[970812]
                                                                      [Preview]
The overwhelming power of Cyborg Centaur forces a stalemate between the team of
Astrorangers, minus green JupiterAstro.  Meanwhile, Australis attempts to reach
them even though his time in our dimension runs out in today's episode...

                                                                  [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:

Last time on Astroranger
    "Do you think you could record a song I wrote?" Amy asked.
    Ron shrugged.  "Sure, but I don't play.  I just record the stuff."
    Amy nodded.  "Yeah I know.  I was hoping Tom could perform it."

    Aimed upward, the special weapon Pleadia had designed was within
  Ginara's hands as she brought it down to point at straight ahead.  "Now
  you will face oblivion."  Watching through her target scope, Ginara saw
  JupiterAstro stand up while breathing heavily.
    More light beamed through the green Astroranger when he vanished into a
  fountain of rainbow light that rained down.  A star-shaped light hovered
  backwards from the site of disintegration; Ginara's rifle backfired sparks
  from feedback and she dropped the smoking gun onto the ground.
    VenusAstro looked at the ground where the green Astroranger disappeared,
  bent down to look at the burnt ground.  She stood up, breathing heavily
  and suddenly had shouted out, "Australis!!"  

At Griffith Park, Australis discovered he was transparent like a ghost, but he
had used his sense of logic to learn that he had not died.
  Down the trail, he passed a child walking with his mother.  The boy looked
  up as if he saw something.  Australis, out of habit, looked back because
  he looked at him but remembered that nobody could see him.  Strangely,
  though, the boy saw a _very_ faded image of a person standing there.  He
  stopped and his mother stopped as well to look at him.
    "What's the matter, Jonathan?" she asked then looking in the same
  direction as her son.  She saw nothing.
    "There's a man there, mommy."
    She chuckled and smiled too.  "Okay," he acknowledged; attempting not to
  patronize her son.  They walked away but Australis was intrigued.  ``Now I
  know I'm not dead.  Unless that child can see ghosts,'' he thought to
  himself.
    Australis exhaled.  "No, I feel my internal organs.  I feel tired from
  walking around this 3,000 acre park."  He shook his head and continued
  walking with his hands in his pockets.  "I'm definitely not dead but it
  would help if I had a clue about how to make contact.  I need a way to
  tell Commander Leto that I am in trouble."

Meanwhile, Ginara returned to The Nazitan base under the surface of Pluto,
bringing back Pleadia's special device that turned Australis invisible.
    Pleadia examined the item by flipping a switch which broke, producing
  sparks.  "Augh...  I think taking it to that high of a dimensional level 
  exceeded it's transport design limit."
    "So what does that mean?  We can still make Australis do our bidding
  since he is virtually our prisoner now, right?" Ginara asked.  "Right??"
    "NO, Ginara; in all probability, the green Astroranger is lost somewhere
  between the dimensional levels of the Universe, but that wont last long.
  Soon, he himself will pass out of the state of existence," Pleadia
  answered.  "For now, he's like a ghost.  But nevertheless, you did get the
  job done; one less Astroranger is proof that we've got the advantage."
    Ginara exhaled.  "Okay, so what happens next?  Tortan is ready for more."
    Pleadia put down the damaged weapon.  "HE is not doing _anything_ for
  now.  I was not able to get a precise location of the solar sphere so I am
  about to hatch Cyborg Centaur."

    Australis got inside of the car and carefully sat on the seat.  "It will
  only be a matter of time before Officer Tenmei returns and drives
  somewhere with King.  If she takes King with her to our house, maybe
  Beverly will catch King's cues and Lotia will pick up on my mind as well."
  King calmed down somewhat as he sensed the presence was not a threat.
    "Lotia is obviously not on Earth, or else I'd be able to contact her.
  Which, I bet, is exactly how those diabolical Nazitans arranged this
  nightmare." 

    When they were about to ram one another--the sword of Cyborg Centaur had
  made impact against the white logo in the red Astroranger's uniform and
  sparks had exploded upon contact.  MarsAstro was knocked backwards off his
  motorcycle.
    "Sheratan!!" VenusAstro screamed.  The red HydroCycle's wheel had spun
  freely while laying on its side next to MarsAstro.  His uniform smoking, he'd
  layed motionless
  "Fire!!" SaturnAstro shouted.  He and MercuryAstro used their Moleculatom
weapons and shot the cyborg with electricity causing spark to shoot out of
Cyborg Centaur's chest.
  VenusAstro had jumped over the red HydroCycle and dropped to her knees beside
MarsAstro.  "Oh, Sheratan..." she sobbed; pulling him over she saw that his
uniform was intact but felt moisture underneath.  "Oh God, he's bleeding."
  "What the hell is going on over there?" SaturnAstro asked while shooting at
the cyborg repeated it while it fired arrows back.  He and MercuryAstro were
posted behind two large stones keeping them fairly protected.
  VenusAstro looked over and tried to get up with MarsAstro's arm around her
shoulders.  "We've got to retreat!  Sheratan's hurt bad..."
  "HydroCycles, Ignition!" SaturnAstro shouted.  "Cover us, Messuta!!"
  MercuryAstro nodded and got up.  "Okay," he said getting up and continuing to
fire bolts of electricity.  The four of them made a run for it.


                                  Episode 36:
                         "The Return of JupiterAstro"                         

      In her predominately yellow clothes, Beverly was off-duty driving her Geo
Metro manual-transmission automobile with King in the back seat.  She'd glanced
into her rear-view mirror and where a faint visual of Australis, sitting in the
back seat, was.  At first she didn't notice it but her eyes jumped wide open so
she looked all the way behind herself into the back seat--only to see King fast
asleep.
  "Oh boy," she sighed.  "This has been a disturbing day."  Invisible Australis
sitting behind her nodded and thought ``More than you know.''  Stopping at the
red light, her cellular telephone in her car had rung so she'd picked it up.
  "Tenmei," Beverly answered.  "Hi, Ron...  What??"  Australis anxiously
awaited to hear the information. 
  "Oh no!  Is Dave all right?" Beverly asked.  She nodded while calming down.
"Good.  I'd hate it if we lost another one." Australis got an idea about how to
use King to contact the others but he needed an opportunity where King would be
near everybody while Beverly was there too.
  "Yes, I can come by your house.  Is Tom with you?  He's driving you?  Good.
Okay, see you there," she said in closing while hanging up.  "Hang on, King, we
have to go."  She engaged the clutch and shifted into fifth gear, taking the
tiny yellow car up to 45 miles per hour. "I wonder if the Uton Government knows
about this and what sort of memorial service they will hold over Will."  That
statement had deeply disturbed Australis sitting there.

     The opal sphere in synchronous orbit of the moon's dark side closed its
shuttle bay doors.  Onboard the SpaceBase--Lotia wrapped Sheratan's torso in
bandages.  Meanwhile, Nashiran paced back and forth, rubbing his chin while the
two over by the front console below the main screen had been calculating figure
after figure.  Commander Leto nodded in response a question from Messuta and he
was able leave for a brief while.
  "How's Sheratan?" Messuta asked Lotia.
  Sheratan sighed.  "I'll be fine."
  "His skin was broken by the suit shaping itself so closely around the sword's
tip that the cut managed to stab him but the uniform managed to keep it from
going inside," Commander Leto said.  "The blow knocked him unconscious."
  "How come he got cut at all?" Lotia asked.
  "I think it was the high speed," Messuta answered.  "The uniforms auto-adjust
for normal impacts times ten.  _That_ was more like  ...to the tenth power."
  "I'm just glad you're all right," Lotia said smiling at Sheratan.
  Sheratan grinned.  "It'll take more than what happened out there to get rid
of me."
  Nashiran wasn't handling the pressure to well--Centaur was free to get the
Solar Sphere.  "Commander...   What are our chances of a successful rematch?"
  "Not very good, Nashiran; in fact--it will take the power of the entire team
to even cripple that cyborg," Commander Leto answered. "Unfortunately, we don't
have Australis.  His ThunderBow is the only weapon that I believe could help us
out in a big way."
  Sheratan put his shirt back on.  "We need Beverly--she can help us go back in
and stop this mutant."  Messuta nodded affirmatively in agreement.
  "I wouldn't advise it," Leto said.  "Without Australis, I cannot see how it's
possible to beat that cyborg."  Nashiran exhaled to throw off his nervousness.

     Within a dark cave, the bright, red-tinted opening was suddenly occupied
by the silhouette of a half-horse/half-man creature with a roving pulsing red
light in its black visor. It illuminated its path using the two lights in its
helmet's mask.   Galloping forth into the cave, it had approached a wall with
multiple entrances.  The red light on its black visor pulsed harder; from its
point of view--it had calculated the entire route of each and every tunnel.
  The cyborg cross-referenced the geographical location of the power source of
the solar sphere it was in search of with the map it used its electronic brain
to generate. Its scan of the maze of tunnels below allowed it choose the right
path.
  Cyborg Centaur galloped through one of the many entrances and ran down the
spiralling and winding tunnel.  Down this ramp, it entered a hall of natural
rock formations creating a maze of walls.  Its helmet's visor with the light
pulsing back and forth had increased speed.  The red light left a trail when
traveling to each side.  From Centaur's point of view--it quickly calculated
the location of its coordinates and the location of the solar sphere and had
chosen a path based on this information.
  The arched tunnel walls were backlit by hot lava reflecting from the light
coming in from volcanos above.  Cyborg Centaur was able to turn off its head
lights and proceed through cavern after cavern.  It was able to gallop a bit
faster because Centaur didn't need to refresh the map within its memory that
it generated of the area.
  From its point of view--Cyborg Centaur had a bar graph with a numbers
calculating total distance traveled, distance from current location and
percentage of distance left between itself and the solar sphere.

     In Los Feliz, where the Terranian task force of Astrorangers had made
their residence in Los Angeles on Earth--Dave walked down the stairs into the
living room where Amy was sitting cross-legged on the couch, clutching a pillow
to her chest.
  "I just got off the phone with Ron; Tom is taking him over here.  We're gonna
try and figure out how to try and stop that centaur cyborg.  When it re-appears
on the surface of Jupiter, we'll get him" Dave announced.  "He called to let us
know that Beverly will also be on her way too. Right now, they're being held up
in rush-hour traffic because it's the end of the work day." Dave leaned over to
see Amy's face, checking in case he were talking to himself.  "Amy?"
  Amy moaned.  "Sorry, Dave; I'm a little distracted."
  "I can tell; you wanna tell me about it?" Dave asked.  He sat down beside her
and she looked up at him with red, moist eyes.
  Dave looked sad.  "Aw, Amy...  What's the matter?"
  "I miss Australis," she said through her broken voice.  "He was like...  The
father I never had.  I just can't believe that--I'm never gonna see him again."
  Dave realized the weight of the situation and rubbed her shoulders.  "Hey, it
is going to be all right.  Australis wouldn't want you to grieve so badly."
  "I know," she strained to say.  "It's...  It's just that I," she sniffed.  "I
can't help it.  I never expected it to end this way," she whispered.
  Dave had pulled her close.  "Come'ere."  She held him close and began to cry
into his shoulder.  He held her tight and tried to calm her.


 ACT II:

      Beverly's yellow Geo Metro was parked on the curb in front of the
Terranians' house in the Hollywood Hills.  Tom's black truck was parked
in the driveway in front of the garage.  Inside--Ron and Beverly walked
up to Dave as they entered the living room with King by her side.  Tom,
standing by the front door, said to the others,  "I'll be right back, I
have take care of the truck."  Ron nodded.
  "Okay, Tom," Dave said.  Tom left, shutting the door behind himself.  King
grew restless because the dog sensed that Australis, though invisible, had
walked through the closed door.
  Dave sat down.  "All right, Ron, whadya got?"
  "Well, it isn't much, but it's something," Ron said.  "Remember the strategy
Tortan and Ginara used against us in AstroMan?"
  "Heh!" Dave sneered.  "How can I forget?"
  Ron sat down.  "I think we should use Jupiter's horrid environment against
that centaur cyborg.  I've been talking it over with Tom and we think we can
lead it into a trap."
  "I don't know, Ron," Dave cautioned.  "It appeared to me as if it was the
cyborg that was doing all the leading."
  King started trying to walk around but Beverly tried to calm him down without
any luck.  "(Sit down boy.)  I'm sorry, go on."  Amy walked down the stairs and
listened to Ron go into his plan.  King all of a sudden started barking.
  ``Yes, that's it, King--keep it up!'' Australis said--making King do this by
concentrating on the husky's mind.  "Come on, one of you in here have got to be
feeling my mind!"
  "Beverly, maybe he's trying to tell you something," Ron said.  "It looks like
he's deliberately attempting to gain your attention."
  "Yeah," Dave replied.  Beverly knelt in front of her dog and looked confused.
"I don't know, you guys, he only acts like this when he's trying to indicate to
me that somebody is in trouble.  A friend."  Beverly knew because she'd taken
care of King since he'd been puppy.
  "Where?" Amy asked.
  Beverly looked behind herself at Amy still standing on the stair case and
then back at King.  "I don't know...  Somewhere close."
  "How close?" Ron asked.
  "Not more than a few feet away," Beverly said looking around.  "Somebody else
is in this house."  Amy was desperate and was thinking optimistically.  She had
pressed her fingers up against particular points on her face and closed her
eyes.  ``Australis, can you hear me?  For goodness sakes, please answer if you
can hear this...''  Her transmissions were so strong, even Ron could hear Amy's
thoughts.  Time passed and Dave was bracing himself for Amy's disappointment.
  ``LOTIA!  Can you hear this?!!'' Australis had tried to reply for the dozenth
time.  Amy smiled and responded, ``Yes!!  Are you alive??  Where are you!''
  ``I'm right here but that gun Ginara used on me has made me invisible.  I
think I am alive--I got King to gain your attention so that you'd try and reach
me.'' Australis answered.  ``I need Leto's help so I need to get to the
SpaceBase--I'll follow any of you.''
  Amy opened her eyes and smiled brightly.  "Guys, he's alive!!"
  "Who is??" Beverly asked.
  "WILL!" Amy answered.  Ron was immediately skeptical.
  "He's right here but Ginara's weapon has somehow made him invisible," Amy
answered.
  "Uh wait a minute, Amy," Dave said. "If he were anywhere, we would know about
it.  Even if the Nazitans put Australis another dimension."
She ran down the steps as the front door opened.  At the front door, Tom just 
entering stopped her from running right out the door.  "Hey, where are you
headed?"
  "The base, Tom--Australis is alive!!"
  "What???" Tom asked.  "(Why am I always the last to know about everything?)"
  "Amy, aren't you sure that this isn't just wishful thinking?" Beverly asked.
"It wouldn't be the first time."
  Amy shook her head.  "Trust me, I can't see him either but I heard him talk
to me."
  "There's the small chance that the device that shot JupiterAstro messed up
his GeneGem's escape transport sequence," Ron hypothosized.
  "What?" Tom asked.
  Ron looked at him and tried to explain.  "As you know, everything has a rate
of sub-atomic vibration.  That frequency rate determines what dimension the
matter is in.  If it goes above or below what _this_ world's frequency range
is, it's in another world or dimension."
  "So how would something be ``between'' dimensions?  Wouldn't it just be a sub
dimension or a new dimension all unto itself?" Dave asked.
  "He's probably in between frequency ranges.  Let's say you weren't quite in
one dimension and were sort of in between two.  You would see the world that
you're mostly inside of," Ron corrected.  "But, you couldn't be seen or heard
and have an EXTREMELY small effect in that world you're half-way occupying."
  "So basically, they would be a ghost," Beverly said.  "That is amazing."
  Dave stood up and nodded.  "All right, this is worth a look.  I can't believe
we didn't figure this out sooner."
  Ron stood up too and looked at everybody. "We have to hurry up and figure out
if he's actually somehow stuck between dimension and if so, how to get him back
because he can't stay like this forever.  His sub-atomic vibrational frequncy
will just simply stop, canceling the energy that makes up his atomic
structure."
  "Then he'd really be dead," Dave replied.  "Can't let that happen--let's go."
  Tom watched Amy, Dave and Ron run outside.  "But we just came from the base!"
  Beverly glared at him.  "Thomas!"  Beverly proceeded out the door.
  "All right, all right," Tom said as he left behind her. 

     Beneath the surface of Pluto, the headquarters of the Nazitans stationed
at this outpost--Adol stood up to greet Pleadia and stepped forth.  "Report."
  "Sire, Cyborg Centaur has successfully located the Jupiter Solar Sphere and
is returning to the surface to be brought to the Uranus orbiting station."
  Adol nodded.  "Good.  Tortan!"  The samurai-armored warrior soon stepped out
of the shadows and then stood still.
  "Board the interdimensional transporter and re-visit Jupiter's twelfth
dimension.  You must ensure Cyborg Centaur's safe return to the space station
orbiting Uranus."
  Tortan nodded. "Yes, Adol the Great."  He marched out of the primary chamber.

    Aboard the SpaceBase orbiting the moon--Lotia walked in, leading the others
into the space station.  Commander Leto turned around in surprised.  "Sheratan,
what are all of you doing here?" Sheratan inhaled to speak but was interrupted.
  "Commander, Australis is alive," Lotia said.  "Beverly, transform--we'll need
your PortaSensor." Beverly brought up her right fist but Nashiran stopped her.
  "Wait a minute, Lotia--what proof do you have?" Commander Leto asked.  "We've
checked everywhere; he is no where to be found."
  "That's because we're not looking in the right places," Lotia insisted.  "Can
you help?"
  Messuta rubbed his chin. "Supposedly he is invisible and able to pass himself
through matter, correct?"
  Amy paused while her eyes were closed.  "He says yes."
  "(Incredible.)," Beverly whispered from continued amazement.
  Messuta paced while he spoke outloud, "Now let me think."
  Australis sighed.  ``Come on, Messuta--you can figure this out!''
  "There is only way he could be in our dimension but be invisible and be able
to pass through matter," Messuta theorized.  "The refresh rate of his atomic
structure must be fractionally faster than the frequency rate we're all in."
  "So what are you saying?" Nashiran asked.
  Messuta approached the console on the right wall of the primary chamber.  "It
could be that Australis is not entirely within another dimension as we had all
thought.  If he is between subatomic vibrational barriers, his matter would not
be fully present."
  "Like how Terrania is separate from Earth?" Beverly asked.  "You guys
mentioned something about subatomic vibration frequencies separating different
levels of the universe."
  Commander Leto nodded.  "It is possible, but how did he end up here, near our
dimension and on Earth?"
  "Ginara gun had malfunctioned when she shot Australis," Lotia said.  "Perhaps
that is what phase shifted Australis out of place but something went wrong."
  Sheratan nodded.  "That's right!  Perhaps his Genesis gem stone tried to save
Australis by taking him back to a default location where he'd be found easily."
  "Earth?" Nashiran asked.  "In our dimension?"
  "Of course," Messuta said.  "It was probably a fail safe built into the ring.
In case the transition to higher dimensional levels failed, Australis would be
taken to Earth. Here, Australis wouldn't be reported missing to the police and
we could all find him."
  "How do we bring him back?" Lotia asked.
  Commander Leto pondered that.  "I think we can use the PortaSensor's scanner
modual to re-program the computer to look in unorthodox frequency ranges."
  "But can we bring him back?" Nashiran asked.  "We may find him but..."
  Leto nodded.  "Yes, yes I know...  I might be able to slow down his vibration
frequency but.. I'd have to do it manually because the computer can only handle
levels in whole blocks--nothing half way between both dimensions."
  "But first we need to find him," Messuta said.  "Beverly, we'll need the
PortaSensor."  Beverly nodded and brought up her fist but stopped herself.
  "You're sure about this," she tried to verify.  He nodded.
  "All right...  ChangeForm!" she shouted.  "AstroCharge!"  The shadows against
the wall revealed a seventh person against the wall when the brilliant flash of
light came from Beverly's transformation.  Beverly stood inside of her yellow,
shiny Astroranger uniform.  "Okay here," EarthAstro said, giving Commander Leto
the PortaSensor.  Suddenly, an alarm sounded and she looked around alertly.
  "What's that?" Sheratan asked.
  Nashiran looked on the main screen. "The computer finally found the cyborg we
fought on Jupiter. Messuta engaged the sensor sweep while you and Lotia were on
on Earth which is what held us up for so long."  Sheratan nodded.
  "Come on, we better go," Messuta said.  "Commander Leto, if Australis returns
to us, have CommandShuttle set up and ready to go."
  "I'll do everything I can."  Leto gave EarthAstro back her PortaSensor.
  EarthAstro put it back in the holster on her right hip.  "I hope this works."
  Sheratan nodded.  "Me too, Beverly...  Everybody ready?"  Messuta nodded.
  "Good...  ChangeForm!" he shouted; they had all brought up their right fists.
"AstroCharge!"  Within a brilliant flash of white light--they had disappeared.
Invisible Australis stepped in their place and sighed.  ``You are second in
command for now, Nashiran.  Help Sheratan.''

     On Jupiter, in the twelfth dimension, EarthAstro had lead the team into
the dark cave at the foot of a mountain leading into the depths of the planet.
  "Where to, Beverly?" MarsAstro asked.
  EarthAstro shook her head.  "It's amazing.  There is an underground maze of
tunnels, all seemingly created by past lava flows according to the PortaSensor.
We need to take very specific routes to reach Cyborg Centaur."
  "We're going to need our HydroCycles if we expect to do any damage,"
MercuryAstro warned.  "Should we get them now?"
  "Not yet--we can't let it know we're coming," SaturnAstro cautioned.  "The
cyborg would hear our engines echoing through the caverns very easily."
  "You're right," MercuryAstro said.  "Lotia, Sheratan and I are going to try
and hold off Cyborg Centaur; it will be up to you to get the Solar Sphere.  You
will have to cover her, Nashiran."
  "Okay," VenusAstro replied.  SaturnAstro also nodded.
  EarthAstro looked up.  "This way."  The five of them moved on.
      The galloping sound of the centaur echoed through the caverns far beneath
the surface of Jupiter. In the cyborg's hand was the green glowing solar sphere
which lit Cyborg Centaur's way through the tunnels.
  The yellow, red, black, white and pink Astrorangers had looked around in the
naturally formulated tunnels.  VenusAstro gasped.  "It's really hot in here."
  "Yeah I know," EarthAstro replied.  "Uh oh!!"  MarsAstro looked at her.
  "What?  What is it?" SaturnAstro asked.
  EarthAstro looked up.  "That solar sphere is coming at us at 45 miles per
hour and closing!"
  "Draw your weapons!" MarsAstro said. "When you see the cyborg, fire at will."
The sound of the creature galloping forth grew louder as it came closer...

     Aboard the SpaceBase--Commander Leto stood at the primary console that
stretched the entire length of the primary viewer.  "I hope this works..."  He
typed one final command into the station as the entire deck's lights shut
almost completely off.  Suddenly there was a three-dimensional shaped grid of
red laser beams that had drawn themselves all over the deck.
  Commander Leto had invoked commands to cause the computer to scan for the
designated programmed frequencies and reset this matter back to the subatomic
vibration of our dimension's frequency.  A thin white beam of light descending
from the ceiling had come down to the floor.  It began to rise again leaving
nothing behind.
  "Come one, one more time!" Leto said.  "I gotta shut this down soon!"  The
light, running the length of all four walls came down again.  It ascended again
and again, nobody re-appeared.
  "I don't get it!  He should be back," Leto said to himself. "I hope he hasn't
drifted up the dimensional scale--he'd be lost for ever." The scanning repeated
many times.  Leto sighed and was about to shut it off.  Just then, the red grid
was interrupted by a second person and an alarm had sounded. Leto was surprised
so he turned off the manipulator and restored the lights.  He slowly turned his
head around, he saw Australis standing there who looked behind himself at Leto.
  "Do you see me?" Australis asked.
  "You _are_ alive," Leto gasped.  "You're alive!!"
  Australis smiled brightly.  "I can't believe it, you can see me!  Oh man I'm
glad that this is over!!"  He shed a tear of happiness as he hugged Leto
tightly.  Suddenly another, more urgent sounding alarm had sounded and
Australis looked up with concern.  "What's going on" Australis asked.
  Leto nodded.  "Business as usual.  You'll figure out what's happening when
you get there. Australis--you've got the only weapon that may be able to do any
damage to this creature."
  He nodded.  "I'm ready to go..."  Australis brought up his right fist but he
was stopped by Leto.  Australis looked at him waiting for him to speak.
  "I'm glad you're still alive--we've needed you here," Commander Leto said.
  Australis smiled. "AstroCharge!"  Within a flash of light, he was onboard the
green CommandShuttle, flying away from the moon and took off into deep space.

     Underneath the surface of Jupiter--the five Astrorangers were forced to
stand behind the walls of the underground maze while Cyborg Centaur fired shots
from his bow.  Centaur was able to fire multiple arrows at once to keep them at
bay.  Sparks exploded everywhere while the Astroranger task force attempted to
shoot at the centaur with their Moleculatom Daggers but were unsuccessful while
trying to get at the cyborg.
  The green Astroranger had ran down the valley towards the cave where the team
was detained by Cyborg Centaur however, JupiterAstro was stopped by Tortan.  He
stood there, holding his sword up.
  JupiterAstro assumed his battle pose.  "It wouldn't have been true to life if
you weren't here to get in my way, Tortan."
  Tortan walked towards the green Astroranger.  "You should have stayed dead,
Astroranger!"
  "You wanted us to believe I was but," JupiterAstro declared, "it will take a
hell of a lot more than a fancy gun to do away with an Astroranger."
JupiterAstro pointed at Tortan and said, "Remember that!"
  "We came close, green Astroranger," Tortan stopped to say.  "And now _I_ will
come closer!"  Tortan charged after JupiterAstro.  The green Astroranger took
the Moleculatom dagger from his belt's holster and also attacked Tortan.
  They met in the desert valley and JupiterAstro jumped over Tortan's swinging
sword and tumbled over.
     JupiterAstro got up and blocked Tortan's sword with his dagger,
turned around and kicked his blade off target.  The green Astroranger
struck down against Tortan's body armor causing sparks to break out.
  He attempted to strike sideways but Tortan's blade blocked his dagger.
  Tortan knocked JupiterAstro's dagger blade upwards and sliced agains
this uniform as the sparks knocked the green Astroranger off of his feet.
   The shooting continued inside of the glowing brown cavern of the hot tunnels
beneath the surface of Jupiter.  A yellow ray followed by an electric blue beam
of light hit a tunnel wall holding back a flow of lava.  This section began to
crack and give way as it had been hit many times.
  "Hold your fire!" MarsAstro shouted.  "Bev--what the hell is that!!"  Centaur
started running out of there in a big hurry when a glowing flow of burning
liquid rock headed their way.
  "Lava!!" VenusAstro shouted.
  SaturnAstro looked at EarthAstro.  "Where did _that_ come from?!"
EarthAstro looked at her PortaSensor and then put it away.  "They must have
been stored in the tunnels not yet drained by the volcano!"
  "Never mind that, let's just get the hell out of here!" MercuryAstro shouted.
"Come on!"  The five of them got together and started to run.  Meanwhile, an
ocean of extremely hot molton rock flowed their way at an enormous speed.  The
pressure of it being held behind the rock walls caused it to flow so fast.
  "We're not gonna make it!!" EarthAstro shouted.
     Meanwhile, JupiterAstro's shoulder took Tortan's sword and his uniform had
sparked when the blade was dragged back.  Tortan struck across JupiterAstro's
green uniform and he fell from the second blow.  Suddenly an earthquake stopped
Tortan's approach as that region became geologically unstable yet again.
     Like a dam burst, the flow of lava came forth through the tunnels.  A rock
slide, caused by the quake, sealed off the cave; the closest and only available
escape into the valley above.  The Astroranger battle team came up to the wall;
some of them kicked and punched while others tried digging through the rock.
  "Oh no!  We're trapped in here," EarthAstro had shouted in a panic.  "We're
gonna get killed by the flow of..."
  "Yeah, I know," MercuryAstro said while adjusting his Moleculatom weapon.
"Stand back."  Everybody did, including himself as he'd opened fire.  Sparks
shout out of the wall of rock as he'd chipped away at the wall of stone but was
unable to break through fast enough.
  "Hurry!" MarsAstro urged.  "We're about to be burnt to a crisp!!"
  MercuryAstro kept on firing, disintegrating sections of rock.  "I'm going
as fast as I can!"
  "Come on everybody--full power!" SaturnAstro said.  They'd all fired their
weapons at the wall in a continuous stream all concentrating on one spot.  And,
meanwhile, the lava mercilessly poured forth.
     Tortan kicked JupiterAstro into flipping through the air and landing on
the ground to roll over.  "Now I'm going to dispose of you just like my mate
had done before!"  JupiterAstro watched Tortan walk forth with his sword ready
to dismember him. The ground began to shake when a rumbling noise had grew out
of the sound of the turbulant wind on the surface of the planet.
  Tortan looked up at the volcano's base. "What was that?" Behind JupiterAstro,
the entire side of the mountain had exploded, casting rocks into the sky.
  "Oh no!" Rocks raining on Tortan's armor caused it to burst of many sparks in
random areas.  Eventually, he was knocked down from being stoned by the debris.
  JupiterAstro stood up when the smoke cleared and saw the Astrorangers running
away from the opening of the mountain as they were being chased by the lava. He
ran up hill as well.
  "Better follow their lead!" JupiterAstro said to himself.  "Alioop!"  He'd
leaped into the air.  In midair, he'd somersaulted through the red tinted sky.
  Upon a cliff where JupiterAstro had landed to avoid the lava, the others had
joined him.  "Where did the cyborg go?" JupiterAstro asked.
  "He must have escaped before the earthquake caused the tunnel to cave in,"
MarsAstro replied.  "Wait a minute.  Who are you!?!"
  JupiterAstro looked at him.  "Australis Mokusei at your service."
  "My goodness!" MarsAstro exclaimed.  "It's you!  I don't believe it!  You're
alive!" He looked at the him, in the flesh.  "Man!  It's been hell!"
  "Hey, Aus!!  Glad to have you back!" SaturnAstro replied.  "Please don't ever
leave us again."  Nodding, JupiterAstro knew he'd felt the brunt of what's like
to be second in command.
  MercuryAstro came up to JupiterAstro and bowed.  "Welcome back."  VenusAstro
walked next to the green Astroranger after MercuryAstro stepped away and hugged
him tightly.  "I've missed you!"
  He hugged the pink Astroranger back before looking down into the black visor
on her helmet.  "I've missed you all as well."
  EarthAstro watched them hold each other when suddenly Cyborg Centaur and
Tortan had reappeared.  "Tortan!!"  VenusAstro gasped because she saw him
holding the green solar sphere.
  "Cyborg Centaur, ram them into the lava!" Tortan commanded.  "Do it now!!"
  JupiterAstro looked at EarthAstro.  "Have you ever ridden a horse as a cop?"
  EarthAstro nodded.  "When I used to work downtown L.A."
  "Good, then I've got a plan," JupiterAstro replied.  "CommandShuttle!  Deploy
green HydroCycle!  Okay, Beverly--go for it."
  EarthAstro nodded and clenched her fist.  "Here I go!" she said before
jumping into the air.
  In midair, the shiny yellow Astroranger had triple-somersaulted through the
sky.  On the back of the cyborg, she'd rode Cyborg Centaur charging after the
team.  "Come on!" she'd shouted when pulling its neck back.  It started jumping
as before, trying to throw EarthAstro off.
  "Woah!!  Just like a rodeo!" she shouted as the others watched anxiously.
  Tortan nodded and grinned.  "While they waste their time with this cyborg, I
will retreat with the Solar Sphere."  He'd walked backwards out of sight.
  JupiterAstro was driving his green motorcycle up the ledge above the lava
in the valley below that had poured out of the cave.  "Beverly, try to get this
thing near the cliff and jump!"
  "Easier said that done!" EarthAstro replied.  She jumped up onto her feet and
flipped off the back of the centaur.
  "Celestial Weapon," JupiterAstro shouted.  "Jupiter ThunderBow!"  Up on a
naturally made road on the mountain, the green Astroranger had drove his bike
while holding his bow.  Cyborg Centaur had left the ledge and galloped down the
narrow cliff holding its bow as well.
  "Australis," EarthAstro shouted, "be careful!"
  JupiterAstro pulled back the bowstring causing an arrow to materialize in his
bow; Cyborg Centaur did the exact same thing.  Traveling towards each other at
great speed, JupiterAstro had fired his arrow.  Cyborg Centaur had also let go
of its bow, causing its arrow to zip forth as well.
  The green arrow coursed through the air to the right; the black arrow shot in
the opposite direction.  Both meeting, sparks burst out of the green arrow when
the black arrow penetrated it.  The smoking two halves of the green arrow hit
the ground. Meanwhile, the black arrow had caused sparks to burst from the road
blowing JupiterAstro and his green HydroCycle off the side of the mountain.
  "Australis!!" VenusAstro shouted.  JupiterAstro free fell over the cliff.
Eventually, the green Astroranger used his hands to catch onto rocks lodged in
the side of the mountain.  SaturnAstro ran down the road and leaped down the
side of the mountain to lay on a lower ledge and hold out his hand.  "Take my
hand, Aus!"  The green Astroranger reached upwards to the white gloved hand of
SaturnAstro.  JupiterAstro held onto the black Astroranger's hand tightly and
he tried pulling him up.
  Suddenly--more sparks began to explode around SaturnAstro from Cyborg Centaur
firing more arrows.  It had returned to finish the job.
  "Astrorangers, attack!" MarsAstro had ordered.  He as well as the white, pink
and yellow Astrorangers had opened up four beams of electricity from their hand
held weapons.  The centaur came charging forth when bright light flashed from
all of the sparks exploding from the its armor.
  Meanwhile, SaturnAstro had pulled JupiterAstro up.  "Thanks, Nash."
  "Hey, Aus, I'm never gonna let you disappear again!" SaturnAstro replied.
"Now go get 'em, ranger."  JupiterAstro nodded and got up.
Lightning cracked and clouds rolled rapidly upward while JupiterAstro put out
his ThunderBow.  "Celestial ThunderBow!"  JupiterAstro pointed his fist into
the air.  "Cosmic Arrow!" JupiterAstro shouted when a green beam of light
materialized into a glowing arrow within his fist.
  Cyborg Centaur shot an arrow at the green Astroranger in a last attempt at
defeating him.  JupiterAstro had jumped into the air over the blast of sparks.
In the sky, the cloud of smoke had followed him as he shot his glowing arrow
from the ThunderBow.
  Sparks had burst out of Cyborg Centaur's chest and and out of its back as
well when the arrow had cored its body.
  JupiterAstro landed on his two boots while he watched through his black visor
the cyborg stumbling off the cliff.
  Its body dropped into the valley where it had burst into flames when hitting
the lava below.
  MarsAstro stood on the cliff as the others came up to him from behind.  "Man,
I thought we weren't ever going to get out of this situation.  What happened to
the Solar Sphere?"
  VenusAstro looked around.  "Tortan must have left with it while we were
dealing with Cyborg Centaur."  JupiterAstro exhaled with minor frustration.
  "Hey, take it easy, Aus," SaturnAstro said.  "At least we still have you."
  "Yeah," EarthAstro added.  "We'll get all the Solar Spheres away from the
Nazitans somehow."
  MercuryAstro nodded.  "This situation is far from over.  We'll get another
chance."
  "You're right," JupiterAstro agreed.  "Come on, let's go."

     In Los Feliz, the Terranians' house, in the Hollywood Hills had one of its
two front windows illuminted by light inside. In that room, Ron sat at a mixing
console next to Tom at his Kurzweil electronic piano in the study.
  In the living room, Amy had pulled Dave into the study by his hand. "Come on,
Dave--you wont be out of shape if you come check something out for a second."
  Dave had noticed she were scantily dressed.  "Okay, but if this is more of
you know what, I'm gonna have to take a rain check."
  Amy had finally brought him into the study.  "No, Dave..."
  "No, honestly--you're wearin' me out," Dave grinned.  Tom and Ron exchanged
looks.
  Amy smiled, "Shut up and sit down."  Dave sat on the couch and Amy had sat on
the arm rest next to him.  "Okay, we're ready."  Ron pushed up a fader on the
board he operated while watching VU meters display the level on Tom's playing.
Meanwhile, he played his keyboard beginning the song and started to sing:
   Night after night.  The trying days as they passed.
   Side by side, you fight.  Fulfilling your task.

   Your welfare her concern, a new feeling came--she's yet to learn.
   A fire burning strong.  She wants to feel it with you.
   She's realized your fate.  And it has been there, all this time.

   Suddenly so strong--her love for you.
   A passion that's now so strong, silently grew.
   Suddenly so strong, while you defended our home,
   She came to realize that you were meant--for each other--to be one.
Dave looked at Amy who gazed at him first and smiled.  As the song closed, she
had mouthed the words, 'I love you.' to him.  Tom took his hands off the
keyboard and stood up.  Ron switched off the master power and left the room
with Tom.  Amy watched them lock the door from the inside and close it on their
way out.  She turned around and looked at Dave.
  "Amy, you amaze me," Dave said.
  Amy had slid off the arm rest and onto the couch next to Dave.  "I do?"
  Dave nodded.  "Yeah, how you arranged all this."
  "I've yet to amaze you," she said with a grin.  "Move over."  Dave did so and
she reached behind his head where the light switch was and turned it off.  "You
should enjoy this, I hope.  I know I will."  Dave exhaled slowly while a black
silhouette of Amy showed her turning to him and began to disrobe.              


                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    


Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . .

Tom's friendship with Sara escalate when they attend a costume party at Sara's
parent's house.  Meanwhile, Cyborg Miira crashes the party before it even
happens in Episode 37: "Mummified".

[624]
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Unauthorized duplication,  distribution  or  exhibition  may  result  in  civil
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Artist Bros. Music and Dairenn Lombard.  All Rights Reserved.  Country Of First
Publication: United States of America.  Artist Brothers and Dairenn Lombard are
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story are fictional.  Any  similarity to  actual  persons,  living or dead,  is
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and Ishimori Productions.                                               [TV-PG]
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