a chuckle.  Amy dropped the papers on the
coffee table.
  "Oh, by the way, how come it took you guys so long to get Tom's truck back
here?  I was getting worried he'd get started trying to ask me where you were."
  Will chuckled.  "Ron got lost again."
  Amy started laughing.  "This dude drives a truck all over the city delivering
mail but he can't go home.  Just like Californian cab drivers--they drive all
over the city more than normal people do and they're the only ones who can
always get lost in L.A."
  "Well, Ron was too busy thinking about going out and meeting a human for real
and instead of going off of all the media propaganda from where we come from."
  Amy nodded.  "I see."
  "Well anyway, speaking of propaganda--I wanna turn on this television here to
find out what people's brains are mixed up with in this world," Will told her.
  Amy shrugged.  "Okay--I'm gonna keep reading this mail."  Will took the
television remote control off the coffee table and sat down on the couch.
After turning on the television he saw a stage with a live audience featuring
this man with a microphone and a woman behind a desk showing off a compact
looking fax machine and a car in the studio.
  "Sure is, Mike," said the woman.
  Mike, with the mic smiled widely as he pointed to the camera.  "We'll be back
after this!"
  Clips of people pretending to be businessmen and woman in various places like
in their cars were played while the voice over said, "Worried about missing the
urgent fax you're expecting at the office?  Well, with cellular phones, you
don't have to miss important telephone calls.  So, why not take faxes--In The
Car!" the announcer advertised.
  Will couldn't believe what he saw.  "What??"
  A woman in a business dress sat in her car holding a white machine before
sliding it into the open glove compartment.  Meanwhile, the voice over
continued, "With this easy to use, compact machine, you can plug this right
into your car phone and take faxes on the go!  If you've got a glove
compartment, then you too can own your very own CarFax!  Here's how to order!"
  A blue screen featuring ordering information accompanied a new voice saying,
"For just three easy payments of $99, call..."
  "I don't believe this," Will said as he changed channels.  Suddenly on screen
is a very drab set decorated to look like an office with a guy in a suit
shaking his finger at the screen. "...and you can do it working at home for
just 10 minutes a day!  Multi-Level Marketing is the wave of the future with
high paying commissions.  It's easy.  It's fun and you can be a
multi-millionaire without even sweating.  You can be your own boss."
  "Oh that's gotta be illegal," Will said as he change the channel yet again.
On screen is studio with a live audience and people sitting in chairs on a
stage with a clean-cut woman holding a microphone looking extremely concerned
over the mental-health of her guests.
  "I'm a full grown woman and I don't care what anybody says, it's my life and
I can live it the way I want to," one guest said.  The audience started
applauding.
  "I understand that and I fully agree, but, haven't you ever considered dating
your cousin was in, someway...  Disgusting?"
  "Why?" the guest scoffed.  "It's mutual."  The audience started to boo.
  "Let me get to this lady over here," the host said.  Upon arrival, she put
the microphone in front of this woman with lots of facial piercing.  "Yes, go
ahead."
  "Um, yeah, Rick?  I think that you should see people you're not related to
because, I mean, what if you have a baby and all?  That could really cause some
problems."
  "Um, we're both gay," one of the guys on stage said.
  "Well coming up after this short break, we are going to meet the man who has
been leaving death threats on Veronica's answering machine late at night to see
what he thinks of this union."  On screen the show title "Julie" appears as
they fade to commercial.
  "Okay, that's enough," Will said as he turned off the television.

     As it turns out, the first four levels of the Beverly Center just above
the Street Level floor were an elaborate parking structure designed the house
visitors of this enormous shopping center without using a parking lot the size
of nine football fields.  At least, that is what Ron immediately figured out.
He walked into a well-lit booth facing three elevator doors in an area that
almost seemed underground in its clostrophobically short-height.
  Inside of the mall, a beautiful design made the Beverly Center a wonderous
place for food, fun and entertainment as well as the headquarters of fashion
for Los Angeles--home of Beverly Hills.  The three top levels were all visible
from one another through the open-floor glass-fensed octogonal railing that
centered the glossy, shiny floors.  Escelators--especially designed with
slanted beginnings and end for the handicapped led people between these three
levels constantly while at the Center Court, three fast elevators carried lots
more.  Two lavender neon bars in the tops and bottoms of these elevators made
them impossible to miss as they lifted and decended between the parking lot
floors below and the top three floors featuring everything from beauty and
health, books and clothes, furnature and jewerly to entertainment and toys and
a great foodcourt called: The Kitchen.
  In one of the three elevators rising from the floor, Ron was about, from when
he was in the downstairs parking structure.  While standing in a pair of large
sneakers and white anklets, Ron wore a cool brown pair of shorts and a white
t-shirt as he stood among people as the elevator stopped many times to let men
and women on and off.  They moved around him as if they couldn't see him so
many times, his elbows were bumped--knocking Ron's hands out of the pockets of
his knee-high denim jeans.  The one thing that separated him from the others of
his group was being the shortest of the guys--and younger than Dave.  As he
stepped onto the escalator going up, Ron pondered that the only reason Tom and,
the eldest, Will listened to him was because he was the brains of the bunch.
Will paid more attention to him because Will did value people which was nice
but wanted to get friendlier with Dave or even better, the more advanced
fighter Tom to share some of that advanced skill.  Ah, but such was life so,
like everything, he'd never let anything get him down.  Not for very long
anyway.
  One of the three elevators came up to the eighth floor where there'd been
some nice young men and women awaiting them while chatting quietly.  After the
bell had softely rang, the doors parted and Ron walked out with the rest of
everyone else.  There, he saw a gift shop, Zee Gallery, and turned left.  There
he saw a cinemaplex, a toystore and a music store called Record Tavern.
  "Don't feel like wasting a day watching a movie and I'm too old for toys,"
Ron told himself outloud.  "Music it is!"  All three were large places, even
the music store.
  Passing through the door triggered that two-tone bell all the stores seem to
be using.  He looked at the perfectly confusing displays of cassettes, compact
discs of digital audio.  Eventually, Ron realized they were sorted by genre.
Yeah, he remembered that Lyonix Leto did happen to mention some things about
consumer commerce and franchised since they'd all be doing that.
  A portly but pretty girl in glasses and pig tails stood behind the counter in
a dark apron looking at Ron who was flipping through C.D.s of highly publicized
music almost endlessly. The dark blonde moved away from the counter where she'd
been putting in new releases and walked away.
  After approaching Ron, Lucy asked, "Can I help you?"
  "Uh yes," Ron replied before reading her name tag, "Lucy.  Do you have any
samples of this stuff?"
  Lucy grinned, "Well this (aheh) `stuff' is all over the radio."
  "Really!?"
  "Heh-heh, I take it you're into that alternative music," Lucy said, "you can
also buy the CD and come back and ask for a refund if you didn't like it."
  "Oh really?" Ron said, "How does that work?"
  Lucy looked confused and then back at Ron.  "Never shopped her before, huh?"
  Ron shook his head.  "Nope, in fact this my first time to a mall at all."
  "Heh-uh woah.  Outta town, right?" Lucy asked.
  Ron didn't quite hear her.  "'scuse me?"
  Lucy just looked at him and asked, partially for personal curiosity--or so
she told herself.  "Where are you from?"
  "Here--there, everywhere," Ron answered.
  Lucy giggled.  "Okay; well, how it works is that when you purchase your CD:
the sales clerk gives you a receipt.."
  Ron followed her up to a point until he asked, "A what?"
  "A printed record of what you bought.  If you don't like it, bring the album
back to us with your sales receipt. And we'll refund you your money back, minus
the tax."
  "Wait a minute--why minus the tax?"
  Lucy grinned and pulled her head back.  "We can only give you back money that
we got to keep from you to begin with.  The sales tax we give to the IRS no
matter what."  She looked off to the side to squint, pondering to herself why
she was explaining this.
  "Well, I'd like these two if you can get them," Ron said.
  "Sure, hang on a second, I'll be right back," Lucy said as she put away a
stack of used C.D.'s for re-wrapping.  Ron went back to checking the C.D.s on
display.
  Lucy came out from the back room.  "Sorry about that; things always get their
busiest right around lunch time."
  "Lunch time?" Ron asked.  "You mean you will be stopping shortly to eat?"
  "Right after I'm done with you," Lucy answered.
  Ron smiled.  "Think I could join you?"
  "Aheh," Lucy chuckled out of surprise.  Then she stopped to stare at him.
"Why?"
  "Why not?"
  A long pause ensued but despite how awkward it seemed, Ron was so obliviously
curious that Lucy shook her head and shrugged.  "Well, I'm not going far--you
know where the food court is?"
  Ron pulled a map out of his back pocket and started unfolding.  "It's on this
floor, somewhere--right?"
  "Yeah, right behind those elevators.  Come look for me," Lucy said.  Ron
nodded and smiled.


 ACT II:

     At the Beverly Center--a great neon sign with the words: The Kitchen
appeared in red in front of a white and chocolate brown display above the two
ways into the rectangular food court.  Inside, brown tables and chairs were
accompanied by black leather seats for the booths sat in the dining area with
many restaurants and a juice bar occupied the walls.  At one of the tables, Ron
sat curiously skim-reading the CDs he'd just purchased inside of a the bag he
was given to carry it home with.  When taking another disc, the receipt slipped
out and Ron grabbed it before it fell on the floor.  ``Hmmm, this must be the
printed record Lucy was talking about if I didn't like any of this.''
  Carrying a tray of chinese food away from Panda's was Lucy, happy to be
eating.  Apart from music, enjoying a good meal was the other thing she'd
looked forward to in every day no matter how bad.  Especially if it was a bad
day, in fact.
  As she sat down, Ron looked at her plate of egg fried rice and Cantonese
style noodles.  "I hope you enjoy that."
  She smiled while looking at it.  "Thank you."
  "So," he said before dipping his egg roll in sweat and sour sauce, "how did
you start working at the music store, Lucy?"
  Lucy was already chewing her rice before answering.  "Well, my uncle knew the
owner of this one and I was just graduating from Los Angeles City College about
a year ago when I was 22."
  Ron ate some of his rice.  "What were you studying?"
  "As impractical as this sounds, my major was music," Lucy said.  Immediately,
Ron thought about Tom.
  "Really?  What instrument do you play?"
  "The piano," she answered.  Ron really thought of Tom then.
  "Ah, who's your favorite composer?"
  "Bach," Lucy answered.  "A lot of people say his music lacks emotion but it
always moves me," she said while smiling.  "But anyway, at the time, I needed a
job because my parents already sold their house two years before I moved out of
my doom to live in a condo in Pasadena and I wasn't prepared to live that far
away from my friends so I need to pay for my own place in Hancock Park."
  "So, you asked your Uncle to have the owner of that store give you a job?"
  "No, actually, my Uncle asked me if would like to work there," Lucy said.
"It was like two months before I was finishing College he said when they were
having troubles keeping people hired because of the low pay but I was happy to
be getting anything.  And my friend Karen decided to room with me so we'd share
the rent."
  "Ah, you live with your friend now?"
  "Yes, we do everything together now," Lucy said.
  Ron's ring started glow and Lucy looked at it, not noticing at first but then
taken by surprise.  "Ron; your ring!"
  Ron looked at his hand.  "Uh, what?  Oh."
  Lucy pointed.  "It's glowing!"
  "Yeah--I don't know why that's happening," Ron replied, "I'll be right back."
As she watched him leave, Lucy didn't say anything even though her mouth was
open from being dumb founded.  Ron walked urgently from the table with his arms
charging each step he took powerfully while occasionally glancing behind
himself.  After moving left to pass a bookstore and a Starbucks coffee stand,
he entered the crowded area where there were pay phones--the only place in the
entire mall where one could find any.  Ron waited until there was a little
privacy and then immediately moved to one.  He pushed a quarter and a dime
through the slot and started dialing.
  "Hey, Aaron...  Not much, you?  Okay.  My ring's acting like Christmas tree
but so far no sign of any cyborgs or thugs," Ron said while looking around, to
make sure he wasn't being followed or heard.  "I didn't check outside because I
wanted to make sure it wasn't something I couldn't take on my own...  Uh huh?
That's why I called...  Right, just in case I do need the others.  I was gonna
check it out but wanted to make sure the others were on their way in case I
found what I was looking for...  Sure no problem."  After that, he hung up and
walked away.
  In the food court, Ron was walking back into focus but he wouldn't notice the
vacated table until he'd arrived.  "Hey, Luce...  Oh great."  He frowned and
then looked at his watch.  "Her break was over that quickly?  Better find her
later.  Right now--I've got to see what this is all about."

    After walking across La Cienega Boulevard, Ron began to walk down the right
side where the only pedestrian pavement was to the Generic Cinema's parking
lot.  When Ron finally got there, he looked back and forth in the dark parking
structure on the ground level.  "Well, this is where the action would be."  He
looked back and forth with his hands on the back of his waist when suddenly,
Ron saw the reflection of his GeneGem ring glow in a puddle of water.  Holding
his fist in front of himself, Ron looked at it thinking, ``An evil presence IS
near by.''  He sharply put his clenched fist down and moved ahead.
  After walking along the narrow path along various shops on the inside of the
lot, including a chinese food restaurant, Ron didn't see anything until he
looked up.  On the stairs, Ginara leaped off the roof of the restaurant and
onto the staircase leading to the roof of the parking structure.
  "Ginara!" he grunted as he quickly approached the metal stairs himself.
  On top of the building's roof stood a black humanoid automaton.  It was an
android in shiny a black bodysuit with boots, gloves the same color waiting for
him.  A sheath was mounted on Cyborg Shadow's back holding a saber.  The
stealth cyborg had the senses of a cat with moves to match and Ginara stood
next to it waiting for Ron to arrive as well.
  "Once we clobber the white Astroranger, I'll get rid of him while you keep
looking for the egg in this area," Ginara ordered, "you got that?"  Shadow
nodded affirmatively.
  While Ron ran up the stairs, he stopped at the 4th floor, just before he got
to the roof.
  Wait a minute--they could be expecting me, he thought to himself.  Ron's
right hand searched his front pockets and located his trusty pocket calculator.
"Yeah..."
  As the black cyborg and Ginara stood side by side gazing upon the roof's
edge, an object suddenly came flying up from behind the wall; they both looked
into the sky to see it coast overhead.
  "What was that?" Ginara asked.  She jerked in surprise when Ron himself had
leaped up from behind the precipice of the roof and landed on his hand and
knee.
  Ginara pointed to him.  "Distractions wont save your life, amateur!"
  Ron stood up, offended.  "What?!"
  "You should know better than to think you alone can stop me!"
  "You're talking in the mirror, Ginara," Ron replied. "It takes more than just
you and your weird black pawn to take me out."  He assumed his three-way battle
pose, forming the Mercury insignia.
  Ginara pointed at him and looked at Cyborg Shadow shouting, "Shadow, attack!"
It stepped forth, and, like magic, took out a fist full of razor-sharp shards
of metal shaped like snow flakes and tossed them.
  Ron leaped to the side and rolled to a stop as he got up one knee preparing
himself.
  "Again!"  Ginara commanded.  Cyborg Shadow pulled the sword out of its
back-mounted sheath and used its hand to turn the silver blade a glowing blue.
When the cyborg pointed the saber at Ron, the blue light shot from off the tip
of the blade.
  Ron pulled a personal mirror out of his back pocket.  After opening it, the
beam reflected off the mirror.  
  Ginara's arms came up when the first of many towers of sparks exploded in
front of her at the black cyborg beside her.  She tumbled over and then jumped
into the air.
  Ron looked up as he saw her plunge forth, hollering a war call.  "Uh oh!"
     He cartwheeled from Ginara's arm chopping down and immediately
tried to roundhouse her.
  Ducking was second nature to Ginara but did not expect him to block
her punch.
  Ron upper-cut her in the ribs and took away his blocking forearm to
upper-cut Ginara's abs, getting her to jerk back.
     He assumed Ginara was going to attack high again but quickly
realized differently when she suddenly fell to her hands and low
sweep-kicked.
  Ron back flipped over her metal-clad leg but was left open to getting
kicked across the face by a high spin-kick after standing up.
  He was completely blind to her foot whacking him across the head,
knocking his body out of sight.
     Ron swam overhead through the partly cloudy sky and, on the edge
of the roof, his two hands hooked onto the rope-guarded edge--barely saving his
life.
  Looking down, seeing the people below unaware so far--he turned his bruised
and slightly bloodied face upward again. "This is not how I had imagined this
would go," Ron said as he struggled to hang on.  Ginara walked up to the edge
of the building and looked at him as she was joined by Shadow.  Ron looked to
the streets below and then up at Ginara again.

     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 a pink leotard and bike pants, Amy rapidly blocked a complex
sequence of punches from Tom in oversized jeans and a black tank top.  Dave
stood in the backyard with them as watched and leaned over to Will.  "Tom's
changing combinations on her."
  Will quickly nodded.  "I know."  Suddenly there was a double beep on Dave's
red pager.  He unconsciously hit the button to make it stop while taking the
belt-clipped beeper off his gray sweat pants.
  After glancing at the LCD display he looked over and called out, "Guys..."
Tom stopped and looked over his shoulder.
  Dave tapped his ring finger and gestured that its time to move.  Amy nodded
and hopped off.

     Meanwhile, over the side of the parking structure's roof, Ron hung by his
hands from one of the three ropes that guarded the edge as Ginara stood
overhead with Cyborg Shadow. 
  Ginara stomped on the ropes but Ron managed to move his right hand.  "Is that
the best you can do?"  Ginara stomped again and Ron moved his other hand but
he lost his grip now only hanging on by his right arm.
  "Agh!  If I could just transform!"  Ginara grinned as she stomped again.  Ron
changed hands making his right fist available.
  "Ah ha!  Yes!  ChangeForm!" he said bringing his fist in front of himself.
"AstroCharge!"  Upon bringing his fist up, his ring suddenly flashed with the
white light of genesis power.
  A black silhouette of his face appeared in front of a red grid black backdrop
before a white beam of light scanned from left to right.  When it returned to
the left again, his face was masked by the white helmet of the Mercury
Astroranger.
  MercuryAstro, hanging on to the rope by both hands, put both feet on the
side of the building and pushed off.  He swung by his hands like hinges and
launched himself skyward.
  Overhead, his shiny white, uniform-clad body twisted through the air while
flipping over.  And, after he landed behind Ginara, she and Cyborg Shadow
turned around and looked at the white Astroranger pose for battle.
  "MercuryAstro!" she grunted.
  He stood up before popping his knuckles and gripping his wrist.  "They should
know it's not so easy as to push me off the side of a building to get rid of
me," MercuryAstro said.  "Moleculatom Light Dagger!"  He circularly swung his
arms through the air until the holster on his belt was securely held by both of
his white gloves.  His right fist was latched onto the dark gray handle of the
weapon within his left hip-side holster and quickly pulled it out.
  Holding it in front of his shoulder, he forcefully pointed it to the ground,
causing a short beam of light to stem from the hilt's base.  Once the glow had
resolved to form a dagger's blade, the white Astroranger held it out with his
other hand ready.
  "Shadow, wage your assault!" Ginara commanded.  Cyborg Shadow pulled the gold
trimmed hilt of his saber from the sheath attached to its back and swung it to
the left before also aiming it.
  MercuryAstro changed positions before charging ahead at full speed.  Cyborg
Shadow's feet pounded the concrete-topped roof while also running as fast as
it could.
     Shadow jumped over MercuryAstro's blade and tumbled over.
Wondering where he went, the white Astroranger looked back and forth
before quickly turning around.
  There it was already using both hands to cut into MercuryAstro's flank.
  He was just in time to strike high and knock Shadow's saber upwards in
the blink of an eye.  MercuryAstro tried striking down but Cyborg
Shadow turned his sword sideways.
  MercuryAstro hop-kicked Shadow's sword and drove his dagger towards
its gut.
  Shadow spin-kicked the white Astroranger's Moleculatom Dagger blade,
hopped up and cut down on his uniform--blasting him back by the sparks
that flashed from the metal friction.
     When MercuryAstro didn't fall, Shadow sliced sideways while the white
Astroranger tumbled beneath the cyborg's saber.  Since the force of the
cyborg's attack was so powerful, it slightly jogged ahead.  To recover
from that mistake, Cyborg Shadow quickly came to a complete stop before
turning around, shifting back into motion.
  Unexpectedly, its face ran right into MercuryAstro's right elbow,
causing its arms to swim in self-stabilizing.
  MercuryAstro stood up again to swing his dagger against the cyborg on
the right side.  After it met Cyborg Shadow's saber, MercuryAstro tried
the left.
  Both locked blades against each others neck and shoulders before
dragging them away.  Two blasts of sparks leaped from dragging their
weapons back.
     After the smoke cleared, MercuryAstro grunted and turned the dagger upside
down into his left fist.  "Hermes Winged Ankles!" he shouted before jumping up.
While ascending skyward, the white Astroranger shouted, "Foot punches!" before
extending out both feet.
  Cyborg Shadow looked up with its arms bent at the elbows, indicating a
split-second calculating process occurring within its electronic brain.
  While looking straight ahead, the black cyborg's right index finger was held
by the palm of its left hand--extending only its index finger as well.  Holding
this before its chest, beneath its chin caused its body to warp into a zig-zag
pattern that eventually vanished.
  Overhead, MercuryAstro kicked both feet against the thin air before dropping
out of sight.
  After falling on the roof, the white Astroranger arched his back before
leaning upwards in recovery before looking around.  "What happened?!  I never
miss!"  While on his knee, he looked up suddenly and jerked in shock.  "Oh no!"
  After Cyborg Shadow rapidly ascended skyward instead of him, the black
android held its saber high before aiming upon descent.
  MercuryAstro was helpless against the blade sparking against his chest after
Shadow had landed.  Cyborg Shadow relentlessly cut across the white
Astroranger's abs, forcing him into a spin out.
  Shadow turned around while holding its saber diagonally in front of itself
before before striking down.
  MercuryAstro was blown upwards by the vicious explosion of sparks upon the
blade's attack.
  After his body hit the roof, MercuryAstro rolled over many times while still
smoking and slightly writhed with his fist clenched. "This.. isn't going good."
     Now, Cyborg Shadow was charging after him for the kill with his sword
drawn.  MercuryAstro forced himself to rise to his feet while breathing
heavily.  "Better get it before it gets me!"
  Shadow's black feet were pounding the roof in the cyborg's blitz-attack.
His white glove holding the Moleculatom Blaster, MercuryAstro's thumb pressed a
button raising the power level indicator out of the blue, past the green and
yellow into the red dots.  "Let's see him deal with this."
  Right after a yellow ray came out of his weapon, the beam was replaced by the
blue, almost white stream of sparkling light and caused dark smoke and yellow
sparks to burst out of Cyborg Shadow.
  After the black cyborg was forced to stop, it was blown off its feet in the
same direction as the smoke, rising skyward.
  "Get up, Cyborg Shadow!!" Ginara shouted.  "Take him out!"  Standing up, it
looked at her and nodded affirmatively before looking at the white Astroranger.
Its black glove was suddenly holding three razor-sharp discs of metal shaped
like snow flakes--Cyborg Shadow held them before itself like a fan before
tossing them out.
  Yellow light flashed against the white Astroranger as sparks bursting all
around him had forced him to leap out of the way.
  Rolling over on his back, he returned to his feet where he whipped out his
Moleculatom Blaster and caused a forceful beam of electric power to course out
of his weapon.
  Like before, Cyborg Shadow's left index finger was grasped by its left palm,
with its index finger.  Miraculously, the image of the black warrior's body
suddenly zig-zagged until it vanished.
  The current of electricity burst past where Cyborg Shadow used to be until it
fizzled out.
  MercuryAstro gasped, "Wha?" when Cyborg Shadow re-appeared a few feet to the
right of where he used to be.  He reacted by shooting at the black cyborg again
but just as the beam was coming towards Shadow, the cyborg's finger hold caused
it to disappear once again.
  MercuryAstro put his weapon away and shouted, "Damn it!"  He turned his head
and saw Ginara and Cyborg Shadow running after him from behind.
  "Better go," he mumbled while running away himself.  At the edge of the
building, the white Astroranger jumped sky high.
  Between the parking structure of Generic Cinema and the roof of the chinese
restaurant behind the staircase, the acrobatic Astroranger had somersaulted
over onto the mall's roof.
  Ginara followed as she too jumped skyward and, overhead, her body flipped
over while twisting.
  MercuryAstro was in the midst of his escape when Ginara landed in front of
him.
  "Uh oh!" MercuryAstro said after he stopped.
     Ginara side kicked the white Astroranger on both sides, causing
him to walk back while blocking her shins.
  MercuryAstro was hard to trap when Ginara's arms came down to lock
his shoulders down.  His arms arched up to resist her hug but then,
Ginara's knee came up into his abs, forcing him to bow over.
  Ginara stepped to the side and chopped MercuryAstro's back and the
stunned Astroranger tumbled out of control.
  He hit the roof again and Ginara looked up to Cyborg Shadow.  "He's down!
Now's your chance!"  Atop the taller five-story parking structure next to the
restaurant, Cyborg Shadow was using its hand to change its saber's blade from
metal to a static beam of purple light.  Shadow struck out, launching the
energy from the guard of his saber's hilt.
  The ray split apart into several beams of purple light and as soon as they
hit the roof of the mall, MercuryAstro was faced by a wall of sparks that had
blew up in front of him.
  Looking at the edge of the roof from below, one could see the white
Astroranger fly over the side.

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    

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

Titan-Ginara assaults the Astrorangers and use the shuttle fleet to protect the
city but without MercuryAstro and the white TurboShuttle, they cannot form
AstroMan.  How long can they last?  We will see in episode #10, "I Know".

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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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