[970627]
                                                                      [Preview]
Lucy gets caught in the cross-fire when Ginara and Armatons returns to Earth to
take the children of Earth, now that the Astrorangers are presumed dead, thanks
to the treacherous Trirangers. And now, Tortan's warrior prowess is upstaged be
the Triranger squadron's warrior robot CosmoTron...  Much to Tortan's dismay in
episode 25, "Evil Mecha Arrives" -- 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 Kathy Sanchez.



Last time on Astroranger:

    Ron sighed.  "Dave's always actin' like I don't know what the hell I'm
  doing half the time."

    Tortan pointed the shimmering, silver blade of his razor-sharp sword at
  the cyborg.  "Don't just stand there, Cyborg Haget.  Do something; _right_
  now!"  GoldNeptune nodded first and SilverNeptune gave a thumbs up.
    "All right, then," BlueNeptune said prior to standing up.
  "CometCannon!"  In the blue morning sky, flames pushed a black cloud of
  smoke upward in a loud explosion filled with fire.

    The the remaining four Astrorangers gathered to face the Trirangers,
  they'd extended their hands.  "Allies," MarsAstro said.  BlueNeptune
  braced MarsAstro's hand and shook it once, firmly.

    The slender, lightly-armored silver cyborg with the transparent wings
  like crystal glittering in the sunlight stood before him once again.
    "Oh man!" Ron complained.  "They rebuilt it!"  Cyborg Hageta's feet came
  together before launching into the air.

  Lucy hid her head behind the truck because the ray of light beaming past
  the front of the truck she squatted behind was brighter than the sun
  itself.  When she looked back, she gasped.  Lucy's mouth hung open and
  didn't blink once.  "Oh my God..."  The white Astroranger brought up both
  arms before forming a circle on the left and an arch above his head.

  MercuryAstro ran into the spot where she'd taken off, holding his staff
  and clenched his fist.  "Oh no you don't!  Galaxy Task Force Command:
  HydroCycle... Ignition!"

    "Hey wait a minute," MercuryAstro said; as the airplane traveled towards
  them, he could see through the windshield and saw Cyborg Hageta.  "That
  cyborg is flying the plane!"

  Outside, the four Astrorangers, holding the passengers, were flying out of
  the broken windows of the private jet just before it began to crash into
  the pavement.

    MercuryAstro looked at everyone and said, "So much for that cyborg,
  huh?"
    "Yeah," MarsAstro replied.
    "Not quite," Ginara said.  MarsAstro turned around and jerked in
  surprise. Standing from the neck down in the body of Cyborg Hageta was
  Ginara--and, upon touching the dark jewel at the center of her tiara, her
  body was surrounded by circling yellow lights that dissolved her costume.
    "What the hell is going on here?" SaturnAstro said.
    Ginara laughed.  "Your death!  ARMATONS!"  Tearing off their clothes,
  the passengers the Astrorangers had previously rescued were Armaton
  soldiers whom all jammed elbows into their respective saviors.

  Sparks exploded from Ginara metallic armor after the blade of the blue
  Triranger's sword struck her.  While smoking, Ginara landed and could
  barely reach up.  "No more," she gasped before coughing.  "I surrender!"
  The Astrorangers stopped charging.
    ``Ginara never surrenders!'' JupiterAstro thought to himself.

    "The loan on your borrowed time here has just been called in and now we
  know the secret to your powers!" GoldUranus said.  "Now, you will all
  perish for standing in our way all of this time."
    MercuryAstro stood up smoking.  "I wont die without taking you with me!!"
    "So be it," BlueNeptune said bringing up his sword, "embrace oblivion..."
  BlueNeptune sliced down on MercuryAstro and then turned around to cut
  past his uniform.  BlueNeptune turned around and struck down one final
  time as the third blast of sparks knocked the white Astroranger into
  flipping over onto the ground.

    In a black setting, the three of them held up their hands and a large
  bazooka-type weapon materialized in their hands.  "CometCannon
  activation!"
    "Oh, I don't like this," MarsAstro said.
    The three of them pulled back the large handle that was the trigger.
  "Fire!" A wide beam of yellow light streamed out of the cannon's barrel.
  A powerful, fire-filled explosion blew the Astrorangers into the sky as
  they all flipped over and dropped away from the thick black smoke.

                                  Episode 25:
                             "Evil Mecha Arrives!"                            

 ACT I:

     Portions of grass in the vast fields at Santa Monica Airport had caught
fire as the sunlit smoke fogged the breezy afternoon winds.  Their shining
battle suits smoldering, the five Astrorangers were lying, motionless on the
runway.  The Trirangers stood over them and BlueNeptune walked forth, laughing
slightly.  "And they said they were tough."  The two others grunted laughter as
well.
  "At last the victory belongs to the Nazitans and the Galaxy Task Force has
perished at the hands of the TRIRANGER Battle Team!" BlueNeptune declared.  And
while they cheered, the abandoned police cars, fire engines and paramedics were
not entirely deserted--Officer Beverly Tenmei hid behind her unit looking on.
A tear came down her face despite her resistance to cry, giving herself away.
  GoldUranus looked to his leader.  "Speaking of the Nazitans, we should get
orders from them.  I know they have a brilliant task for us to accomplish."
Behind the police car, Beverly Tenmei left her radio on but with the volume
turned down; cautiously, she took low steps, quickly sneaking away before
running out of sight.
  BlueNeptune nodded.  "With the power they've given us, we're unstoppable,
thanks to them.  Whatever they want, we shall do.  SilverPluto--do the honors."
  SilverPluto nodded.  "SuperCycles!"  A blue motorcycle similar to a Harley
Davidson model was followed by another bike with a sidecar.
  On the asphalt, the black Astroranger slightly turned his head.  From his
point of view on the ground,  The two vehicles drove away from the runways as
they headed for the mountains.
  Barely rolling his head back the other way, the black Astroranger whispered,
"Somebody...  Say something."
  MarsAstro started coughing as he came to along with VenusAstro and then
MercuryAstro.  They had all gone into a self-induced state of temporary
suspended animation to trick their enemies into believing they were killed--a
deceptive maneuver all Terranian task forces are trained to use in tactical
combat.
  JupiterAstro got up on one knee and looked around at his comrades. "Good work
on that last move, everybody.  If they knew we were alive--they would've killed
us instantly."
  MercuryAstro clenched his fist.  "I'm surprised any of us are still alive, we
were obviously no match for them."
  "No, Messuta--we were an _exact_ match," JupiterAstro answered.  "We didn't
think so and did not think to use every last bit of our skill and knowledge."
  "Australis is right," SaturnAstro told them.  "They are just as powerful as
we are and that means they are probably unstoppable."
  "No, Nashiran!  I will _not_ accept defeat!"  MarsAstro bellowed.
  "We better get out of here before they've realized we're not dead and come
back to finish the job," MercuryAstro said.  MarsAstro looked away and sighed
angrily.

     Near deep space, on the outer edge of the Earth's solar system, the gray,
ice-covered planet Pluto remained in its distant orbit from the sun.
Underground, a bunker, serving as the Nazitan outpost, was alive with the
intent to reap the benefits of the assumed demise of the Astroranger battle
team.  Under the mosaic, dome ceiling within the primary chamber, the Triranger
squadron stood on the floor, facing the steps leading to the platform where
Adol the Great's iron-clad throne was situated.  They were between Ginara,
Pleadia, also facing their master.
  "I congratulate you, Ginara, on a mission well executed and, to you, Pleadia
for keeping your promise," Adol said.  "I think it was brilliant how you came
up with a disguise for Ginara so that the Astrorangers would believe the
Trirangers were their friends.  Instead of Armatons, also in disguise."
  "Not only in disguise but using their technology," Pleadia added.  "Thanks to
Cyborg Shokush draining the Astrorangers energy, Igan was able to record the
entire schematic for their energy to matter conversion formula.  Using that, I
duplicated the system by synthesizing a new pattern and slowly energized these
ordinary armed automatons into our very own super squadron."
  "You played your part well, Trirangers," Ginara said, putting a hand on the
golden V-shield covering SilverPluto's shoulder.  Standing in one of the dark
caverns in the wall leading to the oval chamber they were in was Tortan,
groaning from her sentiment.
  BlueNeptune looked up and put his hand on his chest after asking, "Adol the
Great, what are our orders for my team, master?"
  "Human beings are interesting because they are not hatched--they grow after
being conceived inside of a pre-existing human," Adol mentioned.  "Because of
this, children are at such an undeveloped level that we would encounter less
resistance or biological rejection for assimilation."
  "I assume you have a way to prevent the humans that produced the children
from retaliating," Ginara asked.
  Adol nodded.  "Indeed; while you're looking for and flushing out buildings
with these under-developed humans, the Trirangers will stand by to crush
opposition using CosmoTron."
  "I can hardly wait for the opportunity," GoldUranus said.
  Adol stood up and walked towards the glowing, glass-like ball atop the
stone-made pedestal and watched the fog separate, revealing color images.  "The
fleet is ready; right, Pleadia?"
  "Yes."  While an upward view of the three saucers flying past Mars came were
displayed on Adol's crystal globe, Pleadia continued, "they have been deployed
for Earth and are cloaking to hover directly above our first target."
  Tortan was standing in one of the caverns listening to the conversation and
growled.  "I should be the one defeating the Astrorangers and taking over
Earth.  Once the Trirangers have concluded their mission, I will see to their
termination."  Petting his sword, Tortan walked away--passing Igan who wondered
what his rush was.

     The sun could not reach the dark side of the crater-covered moon while the
much smaller satellite synchronized its orbit with the lunar body's movement
around Earth.  Aboard the opal globe, the Terranians sat on steel tables within
the Astroranger SpaceBase level A floor.  Sheratan could not stand to even
watch as he wanted revenge against their actions.   Australis walked up behind
Lotia and looked at her knee.  "Feeling better, Lotia?"
  "Yes, it's a good thing our medical supplies are here on base," Lotia said.
  "Commander, what do the computer analyses show on these three?" Messuta
asked.  "It's pretty clear to me that no matter what we did, they had something
ready to counter our attack every time."
  "There's got to be some soft spot in their seemingly invincible skill and
weaponry," Nashiran said.  "Why are they so much like us?"
  "I don't know, but they are more like us than I would prefer to think is
possible," Commander Leto professed.  "The GeneGem supplies an enormous amount
of power to your transformation rings to formulate and maintain the matter of
your uniforms via an energy to matter to energy conversion loop."
  Messuta rolled his eyes.  "Don't tell me they're doing that too!"
  "Yes they are; apparently, they figured out the exact algorithm by absorbing
energy from you using Cyborg Shokush," Leto answered. "And it gets much worse,
I'm afraid."  He walked over to a console on the right side of the chamber, sat
down and began to type in commands.  "The computer could identify no known
weaknesses."
  "This means that absolutely no weapon designed by Terranian technology can
even scratch them." Australis said.  "And there's no time to design another."
Columns of red hues tinted white walls red as sharp alarm had sounded.
  "Oh God," Nashiran said out of habit, "now what?"
  Commander Leto walked over to the main console in the front of the chamber.
"Fifth-stage alert."
  "Uh oh," Messuta said.  "That's not good."
  Leto read the text as it auto-typed across the screen.  "Titan-Ginara is back
with Armitons and they are approaching a school."
  Lotia turned her wrist upside down to look at her watch.  "School is about to
let the children for the day; this is probably the last day of their semester."

     Armiton Soldiers fired cyan pellets of light through a school's windows as
they burst and shattered apart onto the grass below.  Inside of a classroom,
children screamed and ducked down with the teacher.  Outside, 50-meter tall
Titan-Ginara slowly walked down the street in the residential neighborhood.
She touched her tiara causing her eyes to glow bright yellow.  The jewel at
the center of her tiara then fired bolts of light into the school's roof.  An
explosion of sparks blew up to the top of the building as it caught fire.  The
fire alarm sounded and children stampeded out of the classrooms and into the
halls.
  Driving aimlessly through the city, Lucy's mind was too distraught to be
concerned she was missing work.  Shockingly, an empty school bus dropped onto
the street and she hit the brakes to swerve away.  Getting out, Lucy looked to
see if anyone was hurt.  Checking the smashed up windshield she saw nobody
inside but then looked up to see Titan-Ginara firing on the school while
Armitons grabbed kids.  "The amount of energy per child is much more than that
of an adult!" Titan-Ginara said.  "Work quickly, Armitons!"
  Armitons tore through gates with their bladed rifles and climbed into the
playground where they charged after the kids who ran away.  Meanwhile, Lucy saw
what was going on and was compelled to protect them even though she didn't know
how.  Not thinking very clearly still, she ran up the steps of the school.
Sparks blew up on the staircase and she tumbled down again bruising herself on
the hard steps.  Armitons came after her with their bladed rifles from which
they'd fired from and she looked up frightfully.

     At the SpaceBase orbiting Earth's moon--Lotia watched the coverage of the
attack on the elementary school while Sheratan paced impatiently.  "Commander,
we _really_ need to AstroCharge--right now!"
  "I really must insist you don't," Leto replied. "The Trirangers will waste no
time in returning to put and end to you all, for good this time."
  Nashiran nodded.  "This is probably another trap--especially after everything
we've been through; I'm ready to take nothing for granted now."
  "Come on, Nash," Messuta rebutted, "Sheratan is right, even you can see that.
If the nazitans take us out, at least we'd die trying.  I'd be ashamed of us if
we let 'em win because we didn't think we had what it takes to take them down!"
Australis paused and thought for a while. Messuta looked at him seriously while
he walked away and looked at the screen.  Sparks exploded everywhere while
children layed in the streets unconscious.  He knew they could wait for the
Uton Government to build a weapon to destroy the Trirangers but they had no
time.  People were going to die and the survivors would ask, 'where were you
when we needed you most?'
  "Commander Leto--send down the AstroShuttles almost before the very moment we
appear to be in trouble," Australis said.  "We're going in."
  "I'd wish you'd reconsider," Leto replied.
  Sheratan and Messuta looked at Australis and he looked at them.  "We have a
mission to protect the solar system at all costs.  Nothing else is more
important."
  Leto nodded.  "Very well then.  Be careful--you're all we've got."
  All five looked at him and nodded.  Sheratan brought up his right fist.
"ChangeForm!"  All five pushed out their ringed fists and shouted,
"AstroCharge!"  In a flash of light, they were gone.

     The school was on fire and the Astrorangers were riding their motorcycles
down the street towards the disaster area.  Meanwhile, Lucy was grabbed by the
arm by a black automaton soldier and was thrown over a rail and into the flower
garden beside the stair case.  MercuryAstro got off of his HydroCycle and
looked up at Titan-Ginara. 
  "Wait a minute, Messuta!" VenusAstro said.
  "Ginara!!" MercuryAstro yelled up at her.  "Why are you doing this?!  Why did
you hijack those airplanes, kill the passengers of the other and crash it?  Why
Why are you destroying this school!?  The Nazitans have nothing to gain here!!"
  MarsAstro watched SaturnAstro get off his HydroCycle and look at the white
Astroranger.  "What is he doing?!"
  "I don't know," MarsAstro replied.  Lucy came to and started running away
from the soldiers.
  Titan-Ginara looked down upon MercuryAstro on the ground. "Why do you use the
last precious few moments of your life so wastefully, white Astroranger?"
  "You are a fool to think you can kill us so easily!" MercuryAstro replied.
  Titan-Ginara stepped forth.  "It has not been easy but I will certainly
contribute to your slow but steady extermination!"  She leaned down and waved
the back of her hand to smack MercuryAstro.  Lucy saw Titan-Ginara prepare to
strike the white Astroranger and started running after him.  "MercuryAstro, get
out of the way!"
  He turned to see Lucy charge after him and looked shocked.  "Lucy??"  What is
she doing here? he thought but a split second went by when she slammed into his
body.  MercuryAstro fell back out of the way but Titan-Ginara's giant hand
swung against Lucy's body batting her back.
  JupiterAstro and VenusAstro jerked as they watched Lucy land on the sidewalk
with a trail of blood leaving her temple.  MercuryAstro tumbled over and rolled
over several times.
  He got up on one knee to see Lucy lying on the ground.  "Luce!"
  Titan-Ginara nodded and turned to walk away.  "Armitons, leave them--we shall
await the Trirangers' arrival."
  MercuryAstro stopped running to kneel down and pull Lucy into his arms.  "Oh,
damn it--say something!"  Lucy layed in his arms not moving at all.  "Aw man.."


 ACT II:

     The campus of the elementary school was still smoldering from the fire
causing the children to be flushed out and abducted by Armitons.  JupiterAstro
looked up at Titan-Ginara who was preparing to fire from her tiara. An educated
guess would lead him to attempt to use his Celestial Weapon, the ThunderBow.
  JupiterAstro pointed his fist into the air.  "Cosmic Arrow!" JupiterAstro 
shouted when a green beam of light materialized into a glowing arrow in his
hand.  JupiterAstro loaded the arrow into his bow, pulled back and let the
arrow shoot into the sky.  Sparks exploded from Titan-Ginara's forehead, making
her to groan and stumble back.
  Meanwhile, MercuryAstro held Lucy who layed unconscious in his arms.  "Come
on, talk to me."  Lucy came to and looked into his visor.
  "Lucy!" MercuryAstro cheered.  VenusAstro had remembered the name.
  Lucy's eyes fell shut again but her lips parted to speak.  "Ron, I'm not
going to make it."
  MarsAstro reacted sharply.  What did she call him?!, he thought.
  "How do you know who I..." MercuryAstro started to ask.
  "In the ally--with the alien," Lucy answered.  "You, uhh..."
  "I'm going to miss you," MercuryAstro replied, "we only just met!" he gasped.
  "If my spirit is still around, I will look over you always..." she said while
fading.  VenusAstro looked down in sadness over her friend's loss. MercuryAstro
set Lucy's deceased body on the ground and stood up.  "I don't believe this..."
Titan-Ginara stomped down forcing SaturnAstro and JupiterAstro to split up.
"I'd hate to say this, but school or not--we need AstroMan, right now,"
SaturnAstro said after getting up.
  JupiterAstro nodded.  "Agreed!  Sheratan, the AstroShuttles!"
  "I'm on top of it," MarsAstro replied.  "Galaxy Task Force Command--Astro
Shuttles Blast Off!" they shouted.   In the zero-gravity take-off bay at the
bottom of the SpaceBase, the force field maintaining air-pressure inside of the
take-off bay was activated.  The doors began to open, showing Earth in outer
space, as indicated by the warning signal.  The afterburners flared with rocket
propulsion prior to moving the two shuttles, two rockets and one space shift
out of the shuttle bay.  In outer space, the five AstroShuttles had left the
take-off bay as the SpaceBase became invisible again.  The fleet began to
travel towards the planet Earth at maximum velocity.
  On Earth, the five shuttles were approaching at high speed; Titan-Ginara
turned to look at the shuttles and then the Astrorangers on the ground.
MercuryAstro looked up and pointed at giant-sized Ginara.  "Ginara, you will be
punished for your crimes against humanity!  I personally will guarantee it!"
  "Brave words, Astroranger but you will not be so brave when you are buried
by your own mechanical contraption!"  Titan-Ginara said.  She blew a strong
stream of air between her lips and the Astrorangers on the ground waved their
arms to get away.
  Rolling clear, MercuryAstro got up and leaped into the air.  In the sky, he
became a white sphere of light that flew into the window of his shuttle.
  Within the TurboShuttle cockpit, MercuryAstro re-materialized and assumed
control.  "TurboShuttle ready!"
  MarsAstro materialized within his cockpit and flipped switches on the top
panel above himself. "CombatShuttle in manual pilot mode.  Please acknowledge."
  JupiterAstro looked at his colorful console from within his cockpit.  "This
is CommandShuttle, all others report manual pilot status."
  Titan-Ginara's eyes glowed as her tiara's jewel fired a beam of light.
  CombatShuttle flew in ahead.  "Scatter!" MarsAstro commanded.  They all split
up and RescueShuttle flew around.
  "We're ready to attempt AstroMan formation sequence," VenusAstro reported.
  MercuryAstro nodded while in his cockpit.  "Good, then let's unite!"
A five-way view of all cockpits showed the white gloves of the Astroranger's
fists pulling back a large black lever.
  Red and Pink Shuttles landed on the ground as feet and legs while green
CommandShuttle's nose folded under the ventral hull while its jet packs slid on
to the sides to become shoulders.  The craft connected to the legs, forming the
torso.  Meanwhile, the rockets white TurboShuttle and black SolarShuttle hooked
up to the shoulders as arms and fists.
  Inside of tubes running throughout the interior of the massive robot, chairs
on tracks rolled each Astroranger to the central cockpit.
  AstroMan's head ascended from between its shoulders--through its red visor,
one could see the Astroranger battle team rising into place.  On the bottom
level, JupiterAstro and SaturnAstro occupied the control bank there while the
top bank was manned by VenusAstro and MercuryAstro.  MarsAstro manned the
middle and center station and placed his hands on the controls.  "Merging
sequence complete."
  Pulling away to show all of the multi-colored robot, its fists' knuckles were
together.  AstroMan's red visor gleamed into a twinkle in the upper corner when
bringing its fists apart.
     AstroMan blocked Titan-Ginara's kick and her armor burst of sparks
when its fist crashed into her shoulder.
  Standing back while smoking she held shuriken, a ninja's star-shaped
darts, and tossed them at the tall robot.
  Sparks blew all over AstroMan as waved its arms around trying to
dodge shower the sharp metal raining down.
Inside of the cockpit--all of the Astrorangers were shaken in their seats by
the blast of sparks that exploded before them.  Once the smoke cleared,
MarsAstro regained control.  "AstroMan--activate VisorRay!"
     The tall robot took its fists away from its face and fired a
yellow beam from its visor.  Titan-Ginara was walking forward when
suddenly a bright blast had exploded when she took her next step.  She
was rolling across the ground while smoking.
MercuryAstro held onto his right wrist while clenching his fist.  "Let's finish
her off right now."
  JupiterAstro looked upwards toward him. "Messuta, she hasn't lost enough
power yet."
  "Sheratan!!" VenusAstro shouted.  "Long range scanners have encountered three
HUGE objects entering Earth's close range orbit."
  "What?" MarsAstro said to himself.  "On screen!"
     Titan-Ginara jabbed AstroMan with punch after punch, resulting in
multiple explosions of sparks.  Eventually, AstroMan blocked a swing,
upper-cut punched her and then knocked Titan-Ginara across the face.
  Tumbling over, Titan-Ginara rolled off; AstroMan turned to look up
into the sky.  The sun glared brightly but from its point of view,
electronic instruments switched from infrared to radar to telescopic
and picked up an image of three saucers entering the atmosphere.
  Within AstroMan's cockpit--JupiterAstro watched readings scroll on his
console's terminal.  "Nobody is onboard according to biological sensors and
they appear to be receiving basic R.F. frequencies to remotely pilot them."
  "Who's sending them??" MarsAstro asked.
  MercuryAstro typed at his console.  "I'm calculating the coordinates, the
location should show up on screen momentarily."  On screen, a picture of
Titan-Ginara suspiciously standing by changed to the Trirangers standing on top
of a building.
  "Surprise, surprise," SaturnAstro commented.
The three saucers hovered in the air above as they approached the scene of the
battle.  The Trirangers looked up at them and BlueNeptune looked at both of his
comrades.  "All aboard!"
  The saucers that were flying in focused transparent beams of blue, white and
yellow on the ground.  The three Trirangers became bits of glowing light as
they'd disappeared.  The lights retracted back into the saucers's undersides.
Titan-Ginara suddenly vanished while AstroMan watched the saucers.
  "Now what's going on?" VenusAstro asked.  "And where did Ginara go??"
  "Cleaning up after themselves," JupiterAstro assumed.  "WOAH!  Look at that!"
Suddenly, the three saucercrafts had blue, white and yellow lights that ran
around the rim until finally each cell on the rims were glowing brightly.  In a
flash, everything froze as the saucers stretched out and snapped into the
distance leaving behind a diamond of white light in the blue sky.
  Returning the same way was a robot, equal to the size and armor of AstroMan.
Its chaises black, its eyes red and mouth covered like a ninja, it braced the
hilt of a sword attached to a sheath mounted on its hip.
  In the cockpit, the Trirangers sat at a single console and assumed control of
the trackballs at their station.  "CosmoTron is here," BlueNeptune announced.
  Simultaneously, MarsAstro, MercuryAstro and JupiterAstro cocked their heads
defensively.
  "CosmoTron's got more juice pumping through its power systems than a nuclear
reactor," SaturnAstro said.  "And that's some serious armor it's got.  Twice as
durable as ours."
    "We've got to do whatever it takes to disable this thing now before it can
get in too many heavy-hitting blows to us," VenusAstro said.  MarsAstro nodded.
  BlueNeptune's head was positioned arrogantly.  "On guard, Astrorangers--this
time, we will won't go anywhere until we see that you are all dead."
  CosmoTron stepped forth and looked at AstroMan; AstroMan looked back
and assumed its defensive posture.  Staring each other down, both
gigantic robots walked sideways in a circle preparing for the moment of
attack.
     CosmoTron stopped, drew its saber and struck down.  A massive
blast of sparks exploded from AstroMan's armor as it stumbled back
smoking.
  CosmoTron sliced across, cut down and turned around to strike across
its chest, all three producing thunderous blows to the giant robot.
  AstroMan stumbled back while still smoking.
A flash blasted sparks in front of the cockpit--jostling the Astrorangers
inside.  After the smoke cleared, MarsAstro regained control of his console and
groaned.  "Aah--damage report!"
  VenusAstro looked up.  "Shields down to 85% and fluctuating.  I'm re-routing
power to compensate."
  "We can't afford to loose 15% of the shields, Sheratan," JupiterAstro said.
  MarsAstro looked at him and nodded.  "I know.  AstroMan: Activate SunSabre!"
     AstroMan drew the SunSabre, its single-sided sword with a sideways-I for
the golden guard, and stood ready.
  Clashing on both sides, the robots dueled when AstroMan pushed down
CosmoTron's blade with its sword.  CosmoTron withdrew and sparked off
AstroMan's armor using an upper cut with its sword.
  After being shaken, the task force grunted, "Ugh!"
     Sparks broke out of CosmoTron's armor when AstroMan's SunSabre
sliced against it.  AstroMan attempted to strike again but CosmoTron's
sword blocked its blade.  CosmoTron used its blade to knock the SunSabre
high before cutting down on AstroMan with its saber.
  AstroMan's smoking body stumbled back when suddenly, CosmoTron's
chest opened and a chain started flying out.
  Around AstroMan's neck was a chain which tied up the giant robot and
locked it in place.
  CosmoTron's red eyes lit up and, on the chain, arcs of electricity
jumped along the metal.  AstroMan writhed while sparks had burst from every
area of its body.
     Within the cockpit--sparks exploded from random areas and VenusAstro
looked up.  "Shields down to twenty-percent!"
  "Re-routing to compensate," MercuryAstro added.  On his console, the graphics
chart illustrated red X marks over joining lines.  "Arrgh!!  Power distribution
nodes were shorted out by the overload, I can't get more power to the shields!"
     CosmoTron's fists pulled themselves inside of their boxy sockets
and were replaced by jaws that fired more chains that tied themselves
around AstroMan's arms.  AstroMan struggled to free itself to no avail.
  In one mighty tug from CosmoTron, the huge robot was jerked into the air.  In
the sky, AstroMan flipped over and the ground rumbled when the 150 foot robot
crashed onto its back into the street.
     The Astrorangers were jolted again and the cockpit was leaning to the
side.  Two bells sounded after the crash and SaturnAstro looked on his console.
"Outer chassis breach at sector 7G!"
  JupiterAstro looked over at the black Astroranger.  "The shields couldn't
absorb the shock."
     CosmoTron yanked its arms up again and pulled the massive robot into the
air.  In the sky, the chains unraveled from AstroMan's body as it hurled itself
through the sky and into the ground again crashing almost head first.
  Sparks sprayed down from the ceiling while a fountain of sparks erupted from
the floor, startling VenusAstro into screaming.
     The robot skidded out and hit a fire hydrant which caused water to shoot
up into the sky.
  Within the cockpit of AstroMan--the dim emergency lights flickered before
sparks exploded from the wall, forcing JupiterAstro to duck.  SaturnAstro
pounded his console.  "I lost power to my terminal!"
  "Me too!" MercuryAstro said.
  MarsAstro looked straight ahead.  "It looks like it's up to me."
    AstroMan barely stood up as CosmoTron walked closer then suddenly stopping.
  Within the cockpit of CosmoTron, SilverPluto pointed while looking at the
smoking robot.  "Surrender, Astrorangers--you are worthy foes and your service
to us would be invaluable."
  MarsAstro looked up and out of the eyes of AstroMan.  "You will never
assimilate us!"  AstroMan fired the VisorRay from its eyes.
  BlueNeptune pushed one of his trackballs.  "Electromagnetic Shields!"
     In front of CosmoTron, a pink grid opened into a window of light upon
which the yellow beam had reflected.  AstroMan was instantly hit with the full
force of its own heat ray.
  The Astrorangers were once again rocked in their seats by the sparks
exploding before them.
  Arcs of electricity formed between the three points of CosmoTron's crown and
used it to send a streaming blue beam of sparkling lights.  AstroMan was
paralyzed.
  "Motor functions are dead!" MercuryAstro reported.  "I can't move it!"
  JupiterAstro pounded his console.  "Ugh--what is going on?!"
  "We're about to find out!" SaturnAstro said before pointing ahead.
     Before a cosmic background, CosmoTron put its black fists together, end to
end.  Arcs of light formed as it drew its fists apart.  The light eventually
formed a silver staff.
  On the ground again, the mighty robot stood holding the StellarRod and
stabbed it into the ground while thunder cracked behind itself.
BlueNeptune flipped switches on his console and regained control of the
trackballs.  "You will now suffer for not contributing to the most powerful
civilization of this Galaxy."
  "StellarRod Obliteration!" they all shouted.
     The rod was electrified by lighting when it became a laser staff.
CosmoTron swung down and, within the cockpit; the red Astroranger looked
through his black visor.  We're going to die, MarsAstro thought to himself.
"AstroMan disengage!!!"
  The fists of AstroMan were withdrawn, restoring the rocket-booster mode of
the TurboShuttle and SolarShuttle; the pink and red RescueShuttle and
CombatShuttle fired their afterburners and the black and white arms of AstroMan
carried it skyward.
  While the glowing StellarRod of CosmoTron was being swung down, the massive
robot suddenly blasted off.
     In the sky, the five AstroShuttles were flying through the sky again in
cruise mode.  CosmoTron looked up and brought up its fist.
  "They are retreating!" GoldUranus said.
  SilverPluto looked at his shiny gold comrade.  "They will not escape this
time!"  BlueNeptune nodded.  "Disengage CosmoTron, we will annihilate them one
by one."
  In outer space, the five shuttles left the Earth.  Inside of the
RescueShuttle cockpit, VenusAstro looked at her monitor.  "Emergency life
support systems are online--are all of you okay?"
  "We've been through worse, but AstroMan sure hasn't," JupiterAstro replied on
screen.
  SaturnAstro looked on his console's scanners and looked up again.  "Uh oh,
they're coming after us!!"
  MercuryAstro jumped in his seat.  "What??"
  "Change course, change course!" MarsAstro said in his cockpit.  "Split up on
the double!"
  The shuttles broke formation flying towards the moon and headed off in all
directions.  "I suggest we orbit the Earth until we figure out what to do with
these bastards!" MercuryAstro said.
  "Agreed," MarsAstro radioed back.  A ring on top of Gold Saucer had two
traveling glowing nodes which formed a solid beam of light when meeting at a
single point.  CombatShuttle flew by and a formerly invisible egg-shaped shield
glowed blue when the golden beam made contact.
  MarsAstro was shaken in his seat and pushed buttons on his touch-screen
console.  "Returning fire!"
  CombatShuttle started firing lasers which pulsed out of tubes mounted on its
wings.  The saucers floated by and their shields reacted similarly to his.
Gold Saucer fired yellow flying triangles back at him. CombatShuttle dodged the
shots and fired back again.
  Outer space was a spectacular view above Earth with saucers chasing rockets
and shuttles firing multicolored lights and beams at each other with shields
momentarily becoming visible.
  Green CommandShuttle was fired on while RescueShuttle flew by to fire bright
flashes at SilverSaucer.  "We're taking a beating out here, Sheratan!"
JupiterAstro said.  "And we don't know how much longer we can last."
  MarsAstro had a plan all along but never wanted to try it--he knew they would
not accept it at all but he had to try.  It was the only thing that could
possibly destroy them.  "Astrorangers, keep firing on the shuttles and draw
them to me at top speed.  I have an idea."
  "We're ready," SaturnAstro reported.  "SolarShuttle's engines are prepared
for maximum output."
  "Engage!" MarsAstro commanded.  All five shuttles suddenly leaped into super
high-speed towards the sun and the three saucers snapped off into the distance
to follow.
  MarsAstro continued his course for the sun.  "Fire Atomic Rockets."
CommandShuttle's aft section shot missiles from its rear-mounted tube; the
three shuttles gained on them while the explosions did not even phase their
shields.
  "Fly ahead of me and keep firing lasers at them, I need them to be very close
to me," MarsAstro said. "Don't worry everybody, I know exactly what I'm doing."
  JupiterAstro shook his head.  ``I sure hope so.''  "Astrorangers, fire at
will!"  The shuttles approached the flaming star in the distance while the
SaucerCraft approached and fired a golden beam from the ring on its underside.
SolarShuttle was hit and inside of the cockpit, sparks blew from inside.  Two
bells chimed.  "Warning, atmospheric decompression in primary cockpit;
compensating."
  The red CombatShuttle flew towards the sun with BlueSaucer following.
Inside, MarsAstro looked around and turned off his radio.  It would be useless
when this close to the sun, he would have to trust in his friends to get him
the hell out of there before he is incinerated by the sun.
  "I've lost number three engine!!" VenusAstro reported.  "My guidance systems
are out of control!"
  "I'll pull you back into position until they come back online," JupiterAstro
radioed back over her view screen.  "Hang on!"  CommandShuttle flew in and
launched a towing beam onto the hull of RescueShuttle and kept it from spinning
out.  SilverSaucer shot several beams of light at CommandShuttle rocking both
VenusAstro and JupiterAstro. Two bells sounded onboard the green CommandShuttle
and JupiterAstro saw smoke rising from the console.  "Warning: structural
integrity failure on dorsal hull," said the synthesized voice.
  Meanwhile, MarsAstro's cockpit was bright with the sun beaming inside and the
Triranger's saucercrafts floated in and fired away upon the red CombatShuttle.
Two bells inside had been sounded.  "Warning: ventral shield array reaching
maximum design limit.  Cockpit temperature now reaching jeopardizing levels."
  "Come on, you were built for this," MarsAstro said.  "Please work..."
The white TurboShuttle was coming in after CombatShuttle.  MercuryAstro wasn't
going to let Sheratan fend for himself.
  VenusAstro looked up happily.  "My engines are back, I'm ready to go!"
  "Good, once Sheratan is done doing whatever it is he thinks he's doing, pull
him out of there!" JupiterAstro said.  "Messuta, follow Lotia."
  MercuryAstro nodded.  "I'm already on my way." TurboShuttle was at top speed.
Inside of the red CombatShuttle's cockpit--MarsAstro was wavering from the
intense heat even his suit could not protect him from.  Two bells sounded,
"Warning: outer hull now exceeding design limit, energy core temperature
approaching unstable levels."
  "Just a little further, we've got to get them close!" MarsAstro gasped.
  CombatShuttle was approaching the surface of the sun when, inside, the alarm
chimed again.  "Warning: inner hull approaching temperature design limits.
Cockpit temperature is now 113 degrees and rising."
  "Now!" MarsAstro said pushing up his sliders.  The engine was heard reaching
full power but something went terribly wrong; the red CombatShuttle could not
escape the sun's incredible gravitational pull.  "I'm sinking!" MarsAstro said.
Two bells chimed again. "Warning, shields failing."  The three saucercraft were
traveling at their maximum velocity when suddenly, the white Rocket,
TurboShuttle, flew beside CombatShuttle.  The thrust pulled up the sun's
surface forming a wall of fire that the SilverSaucer flew straight into.  The
ship had burst into bits of light instantly upon contact.
  "What happened??" GoldUranus asked from his cockpit.
  BlueNeptune looked around inside of his cockpit.  "We just lost SilverPluto!
Cut your engines now!"
  GoldSaucer was heading straight into the sun...  "No change, I'm flying right
into the..."  Suddenly the saucer burst into flames when it penetrated the
surface of the star.
  Meanwhile, RescueShuttle descended from above and placed the towing beam,
blue net-like grid on the hull of CombatShuttle.
  VenusAstro flipped several switches above her head.  "I told you I don't ever
want to lose you and I won't--not this soon."
  RescueShuttle's jets blasted off and lifted CombatShuttle away from the sun
just as BlueSaucer came.  The tip of the ship's hull touched the sun and
instantly exploded.
  "Good work, you guys," JupiterAstro said.
  MarsAstro looked around inside of his cockpit.  "Thanks everybody."
  "We weren't about to let your insane plan get the best of you," MercuryAstro
replied on his screen.
  VenusAstro disengaged the towing beam on red CombatShuttle but looked down as
she wondered how many more near-death occurrences must she wait for before she
could tell him how she really felt about him. Meanwhile, the five AstroShuttles
headed for Earth's moon to return to the SpaceBase.

   The horizon was turning green as the sun was concluding its descent over the
west outside of Ron's window.  He stood there staring blankly out of the second
story window when there came a knock upon his door.  "Come in, Will," Ron had
assumed for they shared the room.  It was Amy though.
  Ron smiled.  "Amy--Hi, what are you doing here?"
  Amy stepped inside and closed the door.  "I came to see how you were doing."
  "I could be better.  I bet Dave got really upset over Lucy saying my name
like that," Ron said.  "I suppose this proves him right and I'm wrong, huh?"
  "Would you like to tell me what happened?" Amy asked.
  "Well," he sighed.  "Ginara, who was thought was Cyborg Hageta forced me to
have to AstroCharge before I had a chance to secure the area.  The ally where
we were was the only place I can think of where she could have seen me become
MercuryAstro.  Pretty stupid, eh?"  Ron sighed while Amy continued to silently
listen.  "Perhaps Tom is right; humans and Terranians just don't mix.  Every
time we get together, something really bad happens.  Thanks to her knowing who
I am, she gets herself killed trying to protect me because I told her."
  Amy shook her head.  "You're not responsible for other people's actions, Ron.
Lucy did what she thought she had to do but whatever anybody does, their
actions will come with their own set of unique consequences to handle."
  "The fact still remains that none of this would've happened in the first
place if I hadn't have tried to get emotionally tied to this girl, Amy," Ron
said, "even if for an insignificant period of time."
  "Maybe, but I don't really think that can be helped.  I've heard about
situations like that in this world--where there are things that go on in life
that nobody likes but are just apart of living," Amy said.  "And besides, I
enjoy trying to get something out of my stay here.  Earth is not so bad, Ron;
not like they show in our mass media."  Ron still did not look at Amy.
  "Don't worry about Dave; he was rather close minded about this civilization
to begin with and these last few days of getting shot and learning Beverly
already had a romantic interest hasn't helped any," Amy said. "I'm sure you can
understand."
  Ron nodded.  "I suppose."
  Amy put her hand on his shoulder and he looked at her.  "All we can do is
learn from our mistakes, I'm sure Dave understands you would never willingly
tell anybody who you are," Amy said optimistically.
  "Maybe--it's just so hard to see past how aggressive he is but," Ron replied.
"I suppose after what he's been through, it's hard to act like you like getting
abused."
  "Don't worry about it, Ron--Dave respects each and every one of us and I'm
sure that he would never trust you or anyone else on this team with his life if
this weren't true," Amy said.  "Especially with that heroic act with the sun
today."
  Ron grinned and nodded.  "Heh--that's true.  His crazy plan didn't work like
he thought it would."
  Amy smiled.  "See, we all can make mistakes.  The trick is not to let that
get us down.  All that can be done is to learn from them."
  Ron nodded.  "But do you know what worries me?"
  She shook her head.  "No, what?"
  "The Nazitans have grown to strengths that are obviously now more superior
than what we used to be able to handle," Ron stated.  "It is evident that we do
need help.  Something or someone very powerful to come to our aid."
  Amy nodded.  "I just hope we get it before it's too late."

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    


Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . .

Frank Mahoney encounters Armiton soldiers while trying to locate Officer Tenmei
hiking in the Angeles National Forest.  Beverly's dream brings her to her
destiny there in Episode 26: "The Search".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"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]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------