[980321]
                                                                      [Preview]
In his quest for romance with the Japanese Los Angeles police officer, Beverly
Tenmei, Dave tries to talk her into a night out on the town. His attempt can't
come to fruition due to Cyborg Pyro's incendiary rampage on the city and turns
Beverly's apartment into a towering inferno. And as Cyborg Pyro's inflammatory
attack renders the Astroranger's powerless, Ginara stalks the Marina, hijacking
a boat to get the dinosaur egg; tonight, in episode 17, "Arson!  Attack of the
Evil Dragon"


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!

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

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

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

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

  Featuring...

         Detective Frank Mahoney and Detective Kathy Sanchez.



  ACT I:

     "Nice try," Adol's voice echoed within the bunker beneath the surface of
Pluto--orbiting silently in outer space. Within the Nazitan outpost, Adol sat
in his iron clad throne facing Pleadia and Ginara standing on the floor ahead
of the steps that lead to his platform.  "However, attempting to do something
and actually doing something are two very different things. And Cyborg Tousoy
was pretty effective in whatever it was trying to do but it did nothing, as far
as I am concerned."
  "Not true, sire," Pleadia corrected, "as it used its slaves to find the exact
location of the beast egg we've been search for.  I knew the Astrorangers were
going to annihilated a cyborg so obviously searching for it, so I used
something they couldn't touch--humans."
  Adol nodded.  "Clever.  We should use the same strategy when Ginara goes to
get the egg."
  Ginara looked puzzled.  "What do you suggest?"
  "Find the egg in the coordinates Pleadia supplies to you while he has a
cyborg ransack the city so the Astrorangers cannot stop you."
  Pleadia nodded.  "I will hatch a cybo-egg and launch it for Earth at once."
  "Excellent," Adol replied, "dismissed."

                                  Episode 17:
                      "Arson!  Attack of the Evil Dragon"                     

     That day in the room he shared with Tom, Dave layed on his bed, which was
closest to the window, looking out into the blue sky with big white puffy
clouds filling the area identifying spring prominently.  He remembered hearing
something he didn't pay too close attention to when Will told him about how
spring is the Earth's season for mating.  Dave grew even more depressed over
this thought as he had really had his heart set on having a short-term
relationship with Beverly.
  "Dave?  Where are you?" Amy called out from downstairs.
  "Upstairs," Dave called back out.  Moments later, Amy walked into the room
and she looked at him staring blankly out of the window.
  "Want to tell me what's wrong?"
  "What?" Dave said pretentiously to avoid the subject.
  Amy gestured unconvinced at Dave.  "Come on, I know you better than any of
us.  On a day like this, you would _never_ just lie around and do nothing.
You're always working out when you can.  And you only do this when you're
depressed."  Dave didn't too much care about his paper-thin facade being seen
through as he stayed quiet.
  "Dave," Amy nagged.  "I've always considered it my place in this team to make
sure that everybody is in the right frame of mind to accomplish our mission in
this world."
  "I appreciate that, Amy, but, I really would like to be alone right now."
  "What if Tom comes home?"
  "Then I'll take a walk."
  "Dave.  You don't have to be strong for me, I know you're strong," Amy said.
"I've seen you fight on Terrania.  I've seen your sense of strategy in action
and above all I know that inside of the solid exterior of your personality,
there's a lot of feelings in there that are always being affected."  Dave
sighed.
  "I'm ashamed to say, this would be easier if you were human, they don't know
how to block their mind from being sensed," Amy commented.
  "You're not going to start lecturing me if I tell you what this is all about,
will you?"
  Amy smiled and shook her head.  "I promise."
  Dave sighed, still nervous.  "Well...  I've never had a steady relationship
with anyone really.  And, now that I'm here on Earth, my chances of meeting
anyone that isn't like a typical human are slim."
  "So you're lonely."
  Dave leaned up and looked at Amy.  "It's strange, really.  I've spent my
whole life running after relationships because that's what my mind--my brain,
tells me to do but I really don't know what I want anymore.  And now I find
myself pining for a human."
  "There's nothing wrong with that, Dave."
  "I know, but, it's still difficult to cope.  Anyway, I guess I shouldn't be
surprised.  This is yet another indication I am meant to be alone."
  "What is another indication?"
  "Beverly.  She's seeing someone and I think this person is new but probably
was around before I came into her life," Dave said.  "It's unfortunate you
can't turn emotions on and off like a switch."
  Amy took a seat on a chair and looked at Dave with concern.  "Why?"
  "Even though I know I don't stand a snow ball's chance in hell, I still want
her.  And it's silly."
  "Did you tell Beverly this?"
  "I didn't want to put any pressure on her and get her upset with me," Dave
said.  "If I started making Beverly feel bad, she probably would try to slowly
get away from me."
  "Well, until you get to speak your mind, you're going to deteriorate--trust
me on that," Amy said.  "I believe that if she is humane as you hope, Beverly
will respect you."
  "You're right," he admitted, "but I must face her."
  Amy smiled and stood up.  "Trust in yourself; you make your own destiny."
  Dave nodded and smiled.  "Thanks."  Amy walked out of his room and closed the
door behind herself.  Dave looked down and pondered what they discussed as he
nodded to himself and then picked up his telephone.

     A bunker beneath the surface of Pluto in space housed the Nazitan Outpost;
within the primary chamber, capped by a dark mosaic-glass dome--Adol stood with
his arms crossed in front of his iron clad throne.  On the floor below his
platform, Igan had his hand hanging from his neck from nervous tension.
"Pleadia should be here by now, as you requested--he told me..."
  "Spare me," Adol sternly said. "(How dare Pleadia make me wait like this...)"
  "Sire," Pleadia said walking into the chamber, "observe." He touched the gray
ball of glass filled with a special fog that materialized an image.  And, in it
was the schematic of a dragon-like creature.
  "It's about time," Adol said, "what is it?"
  Pleadia stood on his steps while looking at the picture. "Cyborg Pyro is a
thick-skinned creature with razor sharp talons and claws, armed with a tail
whip and horns for generating lightning bursts, similar to the weapons the
Astrorangers use.  However, best of all, it breaths fire using naphthene,
palmitate and kerosine."
  "I doubt the Astrorangers can fight while being cooked alive," Adol jested.
"Will it last long enough for Ginara to do her job?"
  Pleadia shrugged.  "Only time will tell; for now, Pyro will be strategically
placed so that it would take the Astrorangers too long to kill it and take the
time to find Ginara, get there and try to stop her before she already has our
egg."
  "Good; Igan, is Ginara all set to go?"
  Igan nodded.  "I watched her suit up and leave for Earth myself."  Looking
behind himself, Pleadia just gawked at Igan.
  "Excellent, inform me of her progress," Adol replied  "Pleadia, launch Cyborg
Pyro immediately."
  Pleadia turned around and nodded at Adol.  "It will arrive on Earth shortly."

     In an apartment building downtown, Beverly just came in wearing athletic
clothing with a leash for her dog, a Siberian Husky.  She moved into the
kitchen with a window that looked out to other skyscraper buildings as she
retrieved a bottle of water.  Her dog started barking and waging its tail.
  "Oh, King, I know you're hungry, give a second to get your food," she said as
she put her water on the counter.  Beverly's telephone started ringing as she
walked over real fast to pick up.  "Uh, hello?"
  Dave smiled as he looked out the window again.  "Hi, Beverly, it's Dave."
  Beverly was pouring dog food into his dish on the floor.  "Oh, hey, Dave."
  "How are you?" he asked over her phone.  She put the bag away and took the
phone into her hand.  "I'm all right, I just got back home as a matter of fact.
I was jogging and walking my dog at the same time."
  Dave continued to smile as he listened to her voice.  "Yeah, you sound kind
of short on breath."
  "What about you?  How are you doing?" she said over his phone.
Dave looked down.  "Well, I've been kinda spending the day at home just
thinking about things."
  "Uh huh?" she said over his phone while distracted 
  "Like, last night," he said when he started hearing clicking.
Beverly was taking off her socks in the living room holding her cordless phone.
"Ah, hang on a second--got another call."
  Dave sighed.  "Yeah, sure."

     Up La Brea Avenue, William's Toyota van rolled along on the street past
the intersection.  Inside, he wore a sweater over a dress shirt and tie despite
the hot weather.  Fortunately, as he drove Ron, in a light white jacket and
gray jeans home for the day, the air conditioning was running.
  "I still don't get why watching that on television is so funny," Will said.
"I just don't understand what is so funny about some clumsy, unpopular,
annoying child damaging other people's property.  He's like a human cartoon
character."
  "Me neither, but it's been on the air for around ten years," Ron answered.
"Anyway, you need to stop watching all this television, William."
  "Trust me, Ron.  I'm the last guy who's gonna turn into a couch potato with
what they've got out there," Will replied.  "I'm only watching so I can find
out what's going on in the minds of the people that inhabit this planet."
  "Ever try socializing?"
  "Too much involvement.  I want to stay out of contact with what it is I'm
studying," William said.
  "Ahh, but, Will, human's aren't like dead objects to be studied.  They don't
show their true nature until after they've been stimulated."
  Will grinned and looked at Ron.  "Speaking of stimulation, how did it go with
you and Lucy?  You never told me about that."
  "Wasn't sure if I was going to or not," Ron replied.  He sighed and
immediately stated, "I wanted to tell the first person I saw but at the same
time I thought that if I did, that I'd--I dunno, mess up some how.  I didn't
want that kind of guilt but..."
  "Slow down, Ronnie," Will replied.  "Tell the first person you saw what?"
  Ron looked at him and then out on the road.  "That I kissed her."
  Will looked over at him.  "Really?  You mean they do that here too?"
  "William, I AM surprised!  As much television as you've been watching, I
would've thought you'd know that by now," Ron replied.  "Anyway, yeah--Lucy was
just kinda talking and by sensing her mind, I could tell she was rambling out
of nervousness.  So, to calm her--I kissed her and she, I don't
know--transformed, or something."
  "Wow," William responded, "so then what happened?"
  "She kissed me back but she did something that was really weird."
  Will chuckled.  "What's that?"
  "She put her tongue in my mouth."  William started laughing out loud.
  "Hey, shut up," Ron said.
  Will snickered.  "Sorry, that just sounded funny.  Why the offense??"
  "It felt good," Ron concealed.  "All over--if you know what I mean..."
  "Hey, what's that?"
  Ron looked down.  "Well, you know how when you're..."
  "No," Will interrupted, "I mean:  WHAT IS THAT?" Will said more urgently.
  "What's what?"
  Will pointed at a tall trail of black smoke leading into the sky.  "That!
Something is on fire!"  Suddenly, fire trucks started rolling down the street
at high speed with their sirens blaring.  Will pulled over as he saw them turn
the corner westbound towards the fire.  Ron and William's GeneGem rings began
to glow indicating a powerful destructive energy near by.
  "Come on, let's move it," Ron said.  Will nodded as he took the car out of
park and returned to driving.  As William's van moved closer, several building
in the area were seen on fire as the fire fighters tried to save a shopping
center on one corner.
  "In case we have to AstroCharge, we better look for a secluded place to
park," Ron said.  Will braked to a stop as they both looked around.
  "We'll have a better view if get out," Will said.  Ron nodded as they both
unbuckled their seat belts and got out.
  "This could be an accident fire or arson but we should check this
regardless," Ron said.  William nodded.  Suddenly, a massive, fire-filled
explosion occurred behind them as they both turned around.  A car at a
gas-station was already in the air after having been blasted into the sky by
the gasoline explosion.
  "Holy smoke, what did that??" Ron asked.
  "That," Will said as he pointed to a 7-foot tall mutant with red, tight but
wrinkled skin.  Cyborg Pyro, a humanoid dragon waved its sharp-clawed paws and
it snapped its leather-like tail as it got Will and Ron directly in its sights.
They noticed it walking on a straight course for them.
  Ron stood firm with his feet apart. "Uh, Will, do you get the feeling this
thing _knows us_?"
  William continued to walk backwards slowly.  "I don't know, Ron, but I bet
it'll anything in its way."  Cyborg Pyro stomped its talon-tipped hoof into the
ground as it ranted and snorted.
  Ron looked at Will.  "What's it doing?"
  "I don't know but we better move!"  Will shouted as they split up.  Pushing
its head forth, this hideous beast opened up its mouth and unleashed a
napalm-like flow of fire.  An explosion of fire blew Ron onto his back into the
grass.
  Will tumbled over and got up on one knee to see Ron surrounded by small fires
in the grass.  "Ron!!  You okay!?"
  "Barely!"  Ron said while pulling himself up.  "Will, look out!!"
  Standing up, William looked directly ahead before jerking back.  "Oh no!"
With its meaty paws before its nasty face, Cyborg Pyro brought its arms down
with a red arch of electricity forming between its dark red horns.  Stepping
forth, the dragon pointed its head directly ahead as the arch send a high
voltage bolt of red lightning forward.
  Fire exploded into the sky, with a black cloud of smoke rushing upward while
the blast of launched Will into twirling in midair.
  "William!"
  He landed on the sidewalk with his eyes slammed shut from a bruised cheek and
blood in the corner of her lip.  "Agh, gulgh!"
  Through the flames, he saw Cyborg Pyro taking one step after another towards
himself on the ground.
  Ron desperately ran down the street shouting, "Comet Kick!"  As his white
sneakers stomped the asphalt, they came together as he jumped into the air.
  In the sky, the brave young man had rocketed upwards before boosting into a
side-kick.
  Cyborg Pyro used its pause to push back Ron's white shoe, gunning for its
body.  As he flew backwards through the sky and past the trees, he slightly
tore his white jacket landing next to William.
  "Ron, call the others; we need backup--seriously."
  Ron nodded affirmatively.  "You got it; you try to stay cool."
  "Heh!" Will laughed while watching Ron run off--Pyro then charged after him.
  Pyro turned around and whipped its tail through the air.  Will saw
its maneuver early on and ducked before giving it a return roundhouse kick.
  The red cyborg ducked his dress shoe and smacked Will back and forth
across the head.  When it tried to hold his shoulders down, Will
resisted by holding its arms up.
  Pyro knocked both his arms out of the way, knee-kicked him in the
stomach and punched ahead.  Will was tough enough to take it and still
knock the cyborg's fist away from his face.
  He soon found the enormous leg of Pyro come kicking his abs in
causing him to bow over.
  Will gave it all he had with one last punch but Pyro used his fist to
flip him over onto the sidewalk behind itself.
     Cyborg Pyro turned around and watched Will stand up but soon
enough, Pyro's claws tore four slits in Will's dark green sweater
before using its other paw to eventually pick him up over its own head.
  With one great big push, Cyborg Pyro launched Will into the air and
after he sailed through the sky, he landed into a pile of trash cans
that were knocked down by his body falling into them.

     On the coast of California at Marina Del Ray, many boats were docked at
the vast port featuring six bays while other boats were leaving.  On shore, the
sailors were obvious to the dozen or so robotic soldiers in black, plastic-like
skin with Ginara leading them.  The female ninja-styled warrior in metallic
armor looked back and forth with the sun shining over her silver tiara.  "This
fleet of vehicles for traveling over this body of liquid should speed up my
search greatly."
  While they stood behind her, Ginara looked to the soldiers and commanded,
"Armatons...  Operation:  Area Sweep -- GO!"  As beams of light materialized in
their hands, the automatons were instantly armed with futuristic rifles tipped
with dagger blades.  Soon enough, they were charging one after the other and as
a man spoke with a coastguards men, he noticed them run between all of the
equipment leading up the port where they stood.  "Oh no--not again!!" he said.
"Call the cops, man; I'm outta here!"
  People saw the frightening robots come at them as they got up and scrambled.
Soon enough many hundreds of people ran away in herds.  Marina Del Ray police
cars drove through the parking lot and made a hard right into the pedestrian
entrance, cutting off a couple walking into the crosswalk.
  While Armaton Soldiers exchanged gun fire with the police, they found
themselves embarrassingly overpowered by the bits of laser light sparking from
the pavement and their police cars.  Meanwhile, Ginara walked away from the
warfare and stopped.
  At sea was a boat with its navigator already unaware of the battlefield that
the Marina became.
  Ginara grinned and nodded.  "Good.  Now for what I came for!" Ginara said as
she looked out to sea.  A boat came within her sights causing her to focus on
it.  "They wont even think twice about that vehicle because it's already out
there.  Perfect!"  Ginara jumped into the air.
  In the sky, she somersaulted over.  Onboard the open deck, Ginara landed and
turned around to enter the cabin.  A man suddenly stood up as the alien caught
him off guard.  Stuttering he backed away clumsily.  "Now now, look, I don't
know who or what you are, or what you want but you can take anything, take
anything you want...  Tak-take it all, just don't hurt me.  Please don't hurt
me."  Not understanding his babbling, she grabbed him by the shirt and picked
him up off the floor.  Outside, the window on the wall of the cabin exploded
with his body busting through it.  In the water, his body fell in as he came to
the surface again to try and stay afloat.
  "Navigation should not be difficult on this primitive vessel--hopefully I
will be able to locate the coordinates that Pleadia obtained before Cyborg
Fogger was destroyed."  Ginara approached the helm and re-started the engine.


 ACT II:

     At the Terranian's house, Tom was in the laundry room with Amy while she
folded clothes and he unloaded the drier.  Suddenly, his cellular telephone had
ran and he put down a basket of clothes.  Amy looked at him for a moment before
noticing him answer the cell phone and returned to folding.
  Tom opened his flip phone and pulled up the antenna.  "Nevison," he answered.
Pausing for a while, his eyes shifted from side to side as his forehead
wrinkled.
  "Uh huh," he responded.  "Ouch--that's not cool.  Don't worry about it, we've
got it covered."  Tom nodded.  "Yeah--we'll be there...  Bye."  He put his
phone into his shirt pocket.  "I gotta go get Dave; William and Ron are in big
trouble."
  Amy put down the clothes and rolled down her sleeves.  "What's happening?"
  "It looks like they're getting their butts kicked by this fire breathing
cyborg," Tom replied.  "Commander Leto also mentioned an extraterrestrial
disturbance somewhere in Marina Del Rey."
  "Come on, let's get out of here," Amy said.
  Tom held her shoulders back.  "Wait a minute, Dave and I will take care of
Ron and William--we need you to check out what's going on at the Marina."
  Amy nodded affirmatively.  "Got it."

     Upstairs, Dave sat up on his bed while still on the telephone talking with
Beverly.  "Well, I was thinking that perhaps we could meet somewhere and talk."
  Beverly rubbed her sleepy dog's head and looked curious.  "Why?  Aren't we
talking now?"
  Dave smiled.  "Yes, but, I'd prefer to talk about this in person.  Like I was
saying before, this is about last night."
  "I don't know what else I could possibly tell you, Dave..." she said over his
phone.
  "No, it's not that--it's what I have to tell you."
  "Well, it is Saturday so I've got time.  Where do you want to meet?"  Tom
walked into the room.  Dave turned around and waved his hand at him to leave.
Tom shook his head and pointed to his GeneGem.
  "Anywhere you can think of, Beverly," Dave said.  "I just have one question.
Who are you seeing?"
  Beverly was hesitant while staring blankly into the floor.  "Well, uh..."
  "Dave, a cyborg is out their torching buildings and Will is fighting it now,
we gotta go right away," Tom spoke up.
  Dave gritted his teeth.  "Uh--listen, Beverly, I gotta call you back.  An
emergency just came up; I'm _real_ sorry," Dave said.
  Beverly smiled and shook her head.  "That's okay..."
  "I'll call you back as soon as I possibly can, okay?"
  "Sure, Dave," Beverly replied over his phone.
  "Talk to you later," he said upon hanging up the phone.  "Tom, this is really
a bad time."
  "I don't even know where to begin with what's wrong with that statement."
Dave stood up and groaned.
  Tom watched him walk and said, "Hurry up.  We gotta..."
  "Yeah, yeah," Dave interrupted, "I know..."

     From the ocean, the coast of California was on the horizon as in the sky,
VenusAstro rode the Pink HydroCycle through the air.  On her dashboard, the
terminal displayed graphics and VenusAstro pushed another key causing the
display to change to radar mode.  She looked around as she saw a boat that was
moving extraordinarily fast.  ``I bet that's the boat Ginara pirated.  I better
land to check it out,'' VenusAstro thought to herself.
  Inside the Cabin, Ginara listened as she heard VenusAstro approaching.  She
turned her head and looked out of the window to see the Pink HydroCycle trying
to land. "Oh no," Ginara said with annoyance.  From VenusAstro's point of view,
bolts of light shot out from the boat as she tried to navigate around them.
  "What the hell??" VenusAstro said as she got a closer look.  She saw Ginara
using the jewel in her tiara to fire upon her.  "Oh great."
  Ginara ran back inside of the boat's cabin and turned the vehicle around upon
quickly accelerating.
  "What does she think that thing is anyway?"  VenusAstro banked off and
followed the boat.
  As the boat moved at an unusually high rate of velocity, it was followed by
VenusAstro's pink flying motorcycle with winds while both vehicles were moving
northbound along the coast of California.
  "HydroCycle Moleculatom Gun!" VenusAstro said as she pushed a key on her
terminal.
  A section in the head of her Pink flying Motorcycle opened as a gun-barrel
extended from the hole and opened fire.
  A beam of light hit the cabin causing sparks to exploded from the inside.
From out of the sky, the pink HydroCycle's wings were retracting as the
motorcycle's tires made contact with the deck.
  Onboard, the bike braked to a stop and after she threw down the kick stand,
the pink Astroranger got off and cautiously moved away.
  She grabbed the handle of the cabin door and opened it; inside, VenusAstro
carefully walked inside of the cabin, looking back and forth.  Inside, she saw
no one but as she walked further inside, Ginara was waiting for her.
  She jumped off of a shelf by the door behind the pink Astroranger and when
VenusAstro turned around and said, "Huh?" Ginara side-kicked her against the
wall.
  Ginara assumed her attack position and kicked at VenusAstro once more but she
turned around and ran up the stairs and out the door.
  Out on the front deck, VenusAstro stood there as she looked around when she
noticed Ginara coming after her.
  "Uh oh!"  VenusAstro jumped into the air and in the sky, the pink Astroranger
ended up hopping onto the edge of the roof before running out of view.
  Below, Ginara stood where VenusAstro did and jumped up to follow her.
  On the roof, VenusAstro ran to the end of the roof but looked over and saw
the ocean water below.  Breathing heavily, she muttered, "Dead end."
  "Your end is to be dead, pink Astroranger!" Ginara said; VenusAstro turned
around and saw her on the other end of the boat's roof.
  "Ginara!"
  Ginara put her hands up in a unique fashion, preparing for combat.  "Get out
of my way, pink warrior..."
  VenusAstro pointed at her, shouting, "This boat doesn't belong to you,
Ginara," VenusAstro replied.  Ignoring her, Ginara suddenly began a quick
sprint ahead.
  VenusAstro found herself instantly engaged in a high-speed sparring match as
VenusAstro matched Ginara move for move.
  Ginara blocked a punch and then kicked VenusAstro in the chest causing her to
bow over.  Ginara locked her fingers and punched VenusAstro's helmeted head
upwards.
  Over the edge of the roof, VenusAstro sailed over the edge and fell out of
sight.

     At the gas station on fire, the block surrounded by flaming brush and
smoking trees with burnt out parked cars and fire engines parked as they
battled the blaze.  A fleet of police cars were arriving with their strobe
lights flashing and sirens blaring.  After one sharply stopped, the car's body
jerked back before the doors opened and officers jumped out.  With their guns
drawn, they all took their positions behind mailboxes and fire hydrants while
Sgt. Sanchez held her gun and hand at them, "Open fire when I give the signal."
  Will jumped in Cyborg Pyro's way and the big, thick humanoid dragon blocked
both his hard side kicks before punching him back and forth across the face.
  Pyro turned around and whipped its red tail across the head, knocking Will
out of the way for the last time.  After he hit the ground, Pyro started
confidently walking towards him with the intent to strike the final blow.
  "Fire!" Kathy shouted before leaning in and pulling the trigger of her black
service weapon.  The officers knelt behind the doors of their police cars while
firing bullets from their powerful guns.
  The metal shots harmlessly sparked off of Pyro's body and Sanchez stopped
shooting, just to look at Pyro keep moving despite the shower of deadly force
used by the officers.
  Meanwhile, as steam came from its massive nostrils, Cyborg Pyro opened up its
mouth and a stream of fire came rushing out of its throat.
  "Get out of the way!!" Kathy shouted before ducking behind a brick building
across the street.  The police officers couldn't run fast enough as the flames
soon shot past the uniformed men and woman.  One car was blasted into the sky
by fire exploding through its body.
  Fire blowing up into the sky blasted officers through the air to fall out of
sight.  The explosion left parts of the pavement aflame with the bodies of
those cast skyward landing on the ground with deep wounds trailing along their
necks.  They were dead and Kathy Sanchez knew it; and, though she immediately
wished revenge, looking at the creature, Kathy hadn't the first idea on how to
defeat Cyborg Pyro which was getting yet another structure within its sights.
  It took a deep breath but before it could exhale, it looked up and jumped
back in shock.
  Already in the sky was the white Astroranger shooting a ray of electric blue
light from his Moleculatom Blaster.  Sparks blew from off the top of Pyro's
head causing it to stumble backwards.
  MercuryAstro put away his weapon as he was joined by the others.  "Thanks for
coming guys."
  MarsAstro nodded.  "I just want to get my hands on this so-called tough-guy
cyborg," he said, pounding his fist into his other hand.
  "You'll get your chance," SaturnAstro replied.
  MercuryAstro pointed.  "There's Will!"  The four of them ran over to him,
kneeling in the grass on the sidewalk before the white Astroranger tried to
help him stand.  "Are you okay?"
  "I survived but those guys didn't," Will replied.  "This guy is tough.  It
was as if I weren't any stronger than the average person."
  "With nobody around, it'll be hard to notice you've AstroCharged,"
MercuryAstro observed.
  Cyborg Pyro was snorting while taking aggressive steps towards the battle
team standing there.
  "Better hurry up, Will," MarsAstro said.  He stood out in front of the four
of them and nodded at the red Astroranger.
  "ChangeForm!" William shouted, holding up his right fist.  "AstroCharge!!"
Shoving his fist forward, his amethyst GeneGem flashed, turning his body
entirely white.  A ray of light beamed out of his body and moved from left
to right before he was within his green and shiny uniform.
  On his white belt, JupiterAstro yanked the weapon from the holster there,
shouting, "Moleculatom Daggers!"
  Standing together, they immediately struck their battle stance holding their
weapons as MarsAstro shouted, "Attack!"
    Cyborg Pyro ran after the Astrorangers by taking leaping jumps while they
charged after Pyro.
     JupiterAstro attempted the Jupiter Lightning Stab attack but he was
stopped by Pyro's paw holding his arm in the air.
  Before he could react, Pyro's hoof already kicked him back and was
knocked out by its tail swinging across his chest.  White smoke left
his uniform after the sparks blew from the impact.
     After hopping high up, MercuryAstro came down with his dagger but
the white Astroranger's arm was batted by Pyro's big red paw before
clawing his chest.
  Smoke followed after sparks blasted MercuryAstro down when the cyborg
turned around, finding the black Astroranger hurricane-kicking at Pyro.
  The dragon mutant ducked and blocked SaturnAstro's dagger before
slashing him.  A bright flash of yellow exploded from the black
Astroranger's chest.  And, as soon as he was out of the way, Pyro
hop-kicked the red Astroranger back.
  "Hey!" MarsAstro said before hop-kicking back.  After Cyborg Pyro ducked, the
red Astroranger turned around and kicked it across the face before using his
dagger to strike its chest.
  Sparks exploded from the blow but Pyro was not affected before turning
around whipping his chest with its tail.
  Sparks blew down the red Astroranger when Cyborg Pyro's tail whipped
his chest, knocking him out of sight.
     MarsAstro's body flew clear through the air before tumbling down the
street until he could stop his own momentum.
  JupiterAstro reached out and ran after the red Astroranger.  "Sheratan..."
  "Never mind me," MarsAstro interrupted, "just keep your eyes on that thing!"
  Putting its paws over its snout, Cyborg Pyro pulled its arms away, allowing
flames to rush out of its nostrils.  Two explosions behind and in front of the
Astroranger task force filled with fire blew them off their feet, sending them
twirling in midair and falling to the pavement.

     At a Californian bay, the boat floated in the ocean as on deck, Ginara
moved too fast for VenusAstro when she tried to side-kick at her face.  She
tried punching Ginara when she'd cartwheeled out of the way.  The pink
Astroranger's fist damaged the wall of the cabin trying to slam Ginara.
  Turning around, VenusAstro's helmet was kicked by a roundhouse from
Ginara's foot.
  All VenusAstro saw was a flash of light from the blow when she was dropped
flat on the deck.
  Ginara drew a chain-whip and cracked it and suddenly, while the pink
Astroranger knelt on the deck, her white-cushioned neck was tied tight by the
whip.
  VenusAstro tugged on the chain-whip, gasping, "Is that the best you can do?!"
  "I've got more tricks than you could ever imagine," Ginara said as she drew
her star-shaped darts and tossed them.
  Sparks exploded everywhere, blowing VenusAstro downward yet again.  However,
it wasn't over.
  "Bye, bye, pink Astroranger."  Ginara pulled on the whip, sending
VenusAstro's body soaring into the air.
  In the sky, the pink Astroranger flew over Ginara's head before she letting
the chain unravel from her neck.
  The other side of the already broken cabin window was bashed in by
VenusAstro's body crashing through.
  VenusAstro rolled over the coach and hit the floor within the cabin before
curling up and moaning.
  Outside, Ginara said, "That egg is _mine_!"  Clenching her fist, she turned
around and jumped into the air.  In the sky, the silver-armored ninja-styled
warrior somersaulted out of sight and dove, head first into the ocean.
  Meanwhile, inside of the cabin, VenusAstro layed on the floor motionless.

     Small portions of the streets were on fire as the galaxy battle team
remained on the pavement, attempting to get up from their sides.  The green
Astroranger looked around and saw nothing but emergency vehicles and smoke
rising from tiny fires everywhere.  "Hey, where the devil is the cyborg?"
  "What?  You mean it isn't here?" MercuryAstro said as he started to get up.
  The others followed as MarsAstro moved aggressively.  "Man!  I can't believe
that butt-ugly thing whipped us that badly!"
  "Take it easy, Sheratan--that would not be the first time," SaturnAstro said.
"Don't worry, we'll get him."
  "We need to find him right away," JupiterAstro said.
  SaturnAstro walked up to his black HydroCycle he'd driven their with the red
Astrorangers.  "According to this, it is heading east of here, somewhat further
south.  I'd estimate over five kilometers from our location."
  MercuryAstro shifted his head sharply.  "That sounds like downtown!"
  "Let's move!" MarsAstro said.

     In the cabin on the boat, VenusAstro was just awakening after the long and
desperate fight she'd had with Ginara.  The pink Astroranger turned over and
wound up on all fours as she shook her head.  "Oh man that was rough."  She
jerked suddenly when remembering what was going on.  "Ginara!"  She stood up
real fast and ran up to the window.  Looking around, she saw nothing; running
to the other side, she looked out of the window and checked around.  "She
escaped!"
  Out on the deck, VenusAstro walked around and checked again.  "Damn it!" she
exclaimed, pounding the guard railing.  Walking away, she approached her parked
HydroCycle on its kick stand and got onboard.  "Heh, Leto's gonna love this,"
she sarcastically soliloquized.  "SpaceBase, we've got a problem."
  Meanwhile, under the sea, shape-shifting slivers of light reflected off of
the water current beneath the waves on the surface.  Ginara swam around as she
looked around.  "Sooner or later, we will succeed."  Not too far away, against
rock clusters was the fossilized egg she had been in search for.  It was
covered in dust and looked like just another rock but it took the odd shape
that she'd well memorized from Pleadia's computer analysis.
  "Victory awaits me," she whispered before swimming out of view in pursuit of
the egg.

     At the very southern end of Downtown Los Angeles, several buildings were
on fire.  Multiple full-size fire-engines were on the scene with dozens of
fire-fighters blasting buildings blazing with fire with water.  Smoke rolling
out of these buildings kept the sky coated and thick with a black fog that
tinted the sunlight.  Several paramedics were stopping where ever there was
room in the intersection as fire fighters carried out citizens.  Paramedics
awaited the burn and smoke-inhalation victims.  Many of them hadn't time to
wait for the trip to the hospitals neighboring the area and received emergency
care by medics on the scene.
  Down the street, the Astroranger task force drove towards the scene on their
HydroCycles.
  "Looks like we're too late," MercuryAstro said.  The rest of them stopped in
front of spectators as MarsAstro got off her bike to talk to one of them. "Sir,
did you see a monster in the area before the buildings caught fire?"
  The hispanic man shrugged.  "No habla engles."
  MercuryAstro walked up to the man next to MarsAstro.  "Let me try, Sheratan.
Senor, ?usted vio un monstruo por aqui antes de que los edificios predieran   
fuego?"  The others looked at MercuryAstro and reacted with amazement.
  "Si!  Si!  Se fue hacia el norte!" the man said while pointing.
  "Gracias!  Mucho gracias, senior," MercuryAstro replied.
  JupiterAstro looked to everyone and asked, "What did he say?"
  "And since when could you speak another language?" SaturnAstro added.
  "He said he saw it go north," MercuryAstro said, "and since I knew we would
be stationed in Los Angeles, somebody would need to speak spanish."
  "Oh NO!" MarsAstro said.
  "What?" JupiterAstro asked.
  MarsAstro looked at him.  "Beverly lives up there!"
  "Who?" SaturnAstro asked.
  "Ugh!" JupiterAstro groaned, "Do your homework--Nash; Sheratan, where are you
talking about?"
  "North, here in downtown--Beverly Tenmei lives in a high rise apartment
building," MarsAstro said.  "We've got to get there before the cyborg torches
that building and the dozens of people in it!"


                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    

Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . .

VenusAstro joins the battle team downtown to extinguish Pyro's flame while the
red Astroranger, MarsAstro walks into the fire to save Beverly's life. If they
stand a chance, find out how in episode 18, "A Tyrannosaurus Wreck"           

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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
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and Ishimori Productions.                                               [TV-PG]
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