[970630]
                                                                      [Preview]
A dream leads Beverly to the power which lies somewhere out there in the forest
of southern California.  Soon she will discover what she is looking for however
the Nazitans will fight her for the power.  Who will get it first?  Read ahead!


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.

 with... Officer Beverly Tenmei.



  ACT I:

     The sun was setting for the last time in Los Angeles with almost every
building burning to the ground.
  Bloody corpses lined the streets while overhead Titan-Adol stood over
AstroMan spewing sparks from holes torn in it.  Armatons soldiers were stabbing
victims while Tortan and Ginara throw the dead to Cyborgs which instantly
transform them into Nazitan zombies.
   Beverly Tenmei, face and neck decorated in make-up of tree leaves, pink
lipstick with a golden tiara and silver crown, wore a yellow unitard with green
tiger-stripes and nothing else.
  In another bright white flash of light, Beverly was holding a golden ring
that looked like an 8 that had caused Tortan to crumble like stone while
bursting into a spark and fire filled explosion.
  Behind her were the Astrorangers and Beverly's face was suddenly covered by a
yellow helmet's mask with a black, uniquely shaped visor; standing together,
they all held their celestial weapons.  Beverly's right hand was frozen by the
jade-stoned ring on her fourth finger which had lit up brilliantly into a flash
of white light.

     The morning sun shined behind the white lace curtains hung in front of the
window when suddenly, in a gasp, Beverly had pulled herself up from the bed.
Holding the bed's covers over her bare shoulders, Beverly breathed deeply while
sweat pasted her hair's bangs to her forehead.  She looked at her hand and
noticed all her fingers were devoid of rings like normal.  Beverly's head fell
back and closed her eyes while taking a deep breath.
  Beverly wanted to ignore that horrible nightmare as she layed back in bed and
turned over.  But her eyes opened again as she looked at the clock and frowned.
"Sometimes going to work can really get in the way..." she said to herself.
One minute later the clock reached 6:30 and the alarm began to beep.
  Steam filled the bathroom of the single-bedroom apartment, inside, she used
the bath sponge to lather her left arm when suddenly she stopped and looked
around blankly while thinking.  It was just too real for it to be just her
subconscious mind playing back repeats of what goes on in that city all the
time now.  It was almost like the dream was telling her to do something.  Being
a police officer, the young Japanese woman relied more so on her gut instinct
than what she know to be true.  Now was the time to act solely from this
instinct.
  Water stopped flowing from the shower head as Beverly left the tub.


                                  Episode 26:
                                  "The Search"                                

     Pluto remained in its slow orbit in the far reaches of our solar system;
meanwhile underground its freezing surface was the Nazitan outpost.  Inside of
the primary chamber was the crystal ball on a pedestal in front of the stairs
that led to Adol the Great's throne.  He slowly paced from left to right and
back again along the stage where his throne was.  Adol stopped and then looked
at his minions.  "Do you have any idea how disappointed I am in all of you?"
Nobody said a word as they knew Adol was only venting.
  "I didn't think so.  In fact, I don't think you have any ideas period because
in order for you to have them, you would have to have a _brain_!" Adol said.
  "Tortan and Ginara, you were both chosen because they said you were good.
They never showed me anything, they just said you were good and put you on this
mission and made you MY responsibility.  You can put up a great fight but when
it comes to finishing the jobs, Pleadia's _cyborgs_ have come closer!"  Adol
continued to pace.
  "And Igan, your information has been worthless to us, time and time again.
Rather than spending all your time--looking at Ginara change, you should be
down on Earth, looking at every single move those Astrorangers are making!
Pleadia; you would be ejected into deep space by now if it weren't for the fact
that you are the only one here who has any clue about what you're doing.  But
don't think your work is acceptable; your Armatons are junk, your cyborgs are
worthless and sometimes I don't think you know what _you're_ doing either!
But..."  Adol said while sitting down.
  "I'm giving you all one more chance.  Just know that if you fail me again,
your punishment will be carried out by the Procyon military as soon as I
report back to them and mutiny is pointless," Adol reminded them.  "I see all
that is near me.  I know what you are going to do before you do it and don't
ever forget that."

     At the Hollywood Hills on the corner of the block south of the main
thoroughfare indicated by the traffic light was the Terranians' house with a
freshly mowed lawn, a driveway leading to the garage and a low white picket
fence with mailbox at the end of the walkway.  Inside, Aaron Hanson from
Griffith Observatory was sitting on the couch opposite Will in the recliner as
they both drank from cups with saucers on the coffee table.
  "I am glad you had the time to allow me to pay a visit, William" Aaron said.
"I try not to add anymore inconvenience to your life as there already has to
be.  However, I couldn't leave for the base, I am needed at the Observatory."
  Will placed his tea cup back on the saucer.  "Nonsense, Mr. Hanson; official
business always takes priority.  What's on your mind?"
  "Will, it concerns me greatly about the origin of the TriRangers," Aaron
said.  "Their powers were too great to be yet another spawn of The Nazitan's
arsenal."
  "Indeed, they were a formidable challenge for all of us."
  Aaron nodded.  "William, do you remember the story of the industrial accident
at Uton Defense Laboratory C at Government Headquarters?"
  "Regarding the experiment to create a more powerful genesis gemstone?  Yes, I
do--it was top secret," Will said to Aaron. "They only told a few of us because
it was our job to make sure that nobody else said a word.  Right?"
  "Yes; and as it were, the rest of the story is that when an explosion took
place at the fabrication plant, they were unable to locate the prototype ring
once it had been first pressed," Aaron told him.  "They brought in every type
of scanner known to our technology. And, according to the secret report, sensor
readings indicated that there were a rip in the subatomic vibrational barrier
at the time."
  "How did that happen?" Will asked.
  "Various task force commanders such as myself reasoned that the explosion had
created this hole and that the ring itself slipped through while being blasted
through," Aaron answered.  "So my personal fear is that The Nazitans found the
ring and used it to make the three Anti-Rangers you did battle with."
  Will took a sip of tea and shook his head, "But, Hanson, where did the
weapons and the other two rangers, saucers and robot come from?"
  Aaron put his tea down on the coffee table, "If you build something that uses
the genesis powers to form a circuit through itself (as to create a perpetual
loop) it will be just as powerful as our weapons and robots."
  "Were there any suits, weapons or robots built for this new Genesis ring?"
Will asked.
  Aaron nodded.  "Yes.  In fact, Uterra Aerospace Industries completed the
AstroShuttle for that improved genesis gem, the AirShuttle.  Anyway the weapons
and suit are supposedly at the SpaceBase now, but I would have been alerted to
any intruder alerts.  So the chances that they got those very same weapons and
uniforms are highly unlikely."
  "Especially since the Triranger team didn't look anything like an Astroranger
but we still have to check and make sure that they didn't get that ring
anyway," Will replied.  "If they got the sixth genesis ring, everything with it
would have been activated.  Using the GeneGem, the Nazitans could have taken
our materials and modified them without even needing to enter the SpaceBase."
  "Right, so if both the uniform and weapon are still there, they didn't find
the ring," Aaron agreed, "but...  The fact still remains, the ring is still out
there; on this planet and we must find it before the Nazitans do."
  Will nodded.  "If you and Ron can run a search for it on Earth, Dave and Tom
along with myself can track it down.  I figure that between the three of us,
one or two should be able to bring it back safely."

     In the Angeles National Forest, the San Gabriel Mountains supported the
Angeles Crest Highway that led to Mount Wilson Road towards the 5,700 ft. Mount
Wilson.  In white socks and sneakers, Beverly walked around at the foot of
Strawberry Peak in the wilderness.  She was in a gray sport bra and yellow bike
pants because the sun was hot that day and she had a lot of ground to cover.
Beverly wished she knew what she was looking for but got a strong indication to
head east still walking away from the junction of Mt. Wilson Road and Highway 2
towards Big Tujunga Creak.
  It was very quiet and peaceful unlike in the city, with its severe lack of
privacy so her ability to think was enhanced.  Beverly felt as if she knew this
territory even though she'd never visited this area before because she
navigated it with such expertise.  And while wondering, she kept a careful eye
out for what was all around her.  It is unfortunate that what Beverly was
searching for was too small to be found by chance by the human eye.  However,
she wasn't only using her eyes to seek what she was searching for.

       The view of Earth in outer space soon was soon occupied by the Moon.
Around the dark side of the moon, the opal globe SpaceBase for the Astrorangers
remained in synchronous orbit of the lunar body.  Inside, Messuta sat at the
TurboShuttle remote control station while Lotia stood leaning up against the
wall staring into the floor.  When Messuta stood up, he walked over to the
CommandShuttle console frowning strongly.  "Hopefully my new flexi-skeleton
design will not make it so easy to beat the hell out of our ships."  He noticed
that Lotia was rather distracted as he looked up at her.  "Hey, Lotia, you
don't have to be up here if you're bored."
  "No, it's okay, I want to be here--nobody would think I'd come up here so I
would be left alone," Lotia said to him. "I'm not bored really, just thinking."
  Messuta manipulated graphics on screen with the glide-pads on his console and
then looked at her again.  "I think the expression is penny for your thoughts."
  Lotia exhaled.  Messuta was easy to talk to and to listen to so she didn't
mind.  "I think it finally just occurred to me why I picked up on Beverly's
mind that she thought I was nice; 'you remember that?" she asked.
  Messuta nodded.  "I think so, Lotia.  That night was so bizarre--why?"
  "I think nice was her way of thinking I was attractive and that if it weren't
for the fact that she were with someone else, she'd want to go out with me,
Messuta," Lotia answered.  She looked down and sighed.
  "Well, how is that a bad thing?" Messuta asked.
  "It isn't, in and of itself," Lotia replied.  "I don't mind that at all, but
I feel somewhat guilty that instead of Sheratan, who wants her, she wants me,"
she said looking up at the ceiling. "I feel like I am in some way depriving him
of happiness that he's owed for working so hard in an environment he hates."
  Messuta stood up, "Come on, Lotia--that's quite a stretch.  If it isn't you
or Sasha, it would be some other _woman_.  Dave lost out because of something
that couldn't be helped. It isn't as if you did something to make that happen."
  "Yeah, but I don't think Dave would like knowing this and I can't lie to
him," Lotia turned to him and said.  "I'm not quite sure what to do."
  "You shouldn't put yourself through so much anxiety over this; Sheratan will
be fine.  Why do you worry about him so much anyhow?"
  "I can't say--really..." she listlessly answered while staring once again.
Lotia's mind had flash backed to her career on Terrania . . . 
     In a futuristic looking city, a high-rise building was on fire and black
 smoke poured out of broken out window.  On the surface, the roadways looked
 like bumper-car rinks as hovercraft-like vehicles transported public security
 officers to the scene.
   In a blue spandex-like uniform of black boots, white gloves and black wrist
 guards, Sheratan Kasei ran down the stairs onto a floor where it seemed like
 nothing was around.  He looked out of the window when Lotia Kinsei, in the
 same uniform, ran into the room from the opposite side and shouted,
 "Sheratan, look out!"
   "Huh?" he said but his reflexes reacted in time; someone in spandex-like
 ninja gear fired multiple shots from a primitive photon pistol.  Sheratan
 leaped away from the bursts of sparks blowing from the floor.
   Rolling over, he drew a Moleculatom Light Blaster from his black utility
 belt.  Sparks shot out of the ninja's chest from the bright electric blue beam
 hitting him.
   Lotia had used hers to fire another black-clad criminal in the shoulder as
 the sparks knocked him down as well.  The rest of them started running down
 the stairs.  Sheratan and Lotia stood back to back as they assembled.
   "It looks like they were serious when they said they wanted no resistance!"
 Sheratan said to Lotia.
   "We can't let that tyrant maniac become the ruler of this city, especially
 not like this," Lotia replied.  "Let's get to it."
   Sheratan kicked away a direct punch from a warrior when then kicking
 upwards; He turns to side-kick another and then back flip out of the way of a
 hurricane-kick.  Lotia cartwheeled out of the way, turned around and punched a
 warrior into flipping over.  She had done a walkover and kicked another.
  A warrior shot from his photon gun and hit Sheratan's suit causing sparks to
 fly.  He hit the ground and rolled out up against the window.
   "Sheratan!!" Lotia shouted.  Another warrior attempted to punch when she
 grabbed his arm and pulled that ninja over her shoulder.
   Sheratan was getting up.  "I'm all right."
 An armored half-robot, half-Terranian stood atop the stair case and looked
 down.  "Why do you continue to fight?  This city now belongs to me because I
 have seized your capitol."
   "Libstag, you mutant!  You'll wreck this city like you wrecked yourself,"
 Sheratan said.  "Everybody will continue to fight until you're gone!"
   "My body is a work of innovative genius.  You and the rest are all too
 ignorant to comprehend this," Libstag replied.  "Soon, I will rule with my
 superior intelligence!"
   "You haven't taken over yet, Libstag!" Lotia said.
   Libstag removed a black device from his robes.  "Oh no?"  Suddenly, the
 floor blew apart blasting both Sheratan and Lotia's bodies off the level and
 crashed through the window.  Outside, both public security officers were sent
 flying backwards out of the high rise.  Sheratan's hand hooked onto the fire
 escape guard rail and Lotia grabbed onto his shoulders.
   Sheratan and Lotia had hung their for quite some time while he was handling
 his belt.  Lotia was starting to slip.  "Lotia!" Sheratan shouted. "Hang on!!"
   Lotia's face strained while trying to climb up.  "I can't!!"
  "You have to try!"  She looked down and then trying to see Sheratan's face.
 "In case we don't make it this time, I have to say something," Lotia said.
 Sheratan growled, "ARGH! I can't reach it!  No, Lotia--don't say that, we'll
 make it!"
  "I know, I wish I had've said this before 'cause this isn't the way I wanted
 to tell you," Lotia said. "If we make it, this might totally ruin our working
 relationship but I'm almost sure I'm falling..."
   "Hold that thought!" Sheratan said as he finally drew a power-grappling
 hook and shot it into the sky. "Hang on!"  Eventually both were lifted away...
     At the SpaceBase--regret filled Lotia's face as she tightly closed her
eyes and leaned her head back.  "Why didn't I say anything when I saved his
life before that happened last year?"  This pattern of waiting until it's too
late has to end, she thought.

     At the Nazitan Outpost beneath the surface of Pluto--Igan sat at an
arcade-game like workstation donated to him by Pleadia.  He upgraded his
equipment and Igan needed practical search equipment to scan Earth
automatically. While looking at the longitude and latitude lines of the planet,
Igan watched the computer graphically scan for what he'd entered in.  Pleadia
entered Igan's chamber and watched what he was doing.
  "Ah-ha!" Igan announced.  "I have located something at last."
  Pleadia walked in further.  "What have you found, Igan--this needs to be very
important.  Adol isn't going to waste anymore time on things that aren't
absolutely certain to work."
  "Perhaps you can make something of this, Pleadia," Igan said.  "Look at this.
It is somewhat north of the area we are attacking."
  Pleadia looked at the zoomed in scan of this planet.  "This would be one of
Earth's forests.  What is it that we are seeing here?"
  "I have been searching for the biorhythm pattern that emanates from the
Astrorangers and since we have a recording of their signature (thanks to Cyborg
Shokush) I was able to find one of them."
  Pleadia squinted. "Wait a minute, Igan--what was your search based on again?"
  "It's very basic, Pleadia," Igan said.  He got up and picked up a light pad
with a backlit screen showing text on it.  "The biorhythms that all humans
emanate are very different from the type the Astrorangers produce."
  "So it is true!  The Astrorangers are not human!" Pleadia discovered.  "How
intriguing!  (This will be useful information.)  Go on!"
  "Scanning for this alone, I have picked up on one person who seems to exhibit
characteristics of both Human and Astroranger biorhythms," Igan said. "The
search goes slowly because, unlike glaring energy signatures from extremely
powerful sources, biorhythms are not significantly stronger than a..."
  Pleadia stopped him.  "The scientific advantages from assimilating one of
these Astrorangers are far greater than merely destroying them!  I wonder how
this humanoid is both their unknown race and human all at the same time,"
Pleadia interrupted.  "I shall tell Adol the Great at once!"
  "Should I continue the search?" Igan asked.
  "I think you should.  How interesting it is partially human.  Perhaps--it is
not an Astroranger," Pleadia theorized.  "This may be the one person who isn't
an Astroranger that we can have be yet another Anti-Ranger to do what the
cyborg-TriRanger task force could not do!"


 ACT II:

     Morning in Downtown Los Angeles at Los Angeles Police Department
Headquarters: Parker Center; inside, on the wall clock, it was ten o'clock and
Mahoney was staring at it while at the desk he shared with Sanchez.  She was
distracted by her own thoughts; Frank went back to filling out a form for a
report while mumbling about nothing normal happening anymore.
  "We need a plan, Frank--somehow, we have got to make contact with the
Astroranger task force so we can make sure that they're on our side," Kathy
said.  "I'm not sure what we can do, but perhaps we can convince them that
we're not going to turn them in."
  Frank shook his head, "Uh, we can't do that--not officially."
  "This isn't for the benefit of the department, this is something that I need
to find out about," Kathy replied.  "This about is the whole world, not just
this city.
  "But why should they believe us?" Frank asked.  "They obviously don't trust
us enough to let us know who they were to begin with.  They've probably got a
good reason for protecting their identities."
  "I just want to make sure that that reason is in this city's best interest."
  "Anyway, Kathy, whatever you have in mind you will have a little bit more
time to plan out," Frank said to Kathy.  "Officer Tenmei has yet to show up for
duty."
  Kathy started eyeballing her stack of papers file.  "She could have come in
early so you would have missed her."
  "I didn't see her car parked in its usual space and we're parked pretty close
together," Frank answered.  "I wonder where she is?"
  "Do you know who any of her friends are?"  Kathy asked.
  Frank frowned and shook his head, "I don't think so."  He reclined in his
office chair and pondered.  "You know, I can ask around for someone who know
her well enough."  He leaned back up again to look at Kathy.  "Can you cover
for me?  I like Tenmei so I would really hate to see Captain Fleishman come
down on her.  She's a good cop."
  Kathy smiled and nodded.  "Sure, Frank; but what should I tell Fleishman?"
  Franky got out of his chair and put on his coat.  "Uh, tell him that I got a
call for something that I'm checking out," Frank said.  "When I get back, I'll
just say nothing turned up." 
  "All right then, I'll see ya," Kathy replied.  Frank walked out the door.

     At the Nazitan Outpost under the surface of Pluto--Adol sat in his throne
upon the stairs before his crystal ball mounted on a ringed pedestal.  Pleadia
stood before him with his head bowed.
  "Speak," Adol uttered.
  Pleadia stepped forth.  "I have important news for you, sire.  Igan has
successfully discovered that indeed, the Astroranger task force are not Homo
sapien at all."
  Adol nodded.  "Interesting, proceed."
  "The biorhythms detected from the Astroranger battle team are extremely
different from those of a typical human being; I conclude that my speculations
have been proven to be facts," Pleadia reported.  "Using this information, we
have located one humanoid on Earth exhibiting biorhythms of this alter-race."
  "Why only one, Pleadia?" Adol asked.
  "The search goes slowly for faint vibrational signatures rather than blatant
power or energy signals," Pleadia answered. "Additionally, this person does not
seem to carry the GeneGem that the others have used to energize their powers."
  "So there is a sixth being on Earth that is like the Astrorangers without
their powers," Adol confirmed.  "How is this so important?"
  "Aside from my educated guess that these beings are actually more powerful
than typical humans, there lies the possibility that there is a sixth Genesis
Ring right there on Earth."
  "Here in lies the possibilities for what exactly?"
  "Adol the Great, I believe this person is searching for that ring.  If we get
to this sixth super-being, I can assimilate her into the Nazitan species and
force her to use their own exact power against them," Pleadia said.  "It would
be different from the TriRangers because they were only imitating the way their
powers work.  Having the real thing will make her indestructible and if this
additional Astroranger is working for us, they wont be able to defeat us."
  Adol as pleased.  "Pleadia, I am surprised at your findings!  Tortan, come!"
  Tortan walked into the chamber eagerly.  "You called, sire?"
  "Where is this mystery person we are searching for, Pleadia?" Adol had asked
him.
  Pleadia walked up to Adol's crystal globe and touched the surface, causing
the fog to clear and a picture of Beverly Tenmei to materialize.  "Her.  She is
located in this forest north of the city; exact coordinates will be programmed
into the Armatons."
  "Tortan, I want you to lead a troop of Armaton soldiers to this area and
track her down," Adol ordered.  "Don't abduct her until she finds the ring or
the Armatons find it first.  If you are forced to take her ahead of time due to
Astroranger interference, do so quickly.  She cannot join their side before we
get to her first."
  "I do not understand, what is the significance of this human?" Tortan asked.
  "Because we have reason to believe she is not entirely human," Pleadia
stated.  "She probably has no idea that she will be _our_ Astroranger."

     Driving eastbound on the Foothill Freeway, Frank took his police car onto
Angeles Crest Highway.  Sasha had an older sister who worked as a bus driver
and she knew that Beverly had talked about this forest forever but never went.
Since Beverly would never be late for work before, she'd probably be here.
Frank wondered why she'd miss work for this, though?  Frank found out about
what Linda, the bus driver, knew because a former Metro Police Officer was best
friends with her and now he works for the LAPD.
  "This place is pretty big, I wonder where she would be?" Frank asked.
Passing Angeles Forest Highway, he was at the foot of Strawberry Peak on the
west side while continuing to drive east.
  Meanwhile at Cogswell Reservoir, Tortan and over two dozen Armatons walked
through the wilderness looking around.  "Let us attempt to locate the Genesis
Gem prior to taking Beverly so we do not need to return here," Tortan said.
Armatons used their swords to hack down leaves and other debris in the way.
  Elsewhere at the end of Big Tujunga Creak near the east end of Angeles Crest
Highway, Beverly hiked as she saw a foot path over the highway--unfortunately
where the Armatons and Tortan were going to be as they walked further north.
  Frank slowed to a stop while parking, pulled up the parking brake and
turned off the ignition.  He got out and closed the door behind himself to take
a look around.  I stand a better chance seeing more while on foot rather than
inside the car, he thought to himself.  Frank started to walk ahead towards
that foot-path where he thought Beverly would be--however she was moving closer
to the mountains so he was actually approaching the Armatons.
     Inside of the Nazitan's primary chamber, Ginara looked at Adol's crystal
ball and saw Frank walking around while looking around as well.  "Tortan, this
is Ginara; you are close to the location of the Genesis Gem stone, however, it
is closer towards the mountain west of you."
  "I know, as soon as we reach this man-made path, we will move towards the
south side of the mountain where it is," he replied over the chamber's audio
system.
  Ginara looked up and spoke again.  "Another human is in the vicinity and
there is a chance the only reason he is here and not back in the city where he
came from is because he also knows of her intentions to find the gem."
     In the forest, Tortan stopped walking while listening.  "I see.  Should we
take him to find out more about this mystery person we are searching for before
doing anything else?"
  "If you can without incident; we need every advantage we can get," Ginara
replied via his helmet's communications system. "Adol believes he is also going
to be useful so we can force this mystery humanoid to do our bidding."
  Tortan nodded. "Good work, Ginara--Tortan out," he waved his sword around and
pointed westerly.  "This way, Armatons!"  The Armatons started running by.
  Beverly was trotting along when she heard a single noise.  She stopped,
snapped her head around and hid behind a tree.  Beverly looked over and saw
Armatons and Tortan.  Them again?  What are they doing out here?, she asked
herself.
  Frank was getting tired while looking around.  "I wish I had've thought of a
reason to bring a chopper."  Breathing deeply with his face strained he looked
up suddenly and jumped back in shock.  "What the??"
  The black robotic soldiers somersaulted overhead and out of sight.  Landing
all around him, they all ran after Frank with their bladed rifles drawn.  Frank
started running.
  "Frank?!" Beverly reacted as she watched him run up the hill.
  The Armatons chased after him when he drew his gun turned around and fired at
them.  The soldiers were not affected by the bullets that sparked off their
titanium bodies when they fired back.
  Sparks exploded everywhere and Frank was blown onto his back by the force of
the explosions.  Tortan walked in between the soldiers and held out his sword.
  "You can hear my thoughts, human and so I trust you will do as your told,"
Tortan communicated to him.  "Nobody can escape the wrath of Tortan!"
  "What do you want, punk?" Frank snarled.
  "You!" Tortan said.  "Capture him, Armatons!"  They ran after Frank while he
tried pull to himself up off the ground.
  Suddenly, in the sky, Beverly's foot was plunging in with a flying side-kick.
An Armaton was blown out of sight when her shoe-covered foot rammed its chest.
  "It is her!" Tortan announced.  "Get her, Armatons!"
  "Tenmei??" Frank reacted when watching her fight.  Beverly blocked with both
forearms a shin-kick from two Armatons.  She chopped both with her open hands
and then tornado kicked on down and then side-kicked one in the chest.
  Frank ran for his life when suddenly his arm was grabbed by Tortan's massive
hand.  "Leaving so soon?"  Frank looked at him and Tortan shook his head as if
he made a no-no.

     At the house in the Hollywood Hills, Tom came in through the front door
and Will stood up out of his chair.  "Where's Aaron?"
  "He's in the kitchen--he'll be back," Will answered.  "Did you check the
closed stacks?"
  "Yeah I did (I can't believe how hot those crawlway tubes are)," Tom said.
"The yellow AstroSuit is still there, I didn't know we had that!  Where did it
come from?  And what's that extra device on its right belt?"
  Will shook his head.  "Never mind, nobody owns it and it doesn't even have a
name yet."
  "Doesn't it have a Genesis Gem?" Tom asked.  Dave walked down the stair case
to listen on what all of the excitement was about.
  William nodded.  "Yes it does, and that's what we're about to go looking for
now that you've found the suit is still there.  What makes the power of this
gem supposedly better than ours is that it will adapt to the specific powers of
the planet its first activated on."
  "So if it were activated on Earth, whatever particular power this planet has
would translate over to whatever that Ranger can do?" Tom asked.  "Amazing.."
  "Yes it is, this is why you, Dave and myself are going to go look for it just
as soon as Ron gets us the coordinates of where it is," Will said as he watched
Aaron return.
  Dave looked surprised.  "I am?"
  Upon returning to the den, Aaron stopped his beeping pager.  "My alpha-pager
alerted by the SpaceBase just reported that Armatons and Tortan are on Earth
and are in the Angeles National Forest," Aaron said while putting his beeper
away.  "Looks like your search begins a lot earlier than you thought."
  "Search for what?" Dave asked.
  Tom looked at him as they assembled into position.  "You'll find out soon
enough."  Will brought up his right fist and the other two did as well.
  Will nodded.  "ChangeForm!"  Their rings started glowing when they pushed
them out.  "AstroCharge!!"
  In a flash of brilliant white light, Dave, Will and Tom's faces appeared
before a black and red-grided backdrop as their heads dissolved into a black
silhouettes.
  When Dave's entire body had became a black silhouette, a white bar scrolled
to the right.  When it returned to the left, he was in red Astroranger's shiny
uniform.  And, in another flash of bright light, they were no longer home.

     In the Angeles National Forest, Beverly back flipped onto her palms, off
her hands and onto her feet again avoiding an Armaton's low spin-kick.
She then tumbled past the Armaton when it high spin-kicked towards her.
     Beverly cartwheeled away from an Armaton attempting to stab ahead
with its bladed rifle-sword.  She kicked it off aim and side-kicked the
Armaton in the chest.
  Beverly performed a walkover when an Armaton tried slicing passed her.
Gasping, she looked over to see her top strap was cut by the Armaton's sword
and covered it with her hand.  "Hey, wait a sec.  Where's Frank??"
  Meanwhile--up Highway 2 came the red, green and black HydroCycles, driving up
the winding roadway.  MarsAstro looked up in shock as he saw Beverly fighting
off Armatons.  "What is she doing out here?"
  "You mean what are _they_ doing here?!" SaturnAstro replied back via radio.
     Two Armatons held Beverly's arms back when another punched her
twice in the stomach and then upper-cut punched her chin.  She fell
back into the ground but still managed to crawl to her feet.  Beverly,
herself, was even surprised at how she was able to survive these
mechanical warriors for so long.
  Three Armatons opened fire from their rifles and towers of sparks
blew Beverly into twisting around and hitting the ground.  Even more
soldiers came running in to take her in.
  One roundhoused Beverly across the head as she flipped over onto her back.
Suddenly four Armatons gathered to hold down both her feet and hands as one
more soldier showed up.  Beverly looked up to see the Armaton soldier turn its
bladed rifle upside down and prepare to stab her.
  "Stop, you fools!!" Tortan said while holding Frank by the neck. "We want her
alive!!!  We will use her to find the gem!"  Suddenly, three beams of electric
blue light caused bright yellow towers of sparks to burst from the ground
blowing all of the Armatons on top of Beverly out of the way.
  She leaned up and turned around to look behind herself.  Beverly saw the
Astroranger battle team running towards them.  MarsAstro came to her side and
helped her to stand.  "Oh, Beverly," he said seeing her bruised shoulder.  "Are
you okay?"  She wiped a little blood away from her lip.
  "Ugh...  What is going on??" Beverly said finally standing up.
  MarsAstro looked around and then at her.  "I don't know but we've got to get
you out of here!"
     An Armaton's rifle-sword was knocked high up with SaturnAstro's
Moleculatom Dagger when he turned around to strike another with the
saturn-ring slice manuever as the blast of sparks flung the soldier away.
     JupiterAstro's lightning-stab manuever with his dagger blocked a
sideways strike from an Armaton--he turned around to kick the solider
into flipping over.
  MarsAstro turned and saw an Armaton about to shoot from its rifle.
"Hit the deck!" he shouted.  It fired multiple cyan pellets of light at
them and several sparks exploded all around MarsAstro.  He leaped to
the side and rolled sideways to a stop with Beverly.
  "Moleculatom Blaster!" he said drawing the weapon from his belt's
holster.  "Fire!"  The yellow beam was quickly replaced by an electric
blue light that zapped the soldier as the sparks snapped off its
metallic body.
  "Let's go," he said to Beverly while taking her wrist.
  Beverly resisted.  "No, Frank is still back there!"
  "Who??" MarsAstro asked.
  "Someone I know, we've got to help him!" Beverly told him.  MarsAstro paused.
  Beverly got angry.  "It's my fault he's in danger, I have to help!"
  He groaned and moved ahead of her.  "Come on!"
  "Saturn Ring Kick!" the black Astroranger shouted as he hurricane-kicked the
Armaton backwards into the air.  Flipping upside down, the soldier flew
back-first into the sky finally hitting a tree and smashing apart on contact.
     JupiterAstro ducked when an Armaton had jumped into a flying side
kick which caused it to kick another black soldier directly opposite.
The green Astroranger cannon-ball back flipped out the way of a blade
being swung by a sword-rifle carrying Armaton.
  Four more Armatons were running towards them.
     SaturnAstro's left foot roundhoused an Armaton in the neck and he
turned around to punch another while JupiterAstro's raised knee
prevented to side-kick from another Armaton and then turned around to
kick it into flipping onto its back.
  An Armaton free-fell through the sky with its sword aimed to attack.
  The green Astroranger ran up to SaturnAstro, shouting, "Spot me, Nash!"
He stood there with his arms out when JupiterAstro jumped into the air.
JupiterAstro's white boots bounced off the black Astroranger's shoulders,
launching him even higher.
  In the sky, the green Astroranger flying side-kick position announcing,
"Jupiter Great Red Spot Kick!"  In midair--JupiterAstro's foot busted through
the chest of the Armaton solider before it burst into fireworks,
disintegrating the automaton.
  Smoking junk dropped to the ground as the green Astroranger landed and turned
around to assume his battle pose.
  Tortan was running towards the creak with Frank in his arm who strained to
get free.  An exploding tower of sparks exploding stopped Tortan.  MarsAstro
had put away his Moleculatom Blaster as he ran in to fight Tortan.
  Tortan turned around to see the red Astroranger and Beverly running down the
hill.  "Leave us--you have no business here!"
  MarsAstro assumed his battle position.  "I'm afraid I do."
  "Perhaps, but we shall deal with it another day," Tortan said as he turned
his sword upside down and stabbed the ground.  A dust cloud blew up in a
straight line from the point of where the sword struck.  The ground started to
quake and MarsAstro tried to hold Beverly steady.
  Where the smoke had exploded, the ground was slowly separating.  Eventually,
when the smoke cleared, Tortan and Frank were gone.
  MarsAstro looked at Beverly run towards the edge and then grabbed her to keep
her from falling in.  "Beverly, stop!"
  "Damn it!" she exclaimed.  "Where did they go??"
  "I don't know," he replied.  Beverly looked at him strangely when it finally
occurred to her that he said her name.
  An Armaton was coasting through the air while firing several shots from its
rifle.  Sparks blew up everywhere and both Astrorangers leaped away.  Rolling
clear, green JupiterAstro drew his ThunderBow and jumped into the air.
  In the sky, he pulled back on the string as a light-arrow formed in his
fingers.  "SplitShot!" JupiterAstro announced while releasing the bowstring.
The arrow glowed before splitting up into multiple arrows of light that caused
five towers of sparks to blast the last of the Armatons down.
  "That should be the last of them," SaturnAstro said.  "Now to get Tortan."
  JupiterAstro nodded and ran away with the black Astroranger.  "They should be
at the foot of Waterman Mountain."  Running along, they ran into MarsAstro who
was running back their way with Beverly.
  "Where's Tortan, Sher?" SaturnAstro asked.
  "He took off with some guy named Frank," MarsAstro replied. "I wasn't exactly
looking forward to fighting him; I'm more concerned with what this is about."
  "Me too," JupiterAstro asked.  "How are you doing?"
  Beverly looked at the green Astroranger and the other two. "I don't...  know.
Too many things--strange things happening."  SaturnAstro was bewildered by that
response of hers.
  "Come on, let's get you out of here," MarsAstro said.  "Where do you live?"
  "Near Central Avenue and 2nd Street," Beverly answered.

     Moving towards a dim light at the end of a dark tunnel, a man finally came
to a brown chamber.  Looking all around himself, he saw torches that were
mounted on the oval chamber.  Ahead of himself was a meticulously sculpted
pedestal where sat a crystal ball.  Behind it were stone steps that led to an
iron throne.  ``Where am I?'' Frank asked himself.
  "Allow me to inform you," Adol had said to him telepathically.  He turned
around in his seat to face Frank who stood up before him.  "Welcome to the
Nazitan Outpost under the surface of Pluto." Frank's eyes jumped open in shock.

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    


Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . .

On Earth, Ginara confronts MarsAstro with the ultimatum that if Beverly doesn't
surrender, Frank Mahoney will perish.  Beverly must complete her search for the
jade genesis gemstone ring to save Frank in Episode 27: "Triumph of EarthAstro"

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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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