[970815]
                                                                      [Preview]
Halloween...the demented celebration of the undead comes to life with the most
outstanding costume belonging to Cyborg Miira.  Tom saves Sara from its horror
but will VenusAstro be so lucky?  In Episode #37, "Mummified!!"

                                                                  [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:

     At the Los Feliz home in the Hollywood Hills, Tom entered the front
door holding a hanger that carried some clothing in a plastic bag.  Will
sat on the couch reading the newspaper when he saw Tom trying to walk up
the stairs unnoticed.  "Hey, Tom."
  "Hello, William," Tom said watching Will walked up to him.
  Will smiled and put his hand in his slack's pocket.  "What's that?"
  "What do you think it is?" Tom replied.  Will just stood there grinning at
him so he sighed.  "It's a costume.  Sara invited me to join her in going to
this Halloween Party at her friend's house in the Park La Brea area."
  "Ah that's not too far from here," Will mentioned.  "Any particular reason
you agreed to this?"
  Tom rolled his eyes.  "Uh, I wanted to go?"
  "Heh, Tom--you don't like people, last time I checked," Will reminded.  "You
wouldn't happen to be an imposter would you?"
  Tom grinned.  "Sarcasm doesn't suit you as well as it does on Dave."
  "Interesting you should mention Dave," Will said.  "Would I be so wrong in
supposing this unusual relationship you have with..."
  "...Sara," Tom sighed.
  "...yes, Sara--is, perhaps, the result of a sort of competition?"
  Tom squinted.  "What?"
  "There's a saying here on Earth:  ``Keeping up with the joneses'' I think it
is," Will said to Tom.
  "What's that supposed to mean?" Tom asked.
  Will shrugged.  "Maybe you're feel inadequate from seeing Dave have a romance
with Amy so..."
  "Nope--not true.  I already have a wife, remember?  Daria, the one who will
be baring my first child next March?" Tom reminded.  "Well, anyway, I've got to
get ready."
  "All right, Tom..." Will replied.  He watched him walk up the steps and
quietly wondered if he'd been denying the inevitable.  Or, if he were just
accepting life on Earth just a little bit more than he used to.


                                  Episode 37:
                                 "Mummified!!"                                

     Underneath the surface of Pluto, within the chambers of the Nazitan
outpost--Igan wandered into Pleadia's workshop and watched him set up some kind
of energy receiver.  "Pleadia, forgive the intrusion.  Adol the Great has
requested that I inquire about the delay of your reporting."
  Pleadia nodded and sat down again to go back to typing at his workstation.
"Back when we had cyborgs recovering earthlings, several of those recovered
were so severely injured from resistance that they were unusable."
  Igan stared at him blankly.  "So what does that have to do with anything?"
  "I was able to recover one of them but not without a great deal of heavy
reconstruction but this will pay off," Pleadia said. "Cyborg Miira is what they
call on Earth a Mummy."
  Igan looked frustrated from all this confusing nonsense.  "What is that?"
  "In our case, a zombie that used to be dead and bound in bandages brought to
life again," Pleadia told him.  "I don't think the kind on Earth did anything
but it was still frightening nonetheless."
  "So why do you want such an attention grabbing cyborg like that?" Igan asked.
"Miira doesn't seem like a disposable creature."
  "I didn't spend quite that much time on its development but it's still pretty
powerful," Pleadia answered.  "It's entire body acts as a shock absorber while
special fibers enable it to drain the energy of anything it makes lengthy
contact with."
  "Such as the Astrorangers.  Pleadia--need I remind you, you did this before."
  Pleadia stood up and looked at him.  "Sure.  But this time, while that's
happening, Ginara will be trying to get the martian solar sphere."
  "Good point," Igan replied.
  "Yes, you see...  Unlike previous cyborgs, this one wont leave them around
long enough to be able to be able to stop its advances."
  "I will tell Adol about this right away," Igan said.  He'd walked away as
Pleadia brought the cybo-egg about to be hatched into Cyborg Miira to the silo.

     At about four o'clock that Halloween, Dave had barely made it before
closing time at the bank where he'd worked. They were open on some holidays but
not for very long. Getting out of his red car, he closed the door and walked up
the steps. Looking at the ATMs, he'd noticed they were out of order and groaned
while moving inside.
  "Hrm, I wonder where the daytime guard is?" Dave asked.  "Not that I care."
After all, this was the dork who wasn't here when I got shot by those robbers,
Dave thought to himself.  Nature was calling so he wondered over to the
restrooms and entered the men's facilities.
  Inside, his partner was there at one of the mini-stalls.  "Hey, Dave!  What
are you doing here?"
  Dave glared at him.  "What does it look like?"
  He laughed.  "No I mean, what are you doing at the bank.  It's your day off!"
  "I had to make withdraw and since the ATMs don't work, I'm in here," Dave
explained.  "Anyway, can we talk later?  This really isn't the ideal location
for idle chit chat."
  "Yeah yeah, sure sure," he said in his thick New Yorkian accent.  "I'll catch
you later, okay?"
  "Yeah sure," Dave mockingly replied.  After the guard left, he shook his head
and mumbled, "Idiot."  Suddenly his pager began to beep, the numerical code
indicating for him to visit the SpaceBase.
  "Better go," Dave said after silencing his device.

     The Metro Bus line 16 left the corner of La Brea Avenue, continuing down
3rd street leaving Tom behind on the corner.  Wearing a tuxedo with a cape, top
hat and a mask, he walked northbound on La Brea towards 2nd where he would meet
Sara as planned.  She was standing there in a cat suit in the dark blue evening
light; Sara saw him approaching when he passed one of the dimly lit street
lights, just beginning to come to life.
  "I haven't kept you waiting, have I?" Tom asked. "The bus was a little late."
  Sara shook her head and smiled.  "No.  Like my costume?"  It was a black
leather outfit with a cat motif.
  "It is form fitting," Tom observed.  "Who are you supposed to be?"
  "A cat woman," Sara said as they began to walk west on 2nd Street.  "You?"
  Tom looked at himself then at her.  "Nobody, really.  I just saw this and
decided to get it."
  "Debbie's house is another block north and another half block to the west,"
Sara indicated.  Kids walked by in halloween costumes to a house for candy.
  "There sure aren't a whole lot of people out besides kids," Tom said.  "Must
be a slow night."
  Sara chuckled nervously.  "Yeah, it's nice."
  "How come you didn't want me to pick you up in my truck?" Tom asked.
  "There isn't a whole lot of space to park in," Sara answered.  She smiled and
looked at him.  "So I figured you could save the gas and come walk with me."
Sara noticed Tom was walking a bit fast.  "No need to rush; I'd like to let the
party get started before we show up."
  Tom slowed down.  "Expecting a number of guests?"
  Sara took a deep breath.  "Well, actually, I thought that we could enjoy the
evening before we got all mixed up with everybody."  Tom felt Sara was nervous,
but for some unknown reason.
  Suddenly, she stopped walking.  "Tom, can we stop a minute..."  He did stop
to look at her.  Tom was curious to know what was on her mind anyway.
  "There's something I wanted to do."
  "What's that?"  Sara put her hands on his shoulders but suddenly, a manhole
cover twisted got pushed up and over onto the street startling the two.  Tom's
eyes grew tight, noticing his onyx GeneGem was beginning to glow.  "Stay behind
me."  Crawling out of the hole in the roadway was a mummy; Sara gasped in
fright and Tom held onto her.
  "How do they keep finding us?" Tom asked himself.  "Sara," he said giving her
a card.  "Call this number if something should happen to me, okay?"
  "What?  No...  I," Sara said in a panic.
  "Please--do it," Tom ordered.  Cyborg Miira picked up the manhole cover and
tossed it at them.  Tom took Sara with him as he dodged the metal; he could've
kicked it back but he didn't want to show his non-human strength. When they hit
the ground, Tom got off of Sara.  "Are you okay?"
  "Yeah, I think," Sara answered.  "Tom--what is that thing?"
  "I've got some ideas," Tom said while getting up.  Miira made a slow approach
when Tom leaped in.  "Take it easy, big fella."  The mummy just knocked Tom
across the face.
  His body went flying backwards through the near night sky.  Garbage cans and
bags broke Tom's fall and Sara flinched from the crash.
  He got up and dusted himself off.  "Okay.  So much for talking my way out of
this," so he came charging after the cyborg.
  Cyborg Miira put its big arms on Tom's shoulders but he pushed them off and
punched him in the abs.  Dust had risen from the white bandages that sealed its
entire body but it knocked Tom's arm away.  His abs were jabbed by a powerful
punch and, putting its two fists together, hammer-punched Tom's back.
  Tom looked up and saw its foot trying to step on him.  He rolled over and
heard the thunderous stomp behind his head.  He got up and and kicked it's
chest in.
  The mummy stood perfectly still like a brick wall and then picked him up and
threw him backwards into the air again.  Tom's legs cycled freely as he, again,
flew through the sky.
  He hit the sidewalk and rolled over again; Sara came to his side and tried to
help him stand up.  "Tom!  Tom, are you all right?"
  "Sara--you've got to get out of here," Tom ordered.  "That thing is going to
do some serious damage.  This thing is major and I..."
  "I'm not leaving you Tom," Sara cried out.  "We'll get help, don't worry."
Cyborg Miira approached yet again; Tom stood up came after the mummy yet again.
He spin-kicked its face, blocked a punch and punched its stomach again but like
a wall, it did not move.  Miira put its fists together and whacked Tom across
the face knocking him into flipping over and rolling up against the curb.  This
was beginning to be more than he could handle as he'd wiped the blood from his
bruised lip.  "Got to hang in there until the others come!"  Tom tried standing
again but he was really hurt.

    That evening at the house in the Hollywood Hills--Ron closed the front door
behind himself while looking around.  "Is anybody home?"
  "Ron?" Amy called from upstairs.
  Ron walked up to the base of the staircase and looked up.  "Amy?  Where is
everybody?"
  She walked down the stairs in a robe.  "Um, Dave's at the bank getting some
cash; I don't know where Will is.  I was about to take a bath.  Oh!  Tom caught
the bus somewhere..."
  "Okay never mind," Ron interrupted.  "Aaron called and said that Tom is being
seriously beaten down by some cyborg that looks like a mummy."
  "A mummy?" Amy asked.  "Oh oh, you mean those things in those horror films?"
  Ron nodded.  "Search me how they figured out how to make one of 'em but it
looks like the Nazitans know more about this place than I thought."
  "It shouldn't be a surprise," Amy said. "I figure they've learned a lot about
this place after having snatched as many people as they have."
  "Yeah, the population of this city must be one third of what it used to be,
by now," Ron pondered.  "Anyway--let's move."

     The sun had set, leaving behind the orange glow from the horizon.  Tom had
ducked a swinging punch, pointed its fingers and struck specific targets on the
mummy's body.  Frighteningly enough, the attack had no effect on Cyborg Miira.
It blocked Tom's kick and his punch; Miira used Tom's fist to pull him into
tumbling over.
  Cyborg Miira turned around and looked at Sara standing against the fence; she
looked from side to side in planning her escape.  Without warning, Miira opened
its mouth, producing a stream of white tape. Sara's midriff section began to be
tied up by bandages while she pulled back.
  Tom pulled himself up off the street and looked at what was going on.  "No!!"
Like LED lights, Cyborg Miira's eyes glowed red when suddenly a pulsing glow of
yellow began to emanate from the bandages that linked itself to Sara's body.
  "Tom, what's happening!" she called out.  Tom got up and ran after the mummy
from behind.  He wrapped his arms around its neck but it took his arms and
pulled him over its own shoulders.  Tom was thrown into the ground again while
Sara was losing strength.  Cyborg Miira was growing more powerful from Sara's
energy.  Eventually she lost consciousness and Tom tried to get close to her.
  In the night sky, the white and pink Astrorangers had somersaulted overhead
and out of sight in criss-cross formation.
  VenusAstro had flipped over and struck down with her Moleculatom Dagger; the
bandage was cut by sparks bursting from the silver blade slicing through.  Sara
began to wake up.
  MercuryAstro helped Tom to stand.  "We got here as fast as we could."
  "Where are the others?" Tom asked.
  "They could be busy with another situation," the white Astroranger replied.
"Think you can get her out of here?"  Tom nodded.
  "Messuta!" VenusAstro called out; Cyborg Miira began to approach the two
Astrorangers.
  "This thing isn't a cyborg to be trifled with," Tom warned.  "Good luck."
Sara tried standing up while Tom helped her saying, "Come on--let's go."  She
nodded and began to run off with him.
  Before the night sky, the Astroranger battle team had assumed their battle
positions.  "Galaxy Task Force," the two of them announced, "ASTRORANGER."
  Cyborg Miira pulled out a strip of bandages from off its body and made it
into a whip.
  "Moleculatom weapons!" MercuryAstro shouted. "Dagger mode!"  The both of them
ran ahead.
     MercuryAstro swung down and Miira knocked his arm down and flipped
the white Astroranger over the process.
  VenusAstro came in and high spin-kicked across its face but there was
no effect as it whipped her uniform.  The burst of sparks knocked the
pink skirted Astroranger down when MercuryAstro came back to slice
passed its flank.
  Sparks broke out of its body but Cyborg Miira never budged when he
kicked him into the black asphalt and caused him to roll over.
     VenusAstro blocked both Miira's arms with the Liberty Scales
position and upper-cut punched its abs.
  No effect became of her attack when she cut against its chest as well.
  When the smoke from the sparks cleared she was also knocked across
the helmet by its fist.
     VenusAstro hit the pavement and rolled over a number of times.  "This guy
is tough, Messuta."
  "No kidding," MercuryAstro replied.  "We'll try to get him at the same time
when it attacks again, Lotia."  She nodded and prepared for its next challenge.
  Cyborg Miira stepped forth and then shot dart-shaped bolts of light
out of its eyes.
  Sparks had exploded everywhere but MercuryAstro leaped through the
cloud of white smoke, tumbled over and then jumped into the air.
  "Hermes Winged Ankles!" MercuryAstro announced in the sky.
"Foot-Punches!"  In the midair, he kicked Cyborg Miira's chest twice
from each foot alternately.  MercuryAstro back flipped and assumed his
crescent arm-position upon landing but noticed it never moved.
  Cyborg Miira promptly punched the white Astroranger across the helmet.
MercuryAstro hit the side of a wall and dropped onto the sidewalk.
  VenusAstro looked over at him and then at the cyborg again when
bringing up her right fist.  "Venus V-Tackle!" she shouted when
leaping into the air.
  In the sky, she flipped over with her legs apart.  The pink
Astroranger wrapped her white boot covered ankles around the mummy's neck.
  Standing on her hands, the pink Astroranger pulled it over herself
and hurled it into the air.
  Giant Cyborg Miira was coasting through the sky while VenusAstro
stood up again.  Cyborg Miira crashed through crash cans on the curb.
  MercuryAstro came up to VenusAstro as she crossed her arms.  "Good work.  Now
we can get rid of this thing and find out where the others are."  She nodded.
Cyborg Miira stood up against while pulling tightly at the ends of its whip. It
then lashed out with the white tape.
  MercuryAstro's cushioned neck was tied up by the whip's end and Miira had
pulled back on the rope.
  The white Astroranger had flown over Miira's head and hit the ground; it
turned around to see VenusAstro falling in with a flying sidekick.
  Her foot knocked Cyborg Miira into tumbling over.  It stood up again, put its
fists in front of its mouth and took them away again.  A stream of white tape
had once again sprung from its oral cavity.
  VenusAstro found her ankles being tied up by the bandages that wrapped
themselves around her shins, knees and thighs.
  "Oogh!" she fussed.  "Stop!!"  Cyborg Miira continued to spew forth its super
strong tape. Meanwhile, MercuryAstro was slowly coming to, but--it was too late
as VenusAstro's arms were pinned to her body at the elbows.
  "Messuta help!!" she shouted.  "Messuta!"  The tape began to glow again, more
strongly now as Cyborg Miira drew from her intense energy output.  MercuryAstro
pulled up his Moleculatom weapon and shot a beam of electricity into the mummy,
however it only produced harmless sparks.
  VenusAstro collapsed to the ground with only her helmeted head which strained
upward from her attempt to bust out of the bandages.  Her resistance only made
Miira stronger from her strong energy output. VenusAstro then became mummified.
  MercuryAstro ran over to VenusAstro, entirely covered in white bandages and
picked her up.  "Oh man--I've got to get you out of there," he said.  He got
her over his shoulder and ran away.


 ACT II:

     At the opal sphere-shaped space station orbiting the moon--Messuta quickly
walked in, carrying unconscious VenusAstro inside of bandages into the
SpaceBase.  "Commander Leto, where are the others?"
  Leto watched him setup a fold-up table that he layed her on.  "Both Sheratan
and Australis took the CombatShuttle and CommandShuttle to Mars to try and stop
Ginara."
  "This was a good plan of theirs," Messuta said while hooking up instruments
to VenusAstro's bandaged body.  "Get another cyborg just like Tentacle after us
only this time, divide us by sending some goon of theirs to get the sphere."
  "Where's Nashiran?  Can he keep the cyborg that attacked you two at bay?"
  Messuta shook his head while sitting at the station on the right wall of the
chamber.  "No, Commander; he's with a girl and if he left her, it would look
suspicious.  Furthermore--he already tried and wound up in pretty bad shape."
  Leto nodded and then looked at VenusAstro  "What about Lotia?  Is she okay?"
  "I can tell she's low on energy and probably isn't getting any air but that's
it," Messuta said. He and Leto watched graphics illustrating an analysis of the
bandage tape.  "These bandages are made out of a fiber capable of absorbing and
optionally transferring kinetic energy--including energy of force."
  "Is this why you were unable to do any damage to the cyborg that attacked
her?" asked Leto.
  Messuta nodded.  "It took our blows like we were beating it with feathers."
  "I should contact the others before the cyborg reaches the social event
Nashiran was approaching when the computers here reported he was attacked,"
Leto said. Commander Leto sat down at the communications console a few stations
down from where Messuta continued material analysis--searching for a way to get
through the bandages.  "SpaceBase to AstroFleet.  This is Commander Leto."  On
the monitor, a split-screen view of MarsAstro and JupiterAstro appeared.
  "This is MarsAstro; go ahead, Commander."
  "Sheratan, Australis--a cyborg in the Park La Brea area in L.A. attacked both
Messuta and Lotia," Leto reported.  "Nashiran is currently unable to handle the
situation."
  "What about Messuta and Lotia?" JupiterAstro asked.
  "Messuta brought Lotia back to the SpaceBase because the cyborg has currently
immobilized her."
  "Immobilized??" MarsAstro asked.  "What happened down there?!"
  "A cyborg mummified Lotia and and we're trying to free her," Leto reported.
"I'm afraid her confines are energy draining.  She might not make it by the
time we are able to set her free."
  MarsAstro sighed heavily.  "I'm laying in a course for Earth. MarsAstro out."
His side of the screen discontinued transmission. Leto had the distinct feeling
that he was a lot more disturbed by this than he had let on.
  Messuta looked at VenusAstro within her bandages and took a deep breath.
``I'm gonna get you out of there.  Just hang on.''

    In the patio of the house of Sara's friend, Debbie, in Park La Brea, she
took cover while the gigantic mummy cyborg had ransacked the party.  Costumed
guests ran screaming from the destruction.  Many could not escape as they were
held back by bandages attached to Cyborg Miira.  The bandages glowed a bright
yellow while the people dropped to the lawn unconscious.
  Speeding down 2nd Street, MarsAstro drove the Red HydroCycle at top speed. He
pushed a key on hits terminal's keyboard.  "This is Sheratan, are you there,
Australis?"
  "Yes, I am," he replied via his bike's communication system.  "Go ahead."
  MarsAstro looked up and ahead.  "What's your status?"
  "I've got Ginara within my scanner's sights and I'm ready to move in to the
ninth dimension where she is," JupiterAstro reported.  "What about you?"
  "I've found the cyborg Messuta had shown me a picture of when I was in
CombatShuttle," MarsAstro replied.  "When you change dimensions, we'll loose
contact so good luck."
  "Likewise, Sheratan.  CommandShuttle out," JupiterAstro replied. Cyborg Miira
tossed limp people around like bags of trash when it suddenly looked ahead.  It
saw MarsAstro somersaulted overhead in the night sky.
  The red Astroranger landed on the picnic table in the backyard and jumped off
the bench to attack the mummy.  "Call 9-1-1 and get everybody out of here now!"
Debbie picked up her friend Megan, who was unconscious in her Jasmine costume,
was carried out to the curb.
  "Celestial Weapon," MarsAstro called out while placing his hands where his
Moleculatom Weapon is.  "FireSword!"  Drawing his double-sided sword, MarsAstro
brought it beside his helmet. Light gleamed across his black visor, terminating
as a twinkle in the corner of his visor.
  Cyborg Miira ripped a bandage off his body and created a whip out of it.
     MarsAstro cut down against Cyborg Miira's chest with his sword's
blade making sparks break out of its bandages.  Miira never reacted to
the blow.
  MarsAstro spun around and sliced passed its abs producing the same
result and again, the mummy's stance was never shaken by the
strike.  Cyborg Miira cracked its whip on MarsAstro chest and sparks
exploded on his red uniform.
  MarsAstro swung his sword upwards against its right side but its
thick left arm knocked his blade off target.  Out of nowhere, its right
fist was flying into the red Astroranger's helmet.  MarsAstro was
lifted up into the air by the powerful punch.
  "Woaaahh . . . " he hollered while coasting through the night sky.
  MarsAstro fell into the brown fence of Debbie's backyard and rolled over.
Cyborg Miira stepped forth ready for more action.
  MarsAstro got up and shook his head.  "You're like a wall!"
  With its fists in front of its face, Miira took them away and shot
dart-shaped bolts of light out of its eyes.
  MarsAstro jumped over the dual tower of sparks exploding in front of
himself and tumbled through the white smoke.  The red Astroranger then leaped
into the air.
  In the sky, MarsAstro pointed his sword to attack.   Cyborg Miira snapped his
whip.  While MarsAstro was flying, his neck was entangled by the bandage whip.
  "Hey, what the hell?"
Cyborg Miira had pulled back on his whip of bandage causing MarsAstro to coast
over its head shouting, "Woaaah!!"
  He landed face down on the grass next to Debbie's house and got up on one
knee.  "Ugh, you're getting on my nerves!"
  Cyborg Miira's eyes glowed again this time causing the bandage around the red
Astroranger's white cushined neck to glow yellow.  The mummy was attempting to
draw energy from MarsAstro's power.  The red Astroranger resisted but he wasn't
able to stand up because of the intentse energy drainage.  "You wont--use--my--
power--against me!" he strained to say. "Moleculatom Weapon!"  Within his white
glove, MarsAstro pointed his weapon and shot yellow ray of light into the giant
bandaged humanoid.
  The ray was soon used to carry the electric blue beam of pure electricity
along the same light to zap the beast's abs with a burst of dark yellow sparks.
Black smoke poured out of its wound as MarsAstro had used full power from his
weapon.
  MarsAstro was able to throw off the bandages and stand again.  "Now then,
with or without Nashiran--you will die tonight."  And with that statement, he
brought up his FireSword.
  Cyborg Miira stepped back and fanned out his arms.  Suddenly, a half a dozen
Armiton soldiers appeared in midair on each side.  Landing on the ground with
their bladed rifle-swords in hand, they started charging forth.
  "Oh, you filthy coward!" MarsAstro shouted.  "When I get through with these
guys, I'm going to drop kick you into the next time zone!"  The soldiers had
criss-cross ran after the red Astroranger standing there alone.
     An Armiton struck down and MarsAstro immediately knocked its blade away.
  The red Astroranger sliced across another soldier causing sparks to
burst from the blow.
  MarsAstro cut down another Armiton to the left and struck down
another to the right as both fell from the blast of sparks ripping
through their metal skeletons.
     A line up of Armiton Soldiers fired from their rifles.  MarsAstro
jumped out of the wall of sparks that detonated in front of him and
rolled over with his sword.
  MarsAstro stood up and turned his red sword upside down.  "Celestial Weapon!"
he called out while running his fingers the length of the metal blade.
"FireSword Flame!"  The blade flashed and became a glowing red laser blade.
"Attack!!" he shouted striking out. 
  Standing in front of each other, single file, the Armitons' chests
were impaled by a red comet of light as sparks as erupted out of their bodies.
  Swinging his sword back and forth, MarsAstro finally held it up
beside himself with his visor gleaming yet again.
     Cyborg Miira opened up its mouth and started spawning its super
strong bandages into the air.
  MarsAstro waved his hands through the air trying to bat off the sticky
strands but they were quickly latching onto him.  "Agh!  What is this??"
  Cyborg Miira's was streaming with jet propelled force the bandages that began
to cocoon the red Astroranger.
  "I've got to get out of this!" MarsAstro shouted.

     The ninth dimension of Mars, most of the visible territory consisted of
green gelatin oceans with blue crystal mountains protruding from whatever was
inside of the planet.  The clouds were white floating land masses suspended in
the sky through an unknown means.  Red plants and trees grew on these giant sky
islands and appeared to be rubber though nothing like the actual material.  On
one of the football-field sized islands, Ginara ran through the rocky terrain,
in an attempt to escape from JupiterAstro.
  Meanwhile, with dashing speed, JupiterAstro had also traversed over the white
rocky platforms that covered the land.  Suddenly sparks exploded from the
ground and he leaped over and tumbled down the way.  Another tower of sparks
had exploded and JupiterAstro ducked behind a tree.  "You're not going anywhere
with that Solar Sphere!"
  "You should've brought your playmates, green Astroranger," Ginara shouted
back.  "All of you have a tough enough time dealing with me as it is!"
  "Wanna bet?" JupiterAstro replied when turning around to shoot from his
Moleculatom Light Blaster.
  Ginara tumbled passed the tower of sparks exploding and leaped up to toss a
palm full of shuriken, ninja's star-shaped darts into the air.  JupiterAstro's
uniform shot out multiple sparks when the razor sharp metal rained down on him.
  "Like Tortan said--you should've stayed dead," Ginara said.  Just then she
vanished in two swirling lights that took her away from the planet and that
dimension.  
  JupiterAstro and saw Ginara disappear with the solar sphere.  "Damn it!!  Oh,
I don't believe this!  Sheratan's gonna be pissed."  Shaking his head, he got
up and ran up the way he came to return to the CommandShuttle he took to Mars.

     The sphere-shaped opal space station stayed in the moon's dark side while
synchronously orbiting the lunar body--onboard the Astroranger SpaceBase; the
main entrance had opened as Beverly walked onto the top deck.  Messuta leaned
up against the wall while waiting on something.
  "Hey guys, what's going on?" Beverly asked.  "There seems to be some kind of
monster attacking according to the transmissions I'm getting on my police band
scanner."
  Messuta nodded.  "Nashiran was attacked on his way somewhere with someone and
Lotia and I tried to intercept.  It mummified Lotia so we had to retreat."
  "Is Lotia all right?"
  Messuta sighed.  "I hope so.  I was able to get her out of there because the
only thing the bandages that had encased Lotia couldn't resist was water."  A
beeping sound began to emanate from the CommandShuttle console along the left
wall stations.  "I'll get that," Leto said while attending the console.
  Messuta nodded and continued.  "Anyway the bandages started drinking it up
and breaking.  Those bandages are made of some unique material that drained her
energy pretty badly and makes the cyborg that did this next to invincible."
  Beverly nodded.  "Good, but who's dealing with it right now?"
  "Sheratan is doing battle with the cyborg," Messuta said while approaching
the mission control terminal on the right wall stations.
  Beverly's eyes opened up wide.  "Alone??"
  "Australis is on Mars trying to stop Ginara from getting the next solar
sphere," Messuta said.  "Sheratan was supposed to had helped him but Miira had
overwhelmed us so he had to take our place."
  "Messuta, Beverly," Commander Leto called.  "Australis is returning from Mars
and will be helping out Sheratan who is in deep trouble right now."
  "Oh man," Messuta he worried.  "Did Aus get the solar sphere?"
  Leto shook his head.  "I'm afraid not."  Lotia had wondered into the chamber
from out of the dark room in a white satin robe listening to the conversation.
  "As soon as Australis is back, you both must help him and Sheratan stop that
energy sucking cyborg.  The longer it continues draw power, the stronger it
gets," Commander Leto warned. "And if Lotia is up to it, she should go, too.
It will take the strength of all of you combined to do it."
  Lotia nodded.  "I'm ready."  Beverly and Messuta looked behind themselves at
her; he smiled at her knowing she'd recovered.  Lotia smiled back.

     The FireSword dropped onto the grass and the red Astroranger came down on
both knees--his entire upper body, except for his head bandaged.  Cyborg Miira
was standing in the middle of the backyard of Debbie's house, which was
entirely surrounded by paramedics.  "Damn it, Nashiran!" he strained to say.
"Where the hell are you?!  I need help--now."  Cyborg Miira was completing the
process of mummification when suddenly a cascade of sparks bounced off its body
and from the grass in the backyard.
  Standing atop the house was green, yellow, pink and white Astrorangers with
their Moleculatom Weapons held out.
  "Another!" JupiterAstro ordered.  The four of them had electrocuted the mummy
causing it to fall back.  MarsAstro fell to the ground when Miira dropped its
whip.
  MercuryAstro jumped off the roof and landed beside a faucet attached to the
house and connected a green hose to the nozzle.  "Hopefully this works."  The
white Astroranger turned the metal valve.  He stood up while holding the hose
which began to shoot a stream of water.
  Mummified MarsAstro layed on the ground as the water pushed into the bandages
when they began to thin out and tear apart.
  VenusAstro leaped over an Armiton's deactivated body and tore the bandages
off the sluggish red Astroranger.  "Sheratan, are you okay?"
  "Yeah," he moaned, "but are you all right?  Lotia--worry doesn't begin to
describe what I..."
  VenusAstro shook her head as he leaned up.  "Please don't worry so much about
me.  I'll be fine, Sheratan."
  MarsAstro turned to hold her shoulders.  "There is no way I'm ever going to
stop being concerned with your well being, Lotia.  I care about you."  Lotia
was happy to hear this but was disturbed by his tragic tone, as if he meant
more than what he has already said.
  Meanwhile, Cyborg Miira was holding the green and yellow Astrorangers by the
necks.  "Hey, a little help here!" EarthAstro requested.  The mummy then threw
the two of them into the grass.
  MarsAstro nodded at them; he looked at VenusAstro and hugged her tightly.  "I
love you."  Letting her go, MarsAstro looked at her briefly and then stood up.
  He was joined by the other four Astrorangers and assumed their battle pose.
"Galaxy Task Force--ASTRORANGER!"  Cyborg Miira ran after the team with a
vengeance.
  MercuryAstro pulled up the hose and looked behind himself.  "Full blast,
Beverly!"  EarthAstro nodded while kneeling before the faucet and turned it all
the way on.
  The mummy held up its hands to stop the stream of water but soon, Miira was
soaking wet.  VenusAstro brought down her right fist and whispered, "Yes!"
  "Let's tear this guy apart!" MarsAstro shouted.  "Celestial Weapons!"  The
other four had drawn their weapons and jumped into the air.
  MarsAstro jumped into the air as well.
  EarthAstro flipped over with her yellow LightningDaggers with MercuryAstro
flying in as well using his white PowerStaff.  Their weapons sparked off Cyborg
Miira's abs causing it to stumble backwards.
  Coasting through the sky was JupiterAstro shooting two arrows from his green
Thunderbow and VenusAstro, tossing her pink Sonic Boomerang.
  Two sparks broke out of Cyborg Miira's shoulders and finally MarsAstro had
flipped over and slice straight down.
  Sparks broke out of the mummy's chest when the blade of MarsAstro's red
FireSword struck.  The red Astroranger turned around and cut across its body.
  Cyborg Miira tumbled over and tried to stand up again.
     The shiny yellow Astroranger, EarthAstro, appeared before the image of the
planet Earth in space. She held her arms out in a T-formation while holding her
Lightning Daggers.
  "TwinSword Terra Power!"  Lightning transformed her daggers into two-swords
and posed with them.  She ran after the white monster and lashed down with the
left and then with the right sword as she turned around and used both to slash
its abs.  Sparks bursting from each blow caused it to smoke even more.
  "TwinSword Earth Sabers!" EarthAstro called out as lightning energized her
swords again causing them to become laser-light blades.
  "Solar Light Strike!" she said jumping into the air.  In the night sky,
EarthAstro's swords of laser light cut down and through the body of the mummy.
  The tips of EarthAstro's two-swords stuck out of its back as blades returned
to dagger mode.  Glowing cracks traveled the length of the cyborg's body as she
stepped away.
  Standing alone in the backyard of the house, Cyborg Miira had collapsed and
shattered while bursting into a fire-filled explosion.  Soon, the fire consumed
the remains of its body.
  The five Astrorangers looked at the flaming bits of their foe in the grass.

     Inside of the house, the now subdued costume party was filled with talk of
the battle in the backyard.  Sara brought Tom a wash cloth with an ice cube in
it.  He smiled and put it against his forehead.  "Thanks."                     
  "I was amazed you went in and tried to tackle that strange monster out there,
Tom," Sara said through the low-key music.  "Someone else would have left it up
to the cops."
  Tom exhaled.  "It's obvious that there wasn't anything they could have done;
and, by the time they would have arrived, you might have already been injured."
  "I know," Sara smiled.  "If you're feeling up to it, maybe--we can dance?"
  Tom didn't dance but the music was slow so he would let her lead.  "Sure."
Tom put the cube on a napkin on the fireplace mantle and stepped off with Sara.
     Outside--Dave sat on the hood of his red car drinking from a can of root
beer when Amy had walked up to him.  "Hey, Dave."
  "Hi, Amy," he replied.  "I didn't think you were gonna hang around here once
you saw Tom was okay."
  Amy nodded.  "I know--I just wanted to stick around to make sure you would be
okay."  Dave did not respond which made her nervous.  She walked closer to him,
and he looked at her and then put his arm around her shoulder.
  "What's the matter, Dave?" Amy asked.  "This time I can't understand."
  Dave sighed.  "Amy, when Ron told me that a cyborg had gotten to you, I don't
know what came over me.  It's like nothing else in the world mattered more than
making sure you were safe."  Amy smiled.
  Dave looked away as his face grew more upset.  "Looking that objectively, I
see that this is a bad thing."  Amy looked at him with confusion.
  "In the line of duty, we must make certain choices that are imperative to the
success of any mission, no matter what the cost.  Our relationship, regardless
of its beauty, cannot interfere with the safety of the entire planet."         
  Amy stood back and looked at him with grave concern.  "Dave, what do mean?"
  "If there's ever a time where you must neglect to save my life to prevent the
destruction of something important to everyone and not just to you or I, could
you do it?" Dave asked.  Amy paused and eventually failed to respond entirely.
  "Amy you've got to realize that despite what I am about to say that I will be
always within debt to you for your consideration of me," Dave began.  "But you,
me, Will, Ron, Beverly and Tom are the only people in this world that can
prevent it's obliteration."
  "Dave, you gotta realize things are never going to be the same between us for
as long as we're a team," Amy said.  "Even if we broke up--we would still yearn
for each other."
  Dave nodded. "I know and it may have been a mistake for me allow this to take
place but we can't let it continue.  It may be too late but I can't let this
continue any further.  I'm sorry, Amy--but, we can't stay together."  Unable to
speak, Amy forced herself to nod as she took a deep breath.  Dave watched her
leave and looked up into the sky.  "Heaven help us," he whispered from habit.

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    


Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . .

Cyborg Cyrkezu makes the Astroranger battle team forget their identities and
it is all up to Lotia to try and get them back.  Meanwhile, Cyrkezu's attack
backfires on Ginara in Episode 38: "Gone!!  Memories of our Heros".


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