[970704] [Preview] The sixth power of the third planet will soon join the Astroranger task force in a brilliant flash of yellow in, Episode 27, "Triumph of EarthAstro!" --Next! [Title Theme] 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! Beverly Tenmei. EarthAstro! and... Commander Leto, a.k.a., Dr. Aaron Hanson. Featuring... Detective Frank Mahoney and Detective Kathy Sanchez. with... Captain Tony Y. Fleishman. ACT I: A disturbing dream led Beverly on a search in the Angeles National Forest above La Crescenta. Her own subconscious mind was leading the young Japanese officer into her destiny. Meanwhile; the Nazitans discovered something special about her... "The bio rhythms detected by the Astroranger battle team is extremely different from a typical human being concluding speculation as fact," Pleadia reported. "Using this information, we have located so far one humanoid on Earth exhibiting bio rhythms of this alter-race." "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." "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 won't be able to defeat us." Tortan led a troop of Armaton Soldiers to take Beverly Tenmei into custody to prepare for their master plan of action. However, she was not alone--Frank was looking for her because she failed to come into work that morning... One roundhoused Beverly across the head as she flipped over onto her back. Suddenly four Armatons held down both her feet and hands as one more showed. 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!" Suddenly beams of electric blue light caused bright yellow towers of sparks to knock the Armatons off their feet. Sparks exploded out of the chest of the Armaton about to stab Beverly. She leaned up and turned around to look behind herself. Beverly saw the Astroranger battle team running towards them. ... 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. "Leave us, red Astroranger--you have no business here!" MarsAstro assumed his battle position. "I'm afraid I do." Where the sparks 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!" Episode 27: "Triumph of EarthAstro" At the Hollywood Hills on the corner of the block south of the main thoroughfare indicated by the traffic light was the Terranian's house. In the kitchen, Amy came in from the back yard wearing a leotard while sweating. She'd just finished a work out to clear her mind. Now toweling off, Amy walked into the living room to answer the door bell. At the front door, Amy opened the door and saw Beverly in gray bike shorts and a yellow half-top with its ripped strap looking very nervous. "Beverly?" "Uh, hi, Amy. Is this a bad time?" Beverly asked. Amy looked around and shook her head. "No. Can I help you?" "I don't know. It's just that my first inclination was to come back here." Amy looked around outside and then stepped back. "Um, why don't you come in." Beverly stepped inside and bowed her head while mumbling thank you. Amy walked into the kitchen and came out again with a glass of ice tea. "Would you like any?" Beverly shook her head in a jittery way. "No, no thanks. Amy, something awful happened yesterday. I could hardly sleep." Amy moaned in surprise. "You have seen that big samurai warrior, right? The one they say is from outer space?" Beverly asked. Amy nodded. "Yeah, I've seen it on the news as a giant too." "I've confronted it many times and strangely, when it speaks, I hear nothing but he talks through my mind! Other officers have said the same but anyway, today, he took Detective Mahoney. You probably don't know who he is." Amy did know; he and Kathy Sanchez were the ones who frequently stopped by the house to interrogate them. "Amy, I don't know what to do. It was my fault he was out there because if I didn't go looking for something I dreamed up, Frank wouldn't have been looking for me and gotten abducted by that monster!" Beverly said. Amy gestured to Beverly to sit on the couch. "Beverly, calm down a second." Amy got a strong glimpse into Beverly's mind showing her a piece of that dream. "What were you doing?" she asked her. "I was in the Angeles National Forest looking for some kind of a ring. It had a lot of meaning in a nightmare I had that day," Beverly explained. "Anyway, it doesn't matter--I am not going to continue. It will take my entire life to get over what I've done to Frank." Amy got the feeling that Beverly wasn't like anyone else she'd ever met on Earth, like what Dave had thought. Pluto remained in its slow orbit in the far reaches of our solar system; meanwhile underground its freezing surface was the Nazitan outpost. Inside, Igan stood beside Frank who was cuffed to a stone-made seat in Pleadia's laboratory. He looked at them as beads of sweat moistened his forehead. "Identify yourself, human," Igan asked his mind. "I'm not telling you anything until you tell me what I am doing here!" Frank answered out loud. Pleadia's machines picked up his voice's message and translated it to Nazitan text. He looked over to Frank and walked up to him. "We have ways of making you talk. I suggest you do not make this any more painful than it could be, human." Frank did not want to try their patience as he could feel their deadly intentions in their cold eyes. His face tensed while pondering the possibilities of torture. "Identify yourself," Igan said more instantly. "Answer now." "Detective Franklin G. Mahoney of the Los Angeles Police Department," Frank reluctantly spouted. "Who are you? What do you want?" Pleadia cocked his head. "Who we are isn't important, however--what we want is." "Tell us about why you followed the female in the forest?" Igan asked. "She is an officer of our law enforcement agency, I was trying to find her because she did not report in for duty," Frank replied. "Nothing more!" Pleadia knew he was telling the truth and thus found this information painfully useless. "Return him to the dungeon, Igan," he had communicated in his native language to Igan. Igan nodded and freed Frank and then hauled him towards the wall. "Where are you taking me?" Frank asked. "Answer me!" Pleadia left the room and Igan had pulled a switch on the wall making a section of the wall turn around. In the dark room, Frank was thrown inside and the wall resealed itself leaving him in total darkness. Pleadia was in his workshop and he stood there with Ginara as Igan joined them. "Mahoney was not the incredible edge we were looking for," Pleadia had concluded. "We need to find the human his brain identifies as Beverly Tenmei and begin experiments as originally planned." "Perhaps we dont need to find her," Ginara replied. "Maybe we can get Tenmei to come to us by using Frank as bait." "Very ingenious, Ginara," Igan had promptly complimented. "I couldn't have suggested anything better myself." Pleadia rolled his eyes. Ginara paced the room. "It's fortunate he knows nothing. This means we only have the Astroranger task force to worry about." "And with an Astroranger fighting the Astrorangers," Igan said. "We won't have to worry about them either." Ginara nodded affirmatively. The view of Earth in outer space soon was soon occupied by the moon. On the dark side of the moon, the opal globe SpaceBase for the Astrorangers was in synchronous orbit with the lunar body. Inside, Messuta was typing at the CombatShuttle station examining video logs with Commander Leto standing behind him while Nashiran paced back and forth. "I just wish I could understand why Tortan abducted that detective like that. And why they're keeping him." "A number of possibilities exist, Nashiran," Leto replied. "They could think he knows of the Genesis Ring that lies in the Angeles Forest on Mount Gleason." Messuta turned around to look at Nashiran who stopped pacing. "The Nazitans could also be using him for ransom. If anybody gets those powers, they could use his life to make them hand it over." "All the more reason why we should get those powers first!" Nashiran replied. "No human could handle the responsibility that owning a GeneGem ring carries." Commander Leto squinted. "I wonder why that girl was looking for something in that area to begin with." "Are you sure she was looking?" Messuta asked. "She just could have been hiking." Leto shook his head. "No. She was remarkably accurate for just wandering; it seemed to me she was almost searching for something." At the Terranians' house--Amy and Beverly sat on the living room couch that afternoon talking to one another. Amy had already gotten changed into a skirt and shirt. "Beverly, you can't get stressed out over the past. We need to focus on the present. In fact--I'd like to know what was in that nightmare." Beverly sighed. "I don't know, Amy. It was very crazy." "Never mind about that, dreams can be that way. Besides, it might help calm your anxiety," Amy said. "What happened in your nightmare? You can tell me." "This wouldn't be the first time I've had this dream. I've been having it for almost two years but since the Astrorangers have been here, they've been more vivid than ever. This one was the most shocking to me." Beverly closed her eyes to recall. "The whole city was burning because those aliens came to fight the Astrorangers for the last time," Beverly said. "All of a sudden, I am fighting one of them in a strange costume and then it gets all fuzzy from there." Amy nodded. "It was just blinding images from there," Beverly recounted. "A quick peek at a forest, then suddenly I felt my whole body was paralyzed while a ring on my finger was glowing so brightly it was like looking into the sun." The sun kept repeating in Amy's mind. She knew Beverly couldn't know how that felt or what it did unless... Unless she were one of them. "Beverly--I want to try something," Amy said. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Beverly had a feeling she wouldn't but still couldn't relax from all that had happened. Still, she nodded with a jitter and Amy moved closer. Positioning her fingers on Beverly's chest, near her heart. Closing her eyes, Amy used her other hand to put her fingers in the same special arrangement over her own heart. Beverly closed her eyes to get used to the strange feeling in her head. Suddenly she gasped and Amy, too, jerked in reaction. Amy had contact with her subconscious mind. Amy's eyes suddenly opened and she jumped back in shock. "Amy, what??" Beverly asked opening her eyes. "What happened? Are you okay?" "I'm--I'm okay, it's just that," Amy couldn't hardly continue speaking as her mind had raced over all what she had learned. "Oh my..." Beverly looked even more concerned. "What?? Tell me!" Amy exhaled quickly and looked at her. "Okay. Here I go. This may be confusing but I'm cutting out a lot to save time. Did you know that there're ten dimensions of Earth?" Beverly was overcome with confusion and shook her head no. Amy continued. "Matter exists on different frequencies of subatomic vibrations and depending on how many cycles there are determines what dimension that matter exists in," Amy tried to explain. "This planet has another dimension which houses another world called Terrania." "Another dimension?" Amy nodded. "Yes. Terranians are another humanoid civilization and... I am of that species. I'm not from this planet. I am not a human being." Beverly was in shock from total disbelief. "What? You're kidding me." "I am being totally honest with you, Beverly" Amy explained. "My real name is Lotia Kinsei and believe it or not," she said while taking off her GeneGem ring. "I am VenusAstro, the pink Astroranger." Lotia showed Beverly her ring and she gasped. "Oh my God, that's the same--the same ring in my dream!" Lotia nodded. "I know. This is why I think..." "Why are you telling me this?" Beverly looked at her and asked. Lotia looked at Beverly and finished her sentence. "Because I think, somehow, some way you, too, are Terranian." "Me? How can I be? I was born here!" Beverly replied. "My mother is human, unless she is..." "I don't know," Lotia replied. "But I think a friend of mine does know." Beverly shook her head. "No, no--wait, this is just, just too much, Am... Loti... Whoever you are. This--this just _can't_ be. HOW are you Terranian?" "Look, I'll show you," Lotia replied as she stood up. Lotia put her hand on the side of the solid wood coffee table and lifted it up by one hand as if she were holding a book up right. Beverly's mouth fell open and Lotia put it down and walked to the window. Removing a metal bar that locks the window, she had effortlessly bent it into a U. "How did you do that!?" Beverly asked. Lotia gave her the metal and she knocked on it to feel that it wasn't rubber or anything. "Oh my God, is this why the Astrorangers are so strong??" Lotia shook her head. "The power of our genesis gem stones give us twice our normal strength which one of our scientists have measured to be ten times that of a normal healthy adult male." "Holy moly, that's amazing!!" Lotia sat down beside Beverly again and closed her eyes. ``Can you hear this? Don't answer with words, just think them.'' ``Is this really happening?'' Beverly's mind had uttered. Lotia opened her eyes, nodded and smiled. Beverly jumped back and gasped. "You read my mind. Can you tell the future too??" Lotia shook her head, "No, I'm not psychic. It's just that Terranians have evolved past acoustic communication. We just think to each other now. And speaking of evolution..." Lotia stood up again and slightly pulled down the waist band of her skirt and lifted up her shirt. "Do you see this navel?" Beverly nodded uncertainly; she could hardly believe anything any longer. Lotia started to pluck at her belly button; Beverly watched curiously. Suddenly, Lotia's stomach was smooth as she brushed off flakes of prosthetic make-up with her finger. "Artificial implant," she said. "Terranians are over 80,000 years older than Humans so our brains and bodies are rather different." Beverly reached out and touched her stomach and it was authentic. "You _are_ an alien," Beverly told Lotia with awe. "But you seemed so, so normal." "We, too, don't know where we came from or how we got here but we think we came from the same origin--whatever that may be." Beverly shook her head. "This is just too much. This is the most incredible, the most remarkable thing I have ever known--I just don't know what to believe anymore. But, Lotia--why, why are you all here saving us, if you all don't live on Earth?" "Because, if the Nazitans destroy this planet, our world will also be destroyed. When the humans detonated the first nuclear bomb, the explosion was so devastating, it annihilated one of our major cities and so we investigated into the ways of your world," Lotia answered. "We made contact thousands of years ago but have since broken that up front and honest contact due to a long history of terrible tragedy. In fact, tens of centuries ago, our people taught humans various forms of Ponkight, or what you call martial arts." "Really?" Beverly gasped. Lotia nodded. "Now, the Uton Government of Terrania has undercover agents in the Government's around the world to prevent nuclear war," Lotia told her. "Why do you think all the nations have been disarming their nuclear arsenal? The 80s military program you might remember as Star Wars was going to start the end of all Humanity by the Earth year 1995, according to our specialists projections." Beverly stared off onto the floor pondering that intensely. "The five of us spent one solid year to train for more than what we already knew--how to be the security task force we are. We had to learn how to be the perfect, model American citizen similarly how the Russian KGB had done," Lotia said. "Except we have remained under cover so paranoid people of this society would not stand in the way of us protecting all of this solar system from becoming taken over by the Nazitans." "Who is MarsAstro--tell me" Beverly insisted. "I must know." "Dave Marcello," Lotia said to her. "His true name is Sheratan Kasei." "DAVE? The one who wanted... And he saved... Oh gosh." Lotia nodded. "I believe you had that dream because becoming one of us has always been your destiny, Beverly. You are a skilled warrior, a defender of the defenseless and most importantly, one of us. Perhaps even the owner of the sixth Genesis Gemstone." Beverly looked down and then at her again. "You must complete your search for the sixth GeneGem ring in the forest." Dave was walking down the street when suddenly above him, Ginara had flipped overhead and out of sight. Landing before him he looked at her and he said, "Ginara! Time for action," he said bringing up his right fist. "AstroCharge!" Dave shouted; in a brilliant flash of light MarsAstro assumed his battle pose. "MarsAstro, I have not come to fight--look into the alley beside you!" He turned his head and saw Frank Mahoney tied up and unconscious. "Turn over the human you call Beverly and we will set him free, otherwise, he shall die," Ginara said. "Show yourself at the Angeles National Forest when you have made your decision." MarsAstro stood there contemptfully as she vanished. ACT II: Will's minivan was parked in the drive way in front of the Terranian's house's garage. Inside, Beverly stood next to Lotia. "By the way, what does it feel like to ChangeForm?" "As the AstroSuit formulates, it feels like a garden hose spraying you with warm water but you're not soaking wet," Lotia answered. "Weird," Beverly said. Will walked in through the front door and looked at the two of them standing together. "Hello, Amy; 'afternoon, Officer Tenmei." Lotia walked over to him. "Aus, she knows." "She knows what?" Will asked. Beverly wandered away thinking about all that she'd been through before with the Astrorangers, especially VenusAstro. "Who we really are," Lotia said. "That we're not human and we are the Astrorangers." Will looked away from Lotia to remain calm. "Uhm, WHY?" Lotia looked at him. "Because she is one of us." "And, how come you're so damn sure?" Will asked. Lotia grabbed his hands and put them on her chest. "Take a look at this," Lotia said. Will closed his eyes and R.E.M. set in; all of a sudden his expression of extreme anger turned to amazement. He opened his eyes and then looked at Beverly. "I KNEW I recognized her from somewhere!" Lotia looked at Will. "What do you mean?" "Before I joined the Uton Defense department, I trained how to fight with your father, Allebrion Kinsei," Will explained. "So I knew him when he was in his older years. Before you were born, the Uton Government had Allebrion go to Japan in July, 1971 for a top secret, covert operation even I have yet to know the details of." Lotia was intrigued she never knew this. "While staying in Kyoto, Allebrion met a woman studying to become an attorney and despite the prime directive of his mission to never mingle, he felt he had to know her," Will told her. "Allebrion excused his blurring the details about how exactly this happened (that he was young then, and so on) but one thing led to another and they had an affair." "But how can you be sure Beverly is the result of that?" Lotia asked. "When you scanned her mind, I noticed a memory of her own mother who looked just like the woman Allebrion met," Will said. "He always suspected he was pulled from the operation on Earth because of that union even though he managed to arrange absolute privacy. His partner, still on Earth, was able to get the news back to Allebrion on Terrania that his lover was expecting, which broke his heart." "Why didn't Allebrion bring Beverly's mother back to Terrania?" Lotia asked. Will sighed. "At the time, our society would have never accepted what they've always believed to be an inferior species to taint our civilization. Allebrion would be an outcast of the Uton Government and of the entire Uton Continent. He couldn't do that to anyone he truly cared about. Beverly's mother would've been cut off from the only world she knew and forced to spend the rest of her years in a social prison on Terrania." "So what happened to her?" Lotia asked. "She moved to Los Angeles because the cost of living in Japan would be too high to support both herself and the child," Will answered. "This is where Beverly would be born. Meanwhile it's early Spring, 1973, by Earth time and Allebrion manages to meet your mother, Lotia and finally had you in 1978." "You mean we are half sisters too?" Beverly asked. "This is getting more and more unbelievable by the moment!" Will nodded and then looked at Lotia. "How did you know she was the one?" "Because she had a nightmare that told her to look for the sixth genesis ring in the forest," Lotia said. "Can she be the sixth Astroranger?" "It's best that if there ever is one, it be one of us," Will said. "By the way, Beverly--my real name is Australis Mokusei and I'm the green Astroranger; JupiterAstro." "When will I get to meet the others?" Beverly asked. "Soon enough," Australis replied. "Right now, we have got to go back to that forest." Tom's black pickup truck rolled down the street with Ron riding with him. MarsAstro ran up to them as Tom slowed down to a complete stop. The red Astroranger came up to the driver's side window and Tom rolled it down. "What's going on?" "We gotta go home and get the others, Ginara showed up and said they'll kill that detective who's always coming to our house if we don't turn over Beverly," MarsAstro told them. Tom shook his head. "What? How did they know we know her?" Ron said. "They wouldn't know how we're associated." "Maybe they know something we don't know, I don't know," MarsAstro said to him. "They said their in the Angeles National Forest again so we have got to hurry, it's a long ways away." "Tortan and the Armatons are probably out there waiting for us," Tom said. "Let's go." At the Terranian's house--Australis, Lotia and Beverly were in the living room and Beverly nodded after Australis finished speaking. They began walking towards the front door and Australis looked at Beverly. "Remember, we are going to be at Mount Gleason--catch up to us." Beverly nodded. "Now, are you sure you remember the phrases and moves?" Australis asked her. Beverly nodded. "Definitely, but I'm not sure I'm ready for this yet." "Don't worry," Lotia said to Beverly. "All of us will be there with you to make sure you will get through this." Suddenly, Dave, Tom and Ron walked in through the front door and the three leaving stepped back. "Beverly!" Dave said. It seems like everywhere he was, so was she! "I'm glad you guys are here, we have got to go back to the forest," Australis said. "Right now." "That's what we came here to tell you!" Ron replied. "Tortan has that detective out in the forest and MarsAstro told us that Ginara would have him killed if we don't give Beverly to the Nazitans." Beverly shrugged with annoyance. "What, pray tell, do they want with me!?" "I'd explain the rest but," Dave said thinking Beverly wasn't aware of who they were. "But what?" Australis asked. "Uh, we have company?" Tom attempted to remind him. Lotia waved her hand and smiled. "Oh, that's okay, Beverly knows." "What!?" Dave yelled. "Oh my head is spinning--I don't understand _anything_ anymore!" Tom said. "You think you're confused? I just found out I'm an alien!" Beverly told him. Ron's eyes jumped wide open. "WHAT?" "Uh, uh--we'll have plenty of time to explain on the way," Lotia hurried. "Oh God, don't tell me you're the one Will told me about!" Tom said. "You're Allebrion's daughter? You're..." "...half-Human, half-Terranian," Will explained. Tom shook his head. "Oh my God!" Dave exclaimed. "Wait a second, isn't Allebrion your father?" Lotia nodded. Tom realized why Dave thought she was so different and special. Dave's mouth dropped open. "You're sisters too? Oh this is incredible." "By the way, who are the rest of you?" Beverly asked. "Name wise, I mean." "This is Messuta Suisei," Lotia answered pointing to Ron, "and that's Nashiran Dosei," she said pointing to Tom who waved listlessly. Messuta looked around. "Uh yeah, by the way, we _really_ have to go now, I don't think Ginara has anything to lose by killing that detective." "She has Frank?" Beverly asked. "Detective Mahoney??" Ron just said that. "Calm down, Beverly," Australis said to her. "We'll take care of the Nazitans--you just concentrate on finding the ring!" Nashiran closed the front door. "Okay then, I guess it's time to ChangeForm." "Uh, yeah," Sheratan replied. "GeneGem-stoned Rings!" he shouted. They all brought up their right fists. "Astro...CHARGE!" was shouted by all as their rings flashed bright white shining together. The Angeles National Forest -- 6,500-foot Mount Gleason. In single-file formation, the five HydroCycles landed on the ground as the wings retracted. On pink HydroCycle, Beverly held onto VenusAstro as they'd landed. "As soon as I stop, start running in the direction we planned." "Okay, little sister," Beverly said with a grin. VenusAstro chuckled. At the foot of the mountain, Frank was tied to a tree and unconscious and the some two dozen Armaton soldiers patrolled the area while Tortan stood waiting. "The time on Earth at this location approaches noon," Tortan said. "At this time--we will terminate this human being to let them know we are serious!" In the sky--somersaulting overhead and out of sight were pink, white, black, green and red Astrorangers. Landing in distance all on one knee with their arms out, they stood up, turned around and assumed their individual battle positions shouting, "ASTRORANGER!" "The special human is here, she has to be--you all cannot afford to keep the power from her," Tortan announced. "Bring her to me now!" "It's just not going to be that easy!" VenusAstro said to Tortan. Drawing his sword, Tortan walked ahead of the Armaton soldiers. "Armatons, seek and capture the one we want--I will dismember this band of fools." MarsAstro swung his arms through the air and wrapped his hands around his left-hip mounted holster. "Moleculatom Daggers!" he said drawing the weapon from his belt-hooked holster. All five were armed with the daggers when red MarsAstro ran ahead. "Attack!" SaturnAstro's ring slice was blocked by Tortan's blade and was struck by his samurai sword as the blast of sparks forced him off his feet. VenusAstro blocked the downward swing of Tortan's blade with her dagger in the Libra Scales position and turned around to slice past his flank causing sparks to explode from his armor. However he did the same which blasted the pink Astroranger off her feet. Tortan struck towards JupiterAstro but he roundhouse-kicked his blade and struck down. Sparks exploded from Tortan's body armor from the attack but he turned around to kick JupiterAstro's Lightning-Stab manuever. The green Astroranger was turned around and then blasted into rolling out when Tortan struck him. White sneakers on Beverly's feet hit the ground as she ran up the side of the mountain in her gray bike shorts. Her yellow half top was sweaty because the sun was hot that day but she managed to get up ten feet in less than five seconds. Beverly was motivated because she knew that if she were half Terranian, practically a super-human, she could do this. Suddenly, sparks exploded all around her and she started screaming. Rolling down the side of the mountain, Beverly hit a rock and hurt her hip. Beverly then noticed that Armatons were running up the mountain and she got up quickly. The adrenalin rush had given Beverly back her strength. Beverly ducked a hook kick from the black Armaton Soldier and blocked a shin kick as she turned around to roundhouse the Armaton. It ducked but it felt onto its back when she kicked its side face. "That took much too long," she said when suddenly more came after her. Out of the sky, VenusAstro somersaulted over head and landed next to Beverly. "Beverly, are you all right?" VenusAstro asked her. "I came to help because Tortan sent you some bad company." "I'm okay, thanks! But it looks like more are on the way!" Two of the Armatons punched at Beverly; she took both their fists to hold them in place as she used the same leg to kick both of them while VenusAstro performed a walkover and turned around to open-handedly chop an Armaton's neck. "Keep going, Beverly!" Beverly hop-kicked another and then turned around to roundhouse an Armaton behind her but it ducked and low-spun kicked her into flipping forward and onto her back. "Ugh!" she said when hitting the dirt. Meanwhile--white Astroranger MercuryAstro plunged ahead with with his dagger. "Hermes flying tackle!" Tortan's sword sparking from his white uniform caused MercuryAstro to fly over his head and out of control. "Woah!" After he landing behind him, Tortan turned to see MarsAstro running after him. "You have all made these too easy but at least this has not taken longer than it should have!" Tortan said. MarsAstro ran in, jumped up and turned around to back-kick Tortan in the chest. Tortan tumbled over and then jumped into the air. In the sky, he plunged ahead shouting, "Die!" MarsAstro's uniform exploded with sparks when Tortan landed. Tortan turned around to swing his sword across but MarsAstro tumbled under his blade. Tortan turned around to swing back but MarsAstro blocked it with his dagger; the red Astroranger sliced up to knock his blade upwards and cut down against Tortan's armor which caused sparks to blow from the strike. Beverly's shoulders were held onto by two Armatons solders when one came after her. "Let go of me!" She hopped up and used both feet to kick it down. She then pulled both the Armaton's on her arms into flipping over as she ran back up the mountain. Beverly's heart started racing because she felt she was closer now than ever to the Genesis Gem Stone. She ran up the mountain and more Armatons continued to chase her. Tortan liberally struck Astroranger after Astroranger with his sword until finally he sliced MarsAstro down with his samurai sword causing sparks to blast from his red uniform from the impact. MarsAstro hit the dirt and rolled out as the others gathered near him. "Sheratan!!" "Prepare to meet your makers!" Tortan said running his hand along the length of the blade causing it to glow blue. Swinging the sword out, the blue glow had shot out. The blue had sunk into the ground and caused a huge dust cloud to explode, blowing the Astrorangers back--all shouting, "Augh!!" The four of them hollered while flying over the edge of a cliff as they began to roll down the side of the mountain. VenusAstro was busy fighting with a mob of Armatons while Beverly ran by. She was stopped when something shined light into her eye. Beverly blinked and looked down to see a ring with a jade stone in it. "That's it!!" Moving over to it, she knelt down to pick up the ring but then, two robot hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up. "Hey! No! Stop!" she cried. "Get away!!" VenusAstro did a walkover to kick down an Armaton soldier with her ankles. She noticed Beverly was being dragged away kicking and screaming when coming up again. No, this wasn't right; she was fighting the Armatons to keep that from happening! "Hang on, Beverly!" VenusAstro turned around to kick an Armaton down and then ran for the ring while more soldiers chased her. VenusAstro dug up the golden ring with the jade stone in it. It shined and began to glow because it was near danger--the sign of an active Genesis Gem Stone. "Uh oh," VenusAstro gasped; Armatons were wise to her possession of the GeneGem. When she stood up and one had already rushed her. Two, three then four Armatons helding the pink Astroranger in place while, below, Beverly punched and chopped the soldiers who had detained her. Beverly looked into the sky towards the sun seeing VenusAstro there with the ring in her fist. "Beverly! Catch!!" VenusAstro tossed the ring into the air and it flew into the sky. Meanwhile, an Armaton soldier leaped through the sky after Beverly; she had jumped into the air to catch the ring. In the sky, the pouncing Armaton fell to the ground as Beverly's out reached hand had caught the ring while flying in mid-air. On the ground, the Armaton's body smashed into smoking pieces while Beverly's feet landed in front of the smoking junk. She put the ring on her right hand and took a deep breath. "I hope this works... ChangeForm!!" she shouted bringing up her right fist with her left on her hip. "Astro... CHARGE!" Forcing her fist out, the ring flashed brilliantly. Beverly's face was before a black background as it had dissolved into a black silhouette; her body a black silhouette in front of a red grid, a white bar of light scrolled across her body from left to right. When the light returned to the left, she was in a shiny yellow Astroranger uniform with a skirt as light flashed again. Standing upon the mountain, she assumed the Astroranger position. "Yellow Astroranger," she shouted. Beverly then put her fists together end to end at a slant and announced, "EarthAstro!" completing the EarthAstro battle pose. Beverly Tenmei stood upon the mountain in the yellow skirted uniform as the symbol of Earth faded into view above her helmet's visor and white light gleamed across her black visor. Her belt, with two instead of one holster, carried Moleculatom weapon and a new special device. On the smoldering ground, the four Astrorangers attempted to get up as Tortan and the Armatons marched ever closer. "This is the glorious day that when I and I alone shall be victorious in the destruction of the Astroranger task force!" MercuryAstro looked up and pointed. "Guys, LOOK!" EarthAstro got up her right fist and nodded. "Here I go!" She jumped off the ledge of the mountain and free fell through the sky. Overhead, she somersaulted over. Landing on one knee in front of the Astrorangers, she turned around and reassumed her EarthAstro battle position. VenusAstro ran up to the rest of them. "Hey you guys! Are you all right??" "Yeah, we're fine," JupiterAstro answered. "Now." MarsAstro looked at EarthAstro, up and down and then held her shoulders. "Is that you in there, Beverly?" EarthAstro nodded slowly. "Yes it is, Dave." "While we're like this, call me Sheratan," MarsAstro said. "Fools!" Tortan told the Armatons, "you've failed again!! Attack the yellow Astroranger now and don't stop until she is dead, do you understand me? Kill!" EarthAstro shook her head. "Looks like that guy is really pissed off." "There's an understatement if I've ever heard one," SaturnAstro replied. "Is everybody ready!" "Yeah!" the remaining five shouted. In front of the mountains in the Angeles Naitonal Forest, the now six Astrorangers stood ready to attack. "Galaxy Task Force!" all six shouted with their arms up and then out in a V. "ASTRORANGER!" they shouted striking the team pose. In the sky, the black Armaton soldiers somersaulted overhead and out of sight. Keeping within her joint-lock fighting style, VenusAstro held an Armaton's fist when it tried to punch her; she flipped it onto its back. The pink Astroranger turned around to kick an Armaton in the forehead into flipping over 270 degrees backwards onto its chest. Two more came criss-cross running after VenusAstro and she turned around. With the Venus Scissor kick, she hopped up and used both feet to kick them both into flipping backwards up into the air and onto their chests. MercuryAstro performed multiple backwards handsprings avoiding the blade of a rifle-sword being swung by an Armaton. Meanwhile, SaturnAstro's circular kicks knocked out multiple Armatons. JupiterAstro's arms were fast in blocking high kicks, side kicks, low kicks and punches from every angle. MarsAstro cannon-ball flipped forward kicked ahead and ducked a punch as he jumped up into the Aries ram-hoof kick the Armaton in the chest. Meanwhile, EarthAstro broke from her battle pose and prepared to launch her line of Earth weather attacks. EarthAstro ducked a flying roundhouse kick from an Armaton Soldier. She shouted "Hurricane Kick!" and hurricane kicked it into tumbling over onto its side. An Armaton Soldier sliced down with its bladed rifle and she cartwheeled away. "Tornado Kick!" she shouted and kicked it down. Three Armatons fired from their rifles and caused towers of sparks to explode everywhere. She leaped away; rolling over sideways, she jumped into the sky. "Snowball Stomp!" she said somersaulting over through the sky. Both boots came flying forth as her entire body crashed feet first into the Armatons. "You can handle the Armatons, amateur," Tortan said; EarthAstro turned look at Tortan who swung his sword around expertly. "But, yellow Astroranger, can you handle the wrath of Tortan!" he said running after her. Beverly's mind recalled Lotia's words: "All of us will be there with you to make sure you will get through this." EarthAstro put out her arms in a T. "Celestial Weapons!!" she shouted. "Lightning Daggers!" Quite suddenly, she was armed with two daggers with yellow guards and assumed the EarthAstro pose. Tortan lashed down with his sword, EarthAstro tumbled onto the ground past the 7-foot warrior. She came on the other side and crossed her daggers to block the samurai's attacking blade. The yellow Astroranger stood up and knocked Tortan's sword tip away with her dagger; he turned around to slice into her side but EarthAstro roundhouse kicked the blade away. EarthAstro daringly struck down causing sparks to explode from Tortan's body armor. "Yes!" Her confidence rose to distracting heights but then Tortan sliced low and then high; EarthAstro blocked both strikes with both daggers and tried a high spinning kick. "Uh oh!" EarthAstro gasped when Tortan ducked. Sparks had burst from her shiny yellow uniform when Tortan struck her down. It felt like someone had punched her in the chest with brass knuckles when she flipped over onto her back. "Augh! Damn!" When the smoke from the blast cleared, Tortan swung his sword straight down. EarthAstro turned her head to to side in terror while using both daggers to stop his sword. They clashed but Tortan's strength was slowly overcoming her. VenusAstro ducked a swinging foot and then kicked the Armaton between the legs. "Australis!!" The Armaton fell to its knees and then on its face. "I see her!" JupiterAstro replied while holding his ThunderBow. "Ready!" VenusAstro brought up her Sonic Boomerang. "GO!" Tortan's shoulders exploded when an arrow and the boomerang had sparked off of them. Tortan's body flew back through the sky. He roughly landed on the ground and tumbled over. VenusAstro came running to EarthAstro's side. "Are you okay?" "Barely" EarthAstro answered. "It's amazing what you all have to deal with!" Tortan got up with the rest of the Armatons back flipping into thin air. "This isn't over, Astrorangers! You have won this battle but you will never win the war!!" Tortan said then vanishing himself. A gloved hand layed on EarthAstro's shoulder. VenusAstro looked at her as she turned around to look back at her again. "Don't worry, Beverly; you will be better with time. For now, let's free the detective." EarthAstro nodded happily as they all moved to the tree where Frank was, JupiterAstro used his dagger to cut him loose. Inside of the SpaceBase--Australis walked inside with Beverly, Lotia, Sheratan, Messuta and Nashiran; Australis waved his hand through the air. "And this is headquarters, the SpaceBase." Beverly looked around the rectangular chamber in awe in its advanced design. "This is definitely not man-made." "It's in constant synchronous orbit with the dark side of the moon so we're never detected," Messuta said. "Everything that happens in Los Angeles can be seen through at least a couple hundred different telescopes monitoring almost everything from visual data to scientific information." Beverly looked around. "This is amazing! This is where all the suits, weapons and shuttles go, I take it?" Beverly's mind filled with questions. Messuta nodded. Commander Leto walked up to Beverly. "Beverly Tenmei, it is fortunate you have the training of a police officer. I understand the physical training is extensive." Beverly bowed her head and smiled. "Yes it is, Mister..." "Leto," he said. "Commander Lionix Leto of the Uton Defense Department." Beverly nodded. "I have also spent over a decade learning Kajukembo, a martial art." "Messuta, you will will show Beverly how to operate technology such as her Moleculatom Weapon, PortaSensor and her shuttle, AirShuttle," Leto said. "The AirShuttle can already dock with AstroMan; however, we will need to make sure they completed the hardware upgrades while repairing the shuttles." Messuta nodded. "As soon as I figure out what her PortaSensor can do, I'll let her know." Beverly chuckled and smiled; she had figured out what that cell flip-phone like device was on right side of her uniform belt's holster. "Nashiran, you won't like this, but--you are in charge of her combat training." "Why me?" he asked. Beverly had wandered away. Leto exhaled. "You've been involved in defense and security longer than almost everybody here--even Australis, the oldest member of our team. Needless to say, your experience will be needed to educate our new team member." "Hey, come on, Nash," Sheratan said. "She's still part Terranian." Tom sighed and shook his head. "Sheratan, you live to annoy me, don't you?" Beverly leaned up against the wall and Australis came up to her wondering why she was distracted. "Beverly? Are you okay?" "Yes, I am. This will take some getting used to but I think I can do this," Beverly said. "I'm kinda used to protecting the public. Now I guess I'll have a really good team that will truly work with me." Beverly had said this as a pretext to avoid the real reason she was feeling very awkward. "Beverly, you did great with those Armatons and I think that after Nashiran helps you with your daggers, they won't stand a chance but I think there's something else not really bothering you but annoying you at the least," Australis said. "Surely you can tell me, Beverly." "Only if you promise to keep it a secret." Australis smiled. "Well, I won't tell yours if you won't tell ours." "Oh, no doubt about it, nobody will ever know about this," Beverly told him. "I'm not even telling Sasha. Could you imagine the harassment??" "Good," he replied. "Now, you'll feel better if you say what's up." Beverly sighed. "Well, when I first met Amy or, Lotia... I thought she was, well, pretty and I wanted to know what it'd be like to kiss her but now it kind of makes me sick to think about it because... Well, you know." "You're half-sisters, right. Well, at least there _is_ Sasha." Beverly laughed halfway. "Yeah. I also kinda feel bad because I really once said some bad things to VenusAstro when that vampire alien turned Sasha into a monster." "Well, I would imagine you were having a pretty bad day that day," Australis said. "Try not to worry about it. Lotia, Messuta and I are pretty easy going and whether or not you know this, Sheratan's kinda partial to you too." Beverly's eyes opened wider when she looked at him. "Really?" Lotia walked over to the two of them. "Okay, a couple of things you need to know. Your ring will always glow if you're near any physical threat like cyborgs, Tortan, Ginara or even thugs on the street." "Try to notice it and hide it so you won't draw attention to yourself," Messuta said. "Australis will tell you other neat tips and tricks to doing this secret identity thing." "Thanks," Beverly said. "I take it we're supposed to continue using your Earth names while on Earth and out of costume." Australis nodded. "You'll get used to it after a while." "I have a question," Commander Leto said. "How did you know where to find the GeneGem ring? Nobody knew of its existence in the Human world." "The notion came to me in a nightmare I had yesterday," Beverly said. "Ask Lotia." Leto was about to nod. "I," Leto was stopped by confusion, "...see..." "Wow," Beverly said while walking forth. "I can't believe that _I_ am an Astroranger. I've always just read about you guys." "Yeah well, don't believe everything you read," Sheratan said. "We're all here for the greater good, as I'm sure you've noticed." "Oh sure! But it's just that I've got, like, a million and one questions!" Beverly said. Nashiran walked away rubbing his temples in pain while Sheratan stuck around to smile at her. TO BE CONTINUED Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . . Tom gives up trying to train Beverly so Dave and Amy help. Meanwhile, a Nazitan messenger, Majute Sashai comes to tell the team of a special secret of Earth's Solar System--something more valuable than just assimilating Earth's population in Episode 28: "Change of Plans". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------