[970707] [Preview] A test of EarthAstro's skill begins when Ginara has Pleadia send Cyborg Morpher II to stalk Officer Beverly Tenmei; meanwhile, the Nazitans learn of a power in Earth's solar system. A power that has been contained for billions of years. In episode #28, "Change of Plans." [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 Fleishman. ACT I: Pluto remained in its slow orbit in the far reaches of our solar system; meanwhile, underneath its freezing surface was the Nazitan outpost. Inside of the underground structure was Pleadia's workshop. Inside Ginara stood in Pleadia's workshop while he sat listening to her. "Tortan was equally matched by EarthAstro, which is predominately a human being," Ginara complained. "We must delete this addition to Astroranger task force before she learns too much. Being inexperienced, she is no threat now; but soon, EarthAstro will cause too many problems." Pleadia nodded. "Indeed. There are some minor indications showing various technological improvements with her arsenal that lead me to believe EarthAstro can be worse than previously thought." "Pleadia, how difficult would it be for you to re-create a humanoid look alike cyborg such as Cyborg Morpher?" Ginara asked. "Well, I will have to build one out of the humans I have in suspended animation on the Uranus space station," Pleadia said. "Why?" "I want to get her alone and away from the others," Ginara answered. "If we can have a cyborg stalking EarthAstro before she transforms, we can have her killed right then and there." "What?! Why do we want her dead? I thought we were going to abduct her and have her assimilated," Pleadia said to Ginara. "Remember, we want one of these `super' humans to study and merge with the Nazitan race." "It doesn't matter to me, just so long as she is out of the picture," Ginara replied. "And, in anyway, it doesn't matter; the people on Procyon III have no idea what MEANS we use to keep our race from dying. All they know is that the government is doing all they can to help. We're the people who do the dirty work that the Nazitan Officials don't want anybody to know about." "We could be making them out of hybrid baboons if possible and they wouldn't know it 'cause they don't know what we're doing," Pleadia told Ginara. "It would be interesting to know what they would think if they knew." "Again, it doesn't matter to me--I'm just here to do a job," Ginara replied. "Anyway, prepare the creation of your cyborg to track down EarthAstro as soon as you can. We don't want to waste anytime." "I'll let you know when I've launched Cyborg Morpher II." Igan walked down the stairs into the primary chamber where Adol the Great had reviewed footage of EarthAstro on his crystal ball. Igan cleared his throat to get Adol's attention. "Yes??" he said in an annoyed tone. Igan bowed his head. "Your majesty, I am reporting from the observation deck that a Nazitan command vessel is arriving to land on the surface." "Hmmm," Adol said; he leaned over and touched the crystal ball and it faded into a picture of outer space with an angular-shaped starship heading their way. ``Majute Sashai's carrier??'' "Its trajectory suggests it is preparing to land on the surface--shall I prepare the airlock?" Igan asked. Adol nodded. "Yes, do so at once. Let me attempt to contact the pilot." Igan left and proceeded through a different hall way. "Nazitan Space Cruiser, this is Adol the Great of the Plutonian Outpost. Please acknowledge." "This is Grand Majute Sashai, I read you loud and clear," he said as his image came upon the crystal ball. He was decorated in a uniform similarly to Adol's however he was somewhat more aged. "Sashai, it has been much too long since our position at Fort Xallian on Procyon V. Sir, our Cybo-Egg supply has depleted itself and thus relied on locally produced substitutes," Adol told him. "And they aren't..." "Good, then your mission has been somewhat successful," Majute said to Adol. "I knew you would get the job done." "It has not gone as well as we had planned, I am afraid. We have re-ordered a new supply of eggs some time ago," Adol replied. "What happened to the cargo vessel that was going to bring our shipment?" Majute sighed. "Unfortunately, catastrophic engine failure resulted in the destruction of the ship and its supply. This is why I have come." "Pleadia will be crushed," Adol said. "I'm sure--however, this is not the entire reason why I traveled for 3 days to get here," Majute replied. "Since your team was already in this solar system, I was sent to inform you of something about these planets that could prove to be more valuable than just the human race to be assimilated." "Good," Adol bellowed. "I am beginning to think that's a waste of time!" Majute squinted. "Oh? And why is that?" "I'll explain it when you get here," Adol said. "Anyway, we'll met you on the observation deck when you land." Episode 28: "Change of Plans" In a desert, the yellow HydroCycle drove by followed by the red and pink motorcycles. EarthAstro looked around and then at her dashboard. "Man this thing is fast!" MarsAstro nodded. "It should be, it has a 384 horsepower engine." The yellow Astroranger looked at her keyboard and terminal and shook her head in disbelief. "This thing looks like it could make coffee! Guys, where are we again?" "We're on dimensional level IV of Earth, Terrania is on Level V," VenusAstro replied. "This is just vacant space that many task forces have trained in. Also the testing of new giant robots are done here as well." "Cool, okay, so I think I've got the hang of this HydroCycle," EarthAstro replied. "I think it'll take me a while to get used to flying it though." MarsAstro nodded while driving. "That's okay--there is no need to rush it. There will be plenty of time to learn how to do this." They all slowed to a stop and EarthAstro dismounted from her yellow motorcycle as the other two came up to her. "Okay, so what's next?" EarthAstro asked. "I've already learned all of the synchronized moves, paging phrases to call my equipment and weapons. What's about this strange device on my belt here? You all don't seem to have this." VenusAstro curiously looked at the dark gray flip-phone like object on the right side of her belt opposite the Moleculatom Blaster. "I'm not sure what that does, yet We'll find out when Messuta gives us more information." EarthAstro nodded. "What about this one?" she asked removing the Moleculatom Blaster. "It looks like a dustbuster." "A what?" MarsAstro asked. VenusAstro chuckled. "This is called a Moleculatom Weapon; it's called that because it manipulates both molecules and atoms. Hence: Molecul(e)Atom." "Oh!! Clever! What does it do?" "Two things," MarsAstro said. "You can hit the large red button to have a beam of electricity stun or kill a target." "How does it work? I've never seen anything quite like this before." VenusAstro nodded. "Earth wouldn't have anything like this. It's done through a process called ionization. As opposite polarities of electric static are attracted through ionized particles, an arc of electricity is created." "It's just like how lightning works on Earth, except the ions are chaotically charged between the Earth and the clouds or between clouds," MarsAstro added. "The Moleculatom Weapon fires a photon beam that hits the target with ions so it may artificially create static and thus an electric charge." "Can you set how much voltage it uses to say just stun someone and not electrocute them to death?" EarthAstro asked. "Yes," VenusAstro said. "Those toggle buttons do that. The weapon's other function is to perform as a dagger. Turn it up side down and put your fist on the base of the handle." EarthAstro turned it upside-down into her right hand and put her left fist on the handle where there was a backlit grid. "Now pull your fist away," MarsAstro directed. She did that and instantly a bright beam of light formed a dagger's blade. EarthAstro handled the dagger while looking it over. "Wow, that's incredible! How did that happen? It's like magic!" "That's the molecular/atomic manipulation at work," VenusAstro explained. "Push that button to retract the blade." The blade returned to a light beam and sucked back inside of the weapon. "(Hehe, cool.) Hey, thank you both for training me. I wonder why Nash didn't come? All he did was show me the cockpit of an AstroShuttle." VenusAstro shrugged. "All right well, we've got to get going. Lotia and I have to go to the SpaceBase like we promised Australis," MarsAstro said. "Oh wait, I have a question. I can hear your voices crystal clear now, but when I'm not in the uniform, it sounds like your voices are modified almost beyond recognition." "Okay, inside of your helmet, there are microspeakers and a microphone behind the mouth-guard. Our helmets transmit sound to each other, but since sounds inside of our helmets are completely masked, the only way anybody else can hear us is through a speaker embedded on the mouth-guard," VenusAstro explained. "And it's synthesized so as to protect our identities--along with our black-tinted visors. We can hear environmental sounds through external microphones that send sound to our helmet's microspeakers." "Cool--just like headphones. Well, I'm gonna be at the gym," EarthAstro said. "Gotta keep in shape in order to keep up with you guys! You have just so much energy. I don't know how you do it!" She stood and pondered for a while. "Oh wait, yes I do." VenusAstro giggled and MarsAstro shook his head. The opal globe that remained in synchronized orbit with the dark side of the moon came into view; onboard the Astroranger SpaceBase, Australis walked into the main chamber where Nashiran was standing and looked around curiously. "Where's Messuta and Commander Leto?" Nashiran turned around to glance at him and then returned to looking at the main screen. "Oh, they are in the shuttle bay booth having the sixth AstroShuttle towed into the shuttle bay." "Ah," Australis nodded and said. "Is that it on screen?" "Yeah." They both watched as the yellow shuttle, which looked like a jet-fighter plane, be towed in by a space-taxi almost like a plane would be brought away from the terminal of an airport. "Oh, by the way, why are you up here? Shouldn't you be on Earth training Beverly?" Nashiran frowned as he tried to think of a way to weasel out of it. "Well, Aus, ya see, I'm not really comfortable with, you know, training with someone who isn't of our..." Australis sighed heavily. "Never mind..." Underneath Pluto at the Nazitan Outpost--Adol had greeted Majute Sashai in the main chamber where he had entered. Tortan and the others had bowed. "Thank you, thank you," Majute said. "Your remote facilities are quite nice for the mission." "Easy for you to say--you don't work here!" Adol said. Majute and Adol both laughed. "Okay, now let's get down to business." "Right, but first, I'd like to ask you why you're having such incredibly bad luck attempting to take over the human race? Our analysis about their defenses weren't wrong, were they?" "At first we thought they were," Adol told him. "However, it turns out, they have help from a team of non-humans called Galaxy Task Force Astroranger." "I see, well, hopefully what I have brought will eliminate this problem for you," Majute said to Adol. "It's really quite impressive." "I hope so, the Astroranger battle team has proven to be equal to most everything we have thrown at them," Adol replied. "A lot of the offensive tactics we're forced to use haven't even been necessary against planets with militaries ten times the strength the Earth's forces." "Adol, this may come as surprise to you but not too long ago, The Nazitans have already been to this territory before," Majute told him. "One of our scientists surveyed this area as another solar system to colonize. However, we lost the supervisor in charge, passing away at age 210 so the mission never did begin. However, we found another person to research what our space probes had recorded. They spent the some 90 Earth years in this solar system studying, from core to surface, the meteorological, geological and biological contents of these planets." "And what did Voledia discover?" Adol asked. "It is his belief a battery of graviton energy wondering the galaxy encountered a star and exploded into nine spheres which formed the planets," Majute answered. "Depending on where the sphere would be is how the planet would develop. Hence why a planet like Jupiter is _so_ different from Earth." Adol nodded. "A remarkable story, but, how will this help us?" "In different dimensions on each planet, there lies the solar sphere that created the planet. It rose to the surface when the planet had finished being born," Majute said. "If these solar spheres are re-assembled, the power of whatever encountered the sun to create the planets will be yours to use in any weapon against the Astrorangers and anything and anyone else with the intent to stop you." "How do we unite the nine solar spheres?" Adol asked. "Did the Procyon Government scientists ever learn about this?" "I'm afraid that without testing, the answer remains a mystery, and so thus how it works is unknown along with its origin," Majute replied. "However, even the power of a fragment could be useful." "It sounds risky but we need the edge," Adol declared. "The Nazitans on our home planets are counting on us." "I must leave shortly so I had to hand deliver this. Here," Majute said handing Adol a scroll. "Take this map. They will lead you to where the Solar Spheres should be. I will return to headquarters on Procyon III to report on your mission status." Adol looked at the map and nodded. "Igan, come forth." Shortly after he had called, Igan walked out of the shadows into the primary chamber and bowed his head. "I want you to tell Pleadia to hatch Cyborg Hunter and send it to Uranus, not Earth. And it must be to another dimension." "Why, sire?" Igan asked. "He is on the Uranus Space Station creating another cyborg to try and eliminate EarthAstro. It's Ginara's plan." "You do not work here to question my every decision, just tell Pleadia that I need Cyborg Hunter in Dimension 4 of Uranus as soon as possible," Adol said. "Now." Igan bowed. "Yes, Adol the Great," he said then leaving quickly. "Ginara is a smart warrior--even smarter than her mate Tortan," Majute said. Adol nodded. "Her ideas are worthy, but her plan may not be so successful." The fitness center, a building on south Figueroa Street, with 888 on the address above the glass doors, was Beverly's regular place to be when off duty. (She had only visited the Fitness Center in West Hollywood because this one was being remodeled.) Inside, Beverly, in gray bike shorts and a yellow sports top but down some weights and looked at Sasha. "See? The trick is not to try to do more than you can. You don't want to strain yourself; with time, your body will give a little more." Sasha, in a blue leotard smiled coyly and shook her head. "I don't know how you talked me into coming down here." Beverly chuckled. "You have a ride home? I'm gonna shower and go home soon." "Well yeah, my sister Linda drives a bus, remember?" Sasha answered. Beverly nodded while toweling off. "Oh yeah." "Perhaps you'd remember more often if you rode the bus," Sasha countered, "After all, an activist like yourself who is concerned over L.A.'s air quality would probably drive less and use public..." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Beverly interrupted. "It's just very expensive to ride the bus." Sasha nodded in agreement. Beverly took her gym hand bag and prepared to go. "I don't drive very much so I save money by owning my own car. And anyway, my vehicle burns clean diesel." "Okay okay!" Sasha conceeded. "I'll see ya..." "Bye, Sasha," Beverly said while walking off. Sasha smiled and shook her head again; she then stared at the weights reluctantly. In a bathrobe, Beverly walked through the hallway looking for a vacant stall; she idly pondered what her dog, King, was up to. All four of the showers were in use so she stood waiting for one. Outside, around back, a slender white robot with vinyl-like skin hid behind the dumpster as someone drove out of the parking lot. When the coast was clear, Cyborg Morpher II stood up and crossed its arms. Like television static, a silhouette of its body sizzled while changing shape. Instantly, it became a white female human in a bathrobe. Beverly was amazed that all the showers became available at approximately the same time; this was a coincidence but a fortunate one because now she had the shower of her choice. Stepping inside of one, she hung up her towel, took off her ring and started to untie her robe's belt. Feet walked quietly inside of the shower room when the water started crashing against the floor from Beverly's stall; the `woman' shrugged her shoulders and continued to walk into the vacant stall next to Beverly's without sneaking. Standing away from the water, Beverly was using the bar of soap to lather her arms. In the stall next to her, the `woman' from the parking lot took her robe off and took out the white belt hanging on it. Discarding the robe, she wrapped the ends around her palms and snuck out of the shower. While her face was in the warm stream of water, Beverly's eyes were closed while she pushed her hands over her hair. Rinsing off her shoulders, Beverly was almost done but suddenly, the `woman' took the belt of her robe and wrapped it around Beverly's neck and started trying to strangle her. Choking, she gasped, "HELP! Stop!! What are you doing?!" Beverly tried pulling her hands away but this `woman' was unusually strong, probably even stronger than Lotia, she thought. "Let go!" Beverly said; her feet slipped allowing herself to fall into her grasp more so. The cyborg woman's eyes glowed red as she gave full power to her arms. ACT II: Onboard the SpaceBase in synchronized orbit of the moon--Australis held the gray device that usually hangs in the right holster of EarthAstro's yellow uniform's belt. Messuta looked at him hold what looked like a cellular flip-phone as he'd opened it causing various lights and a display to activate. "According to the computer database, this is a portable environmental scanner and sensor; however the preliminary name for it is the PortaSensor," Australis explained. "This is apart of all the advanced equipment that this uniform was designed to have as an improvement upon our AstroSuits." Messuta nodded. "I see. How does it work?" "It detects the composition of objects by emitting non-destructive radiation. A receiver senses changes made to the field," Australis said. "The computer is programmed to report what is being scanned based on the memorized differences between a normal radioactive field and the modifications being made to it." "What is the PortaSensor designed to scan?" Messuta asked. "About 256 sub-routines exist to generate meteorological, geological and biological data," Australis said. "This technology is just recently being using by NASA but this sensor can do more than detect chemical composition." At the fitness center--Cyborg Morpher II, disguised as a female human, had a choke hold on Beverly using a white bathrobe belt in the shower. It was hard to move with her skin slipping on the water covered floor. Morpher II felt less resistance from Beverly and it assumed she was dying. However, Beverly suddenly pulled her arm back and used her elbow to jab the `woman' in the stomach. She stumbled backwards out of the stall and Beverly grabbed her towel, stood up and ran out of the emergency exit. The `woman' got up and ran after her. In the alley beside the fitness center, Beverly stood soaking wet in a bath towel looking around to make sure the coast was clear while putting her ring back on; Beverly noticed that it was flashing brightly indicating danger was near. From the point of view of the cyborg impersonating a human female, Beverly suddenly noticed the unclothed faux-woman standing there. Jumping into position to fight, Beverly wanted to transform but she still believe it was human. "I don't know what kind of sick person you are, but as soon as I get my hand cuffs, I'm taking you in for assaulting a police officer and indecent exposure!" She just crossed her arms and became a two-dimensional silhouette of static and changed shape. Beverly's eyes widened as she looked on curiously when the so-called human returned to its original state--Cyborg Morpher II. "Uh oh!" Morpher II fired a pair of green lights out of its eyes. Suddenly, Beverly's bath towel caught on fire. "Ahhh!" she screamed while she batted the flames off, but they weren't extinguishing so she took the towel and threw it into the corner. "You're gonna pay for that--right now!" Beverly shouted. "Change form!" She brought up her right fist showing the jade GeneGem ring. "AstroCharge!" Her gemstone's ring flashed brilliantly of white light. Beverly's face was before a black background as it had dissolved into a black silhouette; her body a black silhouette before 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 her shiny yellow Astroranger uniform and helmet. "EarthAstro!" she shouted going into her battle pose. Cyborg Morpher II ran after her and she broke from her position to charge after it. Upon meeting, EarthAstro locked arms with Morpher II however it knocked hers away; Morpher II double-punched EarthAstro's abs and tried a roundhouse kick. She back flipped and landed with her arms out in a T. The holster on the left side of EarthAstro's belt was grabbed by her hands as she yanked the handle of her weapon out. "Moleculatom Weapon!" Holding it out she fired a beam of yellow and then electric blue. "Fire!" The laser light zapped Cyborg Morpher II's shoulder but was still standing; "Uh oh," she said knowing she didn't injure it but only managed to make it mad. Morpher II stepped forth fired balls of fire from its eyes again. "Ouch!" she shouted when her uniform sparked when fired at. Hitting the unpaved dirt road of the alley, she rolled over a couple of times. Morpher II ran after her. On her back, EarthAstro pushed off her hands and onto her feet. Morpher II grabbed EarthAstro by the waist above her uniform's skirt and jumped into the air; in the sky, they landed on top the fitness center. On the roof, Morpher II stepped back and so did the yellow Astroranger. The cyborg punched at her but she ducked and turned around. EarthAstro caught the next punch with her fist, kicked its flank in with her leg's shin; palm-punched it in the stomach, grabbed its shoulders and head-butted the cyborg. EarthAstro got down and tripped the cyborg into flipping over with a low spinning kick. Cyborg Morpher II rolled over to the gate against the edge of the building. And EarthAstro nodded happily and clenched her fist. "This isn't so tough!" Suddenly--in the sky, black Armaton soldiers flipped over, one by one, in X-formation overhead and out of sight. EarthAstro looked all around herself on the roof as they all charged after her. "Nice to know we're all fighting fair here!" she sarcastically said. Cyborg Morpher II grew muscles on its forearms as the tops of them flipped open showing a rack of what looked like to be nuts, bolts, screws and nails. "Where did those come from??" she asked; suddenly Morpher II started firing its supply. EarthAstro jumped out of the way in a huge leap to the side; holding her yellow LightningDaggers, she rolled to a stop and jumped into the air. In the sky, she plunged forth shouting, "Lightning Daggers!" Upon landing, sparks exploded from an Armaton's chest after EarthAstro's right dagger's blade lashed it. She used her left dagger to strike the one to her right and did the same on the left. "CrossCut!" the yellow Astroranger shouted as she turned to use both daggers to strike the Armaton, cutting an X into its chest. Sparks burst from its wounded metallic structure and junk hit the rooftop. Meanwhile, Cyborg Morpher II gave the signal to the five Armatons standing in line aiming their rifles. EarthAstro turned to see them start firing. Several towers of sparks exploded around EarthAstro and off her uniform as EarthAstro hollered. Twisting around, she fell backwards into the clouds of white smoke. At the Astroranger SpaceBase orbiting the Earth's moon--Commander Leto looked at a man in a highly decorated military uniform on the main screen and nodded. The image disappeared as Sheratan and Lotia walked into the primary chamber. "Sorry we're late," Sheratan said. "Traffic was a nightmare." Commander Leto shook his head. "That's not important. I just got a special communication from the Uton Defense department. The Nazitans are on Uranus." "What are they doing way out over there??" Lotia asked. Australis looked at the both of them. "Well, legend has it that on each planet there is a fragment of something called the Infinitum Genesis Ring. It theoretically created the solar system, according to Uton and other Terranian scientists." "The only reason The Nazitans would be on an uninhabited planet like Uranus in the dimension they are in is to obviously find those fragments," Nashiran said. "Why didn't we know they were on Uranus?" "Because they went to Uranus--our computers never alerted us because we are only monitoring Earth," Messuta said. "But we have to move quickly. If those fragments they called the Solar Spheres exist and are even as remotely powerful as the legend says, they will be unstoppable." "Any task that needs to be done in this Galaxy has our name written all over it," Sheratan said. Everybody looked at him as if he made a bad pun. "What??" "Are the AstroShuttles ready to get us there?" Lotia asked. Leto nodded. "Your ETA to anywhere in this solar system is 5-15 minutes." "Good, then let's ChangeForm!" Sheratan said. Australis, Nashiran, Messuta and Lotia also brought up their fists. All then shouted, "AstroCharge!" Within a flash of light, the five Astrorangers were riding seats inside of tubes. In the zero-gravity take-off bay at the bottom of the SpaceBase, the five AstroShuttles' afterburners were energizing. MercuryAstro had been placed inside of the cockpit of TurboShuttle, the white rocket as the lights came on. From inside of the main chamber, Commander Leto looked at the main screen watching the air-pressure force field activated in the take-off bay as the bay doors began to open. In CombatShuttle, MarsAstro pushed up the slider on his console. "Blast Off!" The five AstroShuttles' rocket boosters fired up. Inside of the SolarShuttle cockpit, SaturnAstro's head was pressed back against his seat's headboard. In outer space, the green CommandShuttle led the four AstroShuttles from the SpaceBase which became invisible again. It was a swampy jungle in Uranus's fourth dimensional level. Being damp, foggy and dark, it would be hard to see the snake-like vines that caressed the evil looking trees with massive roots rippling out of the black soil. Dirt elsewhere was stomped on by a massive tennis-shoe like foot. Wearing red foam leg-guards and a black chest shield, Cyborg Hunter donned on a white striped baseball uniform, a catchers mit and baseball hat still attached. This horrible looking abomination was Pleadia's rush-job on a cyborg to find the Neptunian Solar Sphere. Strapped to its back was a case of baseball bats and had a cannon-barrel for a mouth. It's face grill was actually a complex array of scanners that allowed it to scan the gray soup called water near thin strips of moist land. Meanwhile, in outer space, the five AstroShuttles generated an unusual sound from their engine due to reaching the speed of light. Onboard the green CommandShuttle, JupiterAstro looked at his console within the cockpit and then at the screen. "Slow to 23,000 mps, team." The two shuttles, two rockets and one starship slowed down. Onboard the white TurboShuttle, MercuryAstro nodded. "Acknowledged, speed now 23,289 mps." SaturnAstro looked at his cockpit's console. "E.T.A. to Uranus: 2 minutes, 27 seconds." A window opened up on his screen showing VenusAstro. "Okay guys, so what are we gonna do when we get there?" VenusAstro asked in her broadcast. "I'd hate to be this far from Earth." "I think we should try to find the Solar Sphere first, get it and get out of here," MarsAstro replied while looking at her picture on his cockpit's screen. In his cockpit, JupiterAstro shook his head. "As much as I'd love to agree with that, I think it's important we get rid of Nazitan activity on Uranus first." "Right. And in case there's a booby trap waiting for us there, we need the whole team," MercuryAstro replied over the radio. "If anything goes wrong on Earth--Beverly can take care of it." SaturnAstro shook his head in disgrace. Through the optical tracking scope in the eyes of Cyborg Hunter, it checked for every type of matter and energy known to the Nazitans and located nothing that met the criteria of the Solar Sphere. However, Hunter did pick up five high-energy bodies moving closer to itself. Hunter recognized those humanoids as the Astroranger task force and ran away to hide. "EarthAstro's PortaSensor would've be nice for this mission," MercuryAstro said. "We don't even know what this fragment is supposed to look like." "The shuttle sensors got us close enough to it so that it would be within walking distance," JupiterAstro replied. "Keep your eyes peeled." Suddenly in the sky, Cyborg Hunter appeared and free-fell through the air. SaturnAstro turned and pointed. "What is that?!" Landing upon the hill, the monster turned around, drew a bat from its back-sack and ran after them. MarsAstro drew his FireSword. "Hey, you remember when Cyborg Vampire attacked that baseball stadium, Aus?" JupiterAstro nodded while holding his Moleculatom Dagger. "Think this is what became of some of those they abducted, eh?" SaturnAstro said. "Well, there's nothing we can do for him now--Celestial Weapons!" Both white and pink Astrorangers drew their weapons; black SaturnAstro held up his BattleScythe. "Attack!" The Astroranger battle team ran towards the cyborg into a diamond shaped field. MarsAstro jumped in and swung the blade of his red FireSword down into Cyborg Hunter's chest. The black chest-shield exploded with sparks but the cyborg was hardly moved. Hunter used its bat to block the sideways attack of MarsAstro's blade; the cyborg knocked the sword upwards and then swung the bat into MarsAstro's chest. Sparks blew from the impact and flipped him over onto his back. Cyborg Hunter turned around and saw JupiterAstro coasting through the sky firing arrows from his ThunderBow. Hunter knocked away each arrow with his bat and leaped to the side. Rolling clear, Hunter got up saw MercuryAstro in the distance. Cyborg Hunter took its hands away from its mouth as the cannon fired a shot in a blast of fire and smoke. MercuryAstro cartwheeled away from a tower of sparks bursting where he stood. Stopping, he wrapped his hands around to his left side and grabbed the weapon out of the holster on his belt. "Moleculatom Weapon!" Holding it out in front of himself, he fired. Hunter's chest shield was zapped by the beam and sparks blew out of it. The cyborg was only slightly knocked back by the force however it produced a baseball in its catchers mit and pitched it. Upon hitting the ground, it blew up into a tower of sparks in front of MercuryAstro blasting him into twisting around and landing on the grass. JupiterAstro turned and reacted with shock. "Careful guys, this guy has explosive baseballs!" "This is so stupid!" SaturnAstro complained. VenusAstro nodded aggressively. "Let's waste it before he makes a mess." Both SaturnAstro and VenusAstro swung the BattleScythe and SonicBoomerang horizontally into Cyborg Hunter; Hunter's bat blocked both weapons as he swung his bat upwards separating them. Hunter turned around and kicked VenusAstro down and then beat SaturnAstro with the bat causing sparks to explode from the impact. "Saturn Ring Slice!" he shouted when swinging around with his BattleScythe. The cyborg pulled up its knee using its shin guard to block the black Astroranger's blade. Cyborg Hunter knocked his weapon upwards with its catcher's mit and then beat down on SaturnAstro's shoulder with the bat causing sparks to blow him back. Rolling over and over on the ground, the others gathered to protect him. VenusAstro looked at Hunter while from its point of view, it was targeting the Astroranger task force with its computerized optical tracking system. "Hey you guys, this thing isn't threw yet!" VenusAstro said. MarsAstro brought up his sword. "Not if I can help it!" With that, he jumped into the air. In the sky, he flipped over with his sword swinging down. Cyborg Hunter's chest burst of sparks when the red Astroranger landed; he turned around and sliced across. Sparks exploded again and finally Hunter was knocked off his feet. "Yeah!" MarsAstro cheered. "Pretty soon, it'll be time for the cosmic missile," the red Astroranger said. The others gathered by him and got ready. Cyborg Hunter stood up and pitched a baseball into the air and swung its bat to knock the ball away. From another angle, it pitched again and batted that ball too. Repeating this a couple of more times; the sky was soon raining down with explosive baseballs. All five Astrorangers were bombarded by balls bursting into sparks on their suits and were all knocked down. Underneath the surface of Pluto, inside of the Nazitan Outpost--Adol the Great spied upon the battle on the alter-dimension of Uranus and squinted angrily. "What the devil is Cyborg Hunter doing playing ball with the Astrorangers for? It should be looking for the Solar Sphere!" Igan shook his head. "Patience, sire; Pleadia will resume control of Hunter shortly--at this time, he has it on automatic control while manipulating Cyborg Morpher II." Adol rolled his eyes. "And is Morpher II making any sort of progress?" "In conjunction with Armaton Soldiers, the yellow Astroranger's defeat is inevitable," Igan reported. "And even on auto-control, Cyborg Hunter is making incredible progress in overpowering the Astroranger task force." "Great, let's try and keep it that way--maybe we'll have a little luck and get that Solar Sphere so Pleadia can play with it and find out what it can do." In the fourth dimension of Uranus, Cyborg Hunter's bat stopped MarsAstro's sword as he turned around and clubbed him into flipping over. Hunter ducked a spinning Saturn Ring Kick from the black Astroranger and clubbed his chest with the bat. "Augh not again!" he said still smoking from the blast of sparks. Cyborg Hunter attacked MercuryAstro but he held up his PowerStaff to block the bat. The white Astroranger had joust into Hunter which pushed him back but the cyborg batted the staff away and turned around to knock MercuryAstro across the head into hitting the turf. "Guys, help!" In the sky, VenusAstro tossed her SonicBoomerang and JupiterAstro fired from his ThunderBow while coasting in mid-air. Cyborg Hunter was blown back by the blast of sparks that came out of his chest shield after the boomerang and arrow made contact. The symbol of Saturn appeared behind SaturnAstro as he walked forth with his weapon. "Spinning BattleScythe Throw!" SaturnAstro called out. The blades of his weapon glowed purple while he charged after the monster. Tossing it into the air, his BattleScythe began to spin so fast, it became a glowing discus that gained speed. Cyborg Hunter took his bat and swung at the glowing saucer batting it back into the air; SaturnAstro jumped back. "Oh no!" His uniform exploded with a massive sparks that knocked him into the air. In the sky, the black Astroranger flew backwards through the sky. In the grass, he hit the turf smoking and cringed. "Augh, this hurts." VenusAstro shifted shoulders in concern. "Nash!!" She ran after him and came to his side. "Nashiran are you all right?" "No, that stupid looking cyborg has clubbed me so many times, I'm surprised I don't have any broken bones," SaturnAstro replied. "I'm gonna get this thing, Lotia!" He tried to get up but a sharp pain in the skin on his chest stopped him making him fall back. "AGH!!" VenusAstro held him in place. "Your BattleScythe's laser blade probably breeched the integrity of your uniform," VenusAstro said. "We've got to get you out of here!" MarsAstro coasted through mid-air with his sword aimed. Cyborg Hunter pushed him over its head. Behind the cyborg, the red Astroranger landed on his back when he hit the grass. Turning around, Hunter encountered MercuryAstro and JupiterAstro holding its arms. Cyborg Hunter pulled both of them over and onto their backs. VenusAstro ran up to the three of them and tried to make sure they were okay. MarsAstro stood up and looked at her. "This thing is unstoppable! We have to keep trying..." VenusAstro shook her head. "No, we've got to pull out right now! Nashiran is hurt." JupiterAstro clenched his fist contemptfully. MercuryAstro pointed. "Guys, watch out! It's gonna fire again!" Cyborg Hunter took its mit and hand away from its cannon-barrel face and opened fire. A fire-filled explosion blew all four Astrorangers off their feet and down into the ground again where SaturnAstro layed. TO BE CONTINUED Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . . EarthAstro is cornered by the Armatons while Cyborg Morpher II prepares her fate. Meanwhile, Adol has Ginara travel to Earth with another company of Armatons to keep Uranus free and clear for Cyborg Hunter to find its solar sphere in Episode 29: "Divided Attention". [624] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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. 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