[970908] [Preview] Earthquake in the southland like no other. Los Angeles will turn to rubble if the Astroranger task force does not give up the solar spheres they have. Will they be able to stop the cyborg causing the quakes? Find out in "Ultimatum!". [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: Within gray, ice covered planet Pluto the complex known as the Nazitan Outpost remained underground. Inside, Adol sat in his iron clad throne looking at Tortan, Ginara, Pleadia and Igan standing before himself. Their heads bowed in wait for his scolding, he just looks at them for a while. "Tortan, I have warned you that your failure would not be tolerated, yet, you allow one Astroranger to overpower both you and a valuable cyborg. You also do not succeed in retrieving the _solar sphere_!" "But, sire, they had help!" "Which you should have called for!" Adol countered. "Your problem is that you don't know when you need help when you do. And Pleadia, I'm not too happy about what happened here on base either." "Neither am I. I'm still fixing broken equipment in my laboratory," he said. "But, all is not lost, Adol the Great for I have a very important surprise that I intend to use to get the Astroranger task force to surrender the remaining solar spheres they have." Adol sighed. "I sincerely hope you do. But no more screw ups, I want to see some results." Pleadia nodded confidently. "I think you will." Episode 42: "Ultimatum!" At an elementary school near the northeast end of downtown Los Angeles, it was raining like normal for December in the city of angels. The milder showers from November and parts of October had passed as this was the beginning of four or more weeks of dark and cloudy days that ended by almost five o'clock in the evening. Amy walked down the street holding a pink umbrella, returning after a delivery of some clothes she had made for the costume shop she worked with. In a school yard she came upon not too far away, a young asian boy in a navy blue hooded jacket lugged a backpack full of books away from the school. Peter was almost thirteen years old and would be after graduating from the 7th grade. Three boys in a variety of high tops, baggy pants, white t-shirt under plaid dress shirts had walked up to him from behind. These kids were at least two years older than himself. "Oh no," Peter moaned out loud to himself. They began to gang up around him in front. "Hey, Peter--how's it goin', man?" one of the guys asked. Peter sighed. "It's raining, so, I want to go home, Xavier." The second guy stepped in a little closer eventually stopping Peter's momentum towards the sidewalk. "Hey, what's the matter, Pete--you don't feel like hangin' out with guys like us?" "Jose, you don't hang out with guys like me unless you want something." "Heh, you're a smart kid," the third one said. "That's what we like about you." Peter sneered. "Gimmie a break." "Nah, man--we're serious," he replied. "See, we was thinkin' that maybe you could help us out and all, ya know what I mean?" "Uh huh," Peter said. "Care to elaborate, Ernie?" "Hey, that's Ernesto to you, buddy," he replied. "You and your big words might be able to help us pass this semester." Amy walked by, overhearing the conversation. Strangely, she took an interest in what was going on--with these three bigger kids surrounding Peter. "What's the matter, you guys? I thought you liked bossing around kids two and three years younger than yourselves," Peter rhetorically asked. "Picking on people your own size is no fun, remember?" Xavier put his arm around Peter aggressively. "Yeah, well, mister principle says that if we don't graduate from this grade, we're gonna get kicked outta school and then our folks are gonna get wicked on us." "Yeah, man--cut our allowance, keep us inside on Friday nights, it's horrible," Jose complained. "Kinda like how you live, Peter." They all started busting up laughing. Peter shook his head while crossing his arms. "It's guys like you who give school a bad name." "Yeah, so does the cafeteria food and our math teacher--what's your point?" Xavier rhetorically asked. Peter rolled his eyes. "Okay, so, basically--you want me to help you study so you can play around." Ernesto shook his head. "Nope. We want you to do our homework for us so we can play around." "Heh, right..." Peter replied. "See-ya." Peter started walking off but one of 'em put their hand on his shoulder and turned hima round. Xavier got a little more aggressive. "Hey, man--did it look like we were joking? We asked you to do us a favor." "Yeah--and my answer is no. Now, I gotta go," Peter said as he tried to walk away again but he was stopped by both Ernesto and Jose. "Looks like you need a little incentive," Xavier said. "How's about you do our homework so that you don't wind up with elbows that can bend both ways?" "How's about you get lost?" Amy ordered. The three of them turned around to see her walk up the pavement towards the entrance of the school. "Heh-heh, who's she? Your knight in shining stockings?" Ernesto joked. The others started to laugh again. Amy frowned with her eyebrows cocked. "I don't know where you losers came from but I say you should go back there as soon as you can." Peter put his hand in his face and shook his head. "They're gonna kill me." "Hey, listen lady--I don't know what you're doing here or who you are but we ain't doin' nothin'," Jose told her. "Yeah," Ernesto backed up. Amy nodded. "Yeah, I can believe that. That's why you want him to do your homework for you. So here's a hint--go on and get a life, okay?" "Yeah, we get it," Xavier said. "Right guys?" They all nodded and mumbled as they began move back. Xavier gestured towards Peter that this isn't over. Amy shook her head while watching them walk away. "Deadbeats." Peter walked be and Amy was caught off guard by his silence. She began to follow him out of the schoolyard. "Hey, hey, wait a minute." Peter stopped and looked up impatiently. Amy stopped when she got in front of Peter and looked at him. "Didn't you forget something?" Peter tried to appear angry. "Like what?" "Well, those three kids out there looked like they were going to clobber you, so, I thought I might try to help," Amy said. "I'd hate to say this but, don't you think that deserves a thanks?" "Maybe, but--those guys are gonna really give me a hard time because of that. I can't say I'm too happy about that," Peter said. "I appreciate the thought, but, it would have been much better if you had've kept on walking." Peter then walked away shortly after saying this as Amy was left stunned. The three guys that were bothering Peter had hung around by the dumpsters and watched Peter walk away angry. Xavier nodded with the others, thinking that he wasn't too much of a whimp after all. Amy stood confused but then shrugged and proceeded down Flower Street. Meanwhile underneath Pluto--Igan stood in the brown chamber of Pleadia's workshop. "Pleadia, I am seriously worried." "So, what else is new?" he replied while making sure his calculations were correct. Igan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Take me seriously, for once. I do believe that he is running out patience--I can feel it. One of these days, Adol will not be tolerant of further failure, Pleadia." Pleadia nods at him. "I know that, this is why I need to concentrate on what I am doing, Igan." "And what are you doing?" he asked. "I have noted minute seismic activity in the region where we have most often sent our forces which has inspired me to create Cyborg Stomper a few weeks ago. It will cause earthquakes if the Astrorangers do not supply us with the spheres they have." "And what's going to stop them from merely blowing away Stomper like each and every cyborg before?" Igan asked. Pleadia held up a light weight rectangular black box. "This transmitter will cause an implant I have placed on the central nervous system of the yellow Astroranger to transmit different levels of pain anywhere within her body." He gave it to Igan to examine. "There are pre-set levels from least painful to most as well as pre-set locations of where the pain will be given--from least to most painful," Pleadia said. "This will be our way of forcing the Astrorangers to keep their distance and let Stomper do its work should they refuse--which they wont." Pleadia got up to get a cybo-egg from the chest in the wall. "The Astrorangers don't stand a chance," Igan realized. "Pleadia, you have finally done it!" "Yes," Pleadia replied. "And now, it is only a matter of time before we have all of the solar spheres except for the one on Mercury and the one on Earth." A rainy day in Los Feliz, the hillside suburb of Los Angeles featured the two story house of the Terranians'. Inside of the study, Dave leaned against the library and then wandered over by Will's desk to watch Ron handle a mixer; he carefully eyed the LED lights on the VU meters while Tom played his Mark 12 Kurzweil digital piano. "Hey, Ron--what does it mean when it goes red?" Dave asked. "Uh, it's above one decibels, digital audio has a range of -92 decibels up to 0. This meter tells me when it goes over 0, +3 and +6 as well," Ron explained. "Okay, ready, Tom." Tom began to play a fast paced melody in the key of E while he sang: Galaxy Task Force, Astroranger. Show us your power, cosmic forces be your might. Galaxy Task Force, Astroranger. Nah-nah, nah-nah, nah... Tom interrupted himself. "Hm, I can't think of what to put there." "By the way, how come you wanted to do a theme anyhow?" Ron asked. Tom shrugged. "It's just something I've always wanted to do." "So what's going on now?" Dave asked. Tom sighed and rolled his eyes. Ron tried to be diplomatic. "Well, Tom is right now trying to lay a couple of tracks into his piano's MIDI sequencer." "MIDI sequencer?" Dave asked. "Is that like a computer program?" "Eh, sorta," Ron said. "It records information about what Tom is playing and how he's playing it. When the MIDI file is played back, the piano hits the same notes, the same way he did." "Fascinating," Tom interrupted. "Ron, could you excuse us for a moment?" Ron got up and walked out of the study; closing the door behind himself. "Dave, I'm not going to get too angry with you because I think I know what your problem is." "What? I'm just curious, Tom," Dave explained. Tom sighed and turned around on his piano bench. "Dave.. What are you doing hanging around here?" Dave shrugged. "Just wanted to see what you guys were up to." "Dave--you get to work early, leave late, you sleep in and I don't know what else," Tom said. "You haven't been able to burn enough time when we're not out there trying to stop you know who. Now tell me--what has been stressing you so much that you have to stay this busy?" "I've been trying to get some things off my mind," Dave evasively answered. "Well, this certainly isn't the way to do it!" Tom said. "You've got to face what is troubling you, Dave." Dave sighed. "If it were only that easy." "What is the problem?" Dave took a deep breath and paused a while. "She's the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to bed," Dave answered. "I could be doing anything--just about anything at all and suddenly, I will think of Amy smiling at me." He had began to have flashbacks of caressing her in his car. "The way she looks when I tell her that I love her," he said staring at the floor. "And when Amy tells me she loves me too. If I could have her just one more time, it wouldn't be soon enough. Amy brings things out of me that I never thought were there. She's also one of the prettiest women that I've ever seen." "So why don't you go back to her?" Tom asked. "Before it's too late." Dave looked at him. "As leader, I had to make a decision that would be in the best interest of all of us. If my relationship with Amy were to ever get in the way of our mission, I couldn't continue to wear my GeneGem Ring with pride." "Have you ever considered that trying to do your mission without her might--I don't know--affect your performance?" Tom proposed. "If you are happy, you can think clearly enough to be adequate at what you're doing." Tom waited for his response. Dave nodded. "You're right, Tom. It's just how Amy said.. It's too late to try and pretend as if nothing's ever happened. I'm going to want her, no matter if try to say it's over or not." "When the going gets rough, you can't call it quits, Dave; you stick in there no matter what happens," Tom told Dave. "I promise, everything will work out." Walking down 7th Street, Amy noticed the rain reduced to random drops so, folding up her umbrella, she walked up to the Metro light rail train and subway station. After digging through her purse for MTA bus tokens, she pushed one of the buttons on the ticket machine and put in her golden coin. It began to print up her ticket when she heard a familiar voice calling her from behind. Amy had to take a look, though she normally doesn't. It was the boy, Peter, that she'd saw at the school a few blocks away from the central library. Peter walked up the steps towards the housing where one buys tickets and used cash his parents got him to get a ticket from the machine. "There's no hurry, the train wont be here for another four or five minutes. We got here early." Amy nodded. "Thanks--I'll just be waiting down on the platform for when it does arrive," she said, starting to walk off. Peter just got his ticket and tried to catch up. "Hey, um... (Here, let me get that.)," he said, pushing the "P" for platform level on the elevator. "Thanks." Peter's face expressed remorse as he sighed. "I'm very sorry about how I had acted after you got rid of those kids trying to beat my face in back there. It looked like I was wimp for letting a girl, no matter how old, stick up for me." The elevator chimed indicating the doors were about to open. Amy and Peter stepped inside as the doors closed again. Amy pushed the "P" button on the inside as they began to descend. "Why does it matter what those kids think? You know they're dorks so why sweat it?" "They're also punks, and they think I'm the dork; that's why. And, anyway, I just wanted to say that I did appreciate what you did for me," Peter said. "It seems like nobody really takes me seriously when I talk about what I go through at school." The doors opened and the two of them walked out of the elevator to the area where an overhead signs scrolled red text of the current date and time as well as bulletins. Amy sat down on the bench next to Peter who looked at her. She wasn't paying attention until she noticed him gazing upon her. "What?" "Nothing," Peter answered. He slipped off his heavy backpack and checked his sports watch. "By the way--where are you headed?" "The Western and Wilshire station; I need to take line 207 to Hollywood and then the 181 bus from there to Franklin and Hillhurst," Amy explained. "I'm going home after delivering some things to my employer." Peter nodded. "What do you do?" "I sew costumes--I used to be a receptionist but that went bad like old fruit so now I work from home," Amy said. It was uncanny, Peter was not a typical 12 year old boy. He was rather precocious for his age given his focused sense of communication. The sign overhead read: TRAIN ARRIVING shortly before the light from the two-car subway lit the way within the tunnel. The heavy train rumbled and squealed on the iron track. Soon, it came by in front of the concrete platform as the people there gathered around the many doors. They opened and Amy and Peter walked inside. "That's what I wish I could do," Peter commented. "I'd work from home, but I don't know what I want to do yet." "You'll figure it out someday," Amy replied while taking a left side window seat. "Where are you going?" Peter shrugged while sat down next to her. "Home as well. I'm taking this to the Normandie station. I'll be taking the line 206 bus north to 1st street and walk home." Amy nodded; she thought momentarily about how nice it was to be underground and out of the rain when the doors closed. The train pulled away as Amy gazed out of the window when Peter, sitting next to her smiled. "What's your name?" Peter asked. The question caught her off guard, but, she turned to glance at him. "Amy." "I'm Peter," he replied. "It's good to be able to give a nice name like that to one of the better memories I'll have for a while." Amy smiled at him and he smiled as well. Within the tunnel--the subway train pushed through the dark tunnels when shaking of the ground and the walls had begun. Inside, lights had cut on and off as the train's power link was sporadically interrupted. The people began to scream as the shaking grew worse. Peter began to lose his calm when the train rushed to a stop. Over the speaker system, an attempt was made by the train operator to announce the emergency procedures but people getting thrown out of their seat by the earthquake was causing too much noise. Amy and Peter fell out of their seats while the lights continued flashing rapidly over and over again. Finally, the shaking stopped but the train was trapped. ACT II: At the Terranian's house--Dave paced back and forth in the study while Tom continued to speak with him. "Man, I just don't know what I'm gonna do if Amy actually bought it." Tom looked confused. "Bought it?" "I've been saying to her for so long that things are over between us, Amy may actually be convinced of this," Dave said. "Man, Tom--I can't tell you how hard it is to try and always figure out the right thing to do." "Take it easy, man," Tom assured. "You were only trying to do the right thing which is all that matters." Dave nodded. "I guess so--it's not like I can calculate the outcome of every single situation. I just wish I knew what to say to..." Ron came back into the room and looked around. "Sorry for the intrusion, but somethin' weird's happening..." "(...Again)," Tom mumbled. "What is it this time?" "An earthquake entirely localized between 4th and 8th streets and Hill Street and Union Avenue," Ron reported. "And the news says CalTech could not find one fault that could have caused it." "Maybe nobody knows about this one," Tom figured. Ron shook his head. "Not likely. Quakes originate miles beneath the surface of the Earth. According to the instruments at the California Institute of Technology, this was no where near a few feet below ocean level. And if it were a natural quake, it would have spanned a greater area for it's power." "Sounds like you know who is back in town," Dave said looking at them both. The emergency batteries within the subway generated dim light from the top of the car that probably derailed from leaning over by a few degrees. Some of the people onboard started to panic while the chatter grew loud from everybody suffering from injuries as well as pleas to escape. On the floor by the front most door behind the cab for the train operator, Peter layed against the wall; Amy was above him--she'd slightly leaped ahead of him to protect his head from a serious blow. However, that took its toll her. Amy tried to stand up but a sharp pain knifed what felt like her ankle's bone. Slipping down again, she'd known her ankle was twisted, sprained or broken. "Damn," she said sitting down with her back against the wall. "That is _not_ good." Peter looked at her. "Amy, what's happening?" "The train operator," she answered, trying to catch her breath, "he's knocked out--unconscious. We'll have to wait until rescue teams can haul the subway out of here or break in somehow to get us out." Peter was frightened out of his mind--he was trapped, and felt like he was at the end of his life right then and there. Still, he believed he needed to stay calm and, more importantly, try to look as if he weren't afraid. Peter did not want Amy to think he were weak. Amy could tell Peter was trying to be strong for her. She knew that, at his age, Peter would think he had to do that in order to not look bad to her. "Hey uh, have you ever been through an earthquake before?" Peter nodded. "Two that I remember, there was one when I was three but that was almost ten years ago. They always seem to be at night, or in the early morning. I never expected it to come during the day." Amy nodded. "I came here right after the year began so this is my first one. Are they always this violent?" Peter laughed but then he jerked his arm, he inhaled between his teeth and in a quick second, barely kept from screaming. Peter had dislocated his shoulder. Amy's eyes opened wider. "Peter, you're hurt." The sound of Amy's voice, in the British way she said 'Peter' had distracted him from his bones stabbing the muscular flesh and nerve tissue in his shoulder. "I'm okay," he stuttered nervously. "Really." "You must've dislocated it after you hit the wall when the subway derailed." In the study of the Terranian's house, Will walked through the open door. He looked around seriously and then approached Tom. "Where's Dave?" "He's upstairs in my room," he replied. "What's going on?" Will exhaled. "Aaron called and said that the earthquake came from a mobile source that somehow created a fluctuating graviton field. I don't know what it means but it sounds like a cyborg made the quake." "That sucks," Tom frowned and said. "If the Nazitan's have that kinda power, who knows what they're going to strike, where and when." Ron stood up. "What I wanna know is what the heck they're doing this for?" Dave walked back into the room. "I got some bad news guys." "Yeah, we know," Tom replied. "The quakes are artificial..." Dave shook his head. "Worse. Under the 110 freeway on 7th street, there's a red line subway train that's derailed because of the quake. Guess who's on it?" "Oh no," Ron moaned. "She was using one to get to Fiddler's in downtown!" "How'd you find out she was trapped, Dave?" Will asked. "Beverly's substitute was called in to check for casualties once the fire department gets those people out of the tunnel," Dave answered. "The paramedics are already on the scene, according to her." "How come she's not at work?" Ron asked. "Amy says they gave her a few days to recover," Will answered. "She told them a story they could believe based on her physical condition." Tom looked concerned. "She's okay though, right?" "Oh yeah," Will answered. "But we gotta go get Amy out of that subway." Dave nodded. "You and Tom need to go find whatever caused that earthquake." Tom stood up. "We're gonna need some help to track down the source." "I'll be onboard the SpaceBase," Ron said. "What about you, Dave?" "I'm going to see if I can pull Amy out of the mess underground. If that 110 highway didn't fall into the street, I might be able to get right down into it. If not, I'll need to take the HydroCycle to the site of the derailment via the tunnel itself," Dave announced. "Sounds risky; another quake hits and you're creamed," Will said. "But, we'd better get her out of there before anything else goes wrong." Ron nodded. "Those people are probably still alive down there. The tunnels are re-enforced with some unbelievable architecture that I'm surprised humans have developed." "Great, so I stand a chance," Dave said. "I'll need that since I'll be taking a lot of chances to pull this off." Tom looked at him. "Remember, you do what you think is best--that's all you can do." Dave smiled and nodded. Inside of Pluto--Pleadia sat at the console of his workstation within his laboratory while Ginara paced the chamber. "Very excellent work with Stomper, Pleadia. This cyborg has yet to be faced by the Astroranger task force." Pleadia nodded and looked at her. "All in good time, Ginara. They will find it and that's when our plan rolls into motion." "We have to make sure they know that their fellow Astroranger that you've put your pain stimulator on is receiving the pain," Ginara said. "Once they realize what's going on, they'll go out of their ever loving mind." "Indeed, but it is too bad I did not have the time to install a tracer within the implant," Pleadia pondered. "We could locate the Astroranger headquarters and annihilate them from there." "No great event comes easily, Pleadia. If we have their headquarters, it will be after patient planning and waiting for our moment," Ginara replied. "For the time being, forcing the Astroranger task force into giving up their spheres is much more than a much deserved and long awaited victory." Pleadia nodded. "Agreed." Driving southbound on the Hollywood Freeway approaching the Pasadena Freeway, EarthAstro had rode her yellow HydroCycle single file with the red, green and black motorcycles with conventional traffic. SaturnAstro had radioed out, "Beverly--does your HydroCycle's computer agree with your PortaSensor's reading on the location of the cyborg?" EarthAstro nodded. "I am getting a good bit of graviton distortion as we get near Temple Street." "Australis, take the rest down Hill Street to the Metro Red Line station at the Civic Center," MarsAstro said. "I'm going to try the 110 freeway so I can get to 7th street where the subway is stuck." "Good luck, Sheratan," JupiterAstro said. "Hill Street exit one quarter mile ahead, move to right lane everybody." The four HydroCycles drove into the exit lane where they would prepare to make their exit. The red HydroCycle took the center lane where he began to make the transition onto the 110 southbound. Between the giant buildings, a skyscraper towered over Cyborg Stomper. The cyborg held a modified jack hammer while the rest of itself was a humanoid with strange aluminum-foil like skin. It's head warped out of shape, it's face was permanently frozen on an evil facial expression. Stomper appeared as if it had worn a mask. It was attached to his yellow hard hat affixed to his strangely demented head but despite this plastic appearance on his face alone--the cyborg was quite real. Down the winding concrete of the off-ramp, the three motorcycles with green HydroCycle driven by JupiterAstro leading took them down Hill Street. "He should be around here somewhere," EarthAstro said. Reading the terminal on her yellow HydroCycle. "It's between one of the alleys between the towers." "Why do I get the feeling he'll find us first," SaturnAstro said. Out of the gray cloudy sky came a triple-somersaulting Cyborg Stomper. It's big black shoe-covered feet kicked JupiterAstro off of his motorcycle. "Australis!!" EarthAstro cried. "Nash--what is that?!" Stomper stood tall, a humanoid beast made of various body parts attached together and given life in an artificial way. It was obviously strong by how it handled the big and heavy jack hammer he carried. Armaton soldiers had gathered around the cyborg. SaturnAstro got off his black HydroCycle while EarthAstro helped JupiterAstro to stand and looked at it. "Why am I not surprised this is what is causing the earthquakes?" "It's sneaky--that's for sure," JupiterAstro remarked. "Draw your weapons!" EarthAstro armed with her daggers stood beside SaturnAstro holding his scythe. Light pushed out of the hilt of JupiterAstro's Moleculatom Weapon forming the blade of his dagger. "Attack!" The five broke their pose and ran in. The two groups of opposing warriors met evenly in a straight line. Trading places many times while engaging in high speed combat. SaturnAstro knocked away an soldier's rifle with his scythe and jumped over a low-spin kick from another Armaton. The black Astroranger roundhoused that soldier into rolling over and tumbled onto the street past a Armaton as it high kicked in his direction. MercuryAstro protected himself from the blade of an Armaton's rifle with his staff. Removing it, the white Astroranger hop-kicked its rifle high and rammed the end of his staff into its abs and then into its face knocking it backwards onto a mailbox. JupiterAstro used his shin to block an Armaton's shin-kick to his side and changed feet to stomp its knee. Changing legs again, the green Astroranger kicked the black automaton in the abs. He stepped in and crashed his elbow into the soldier's face and gave a swinging backwards punch to the Armaton knocking it off his feet and onto the sidewalk. Near the alley between skyscrapers, EarthAstro had performed a walkover to dodge two soldiers kicking high towards her. She turned around and low spin-kicked the soldier into tripping over. The yellow Astroranger side-kicked another in the abs and turned around. An Armaton attempted to cut through her with its rifle sword but found its blade knocked high with her dagger. EarthAstro used her right dagger to strike down sending sparks shooting out of its metallic body. It fell over and rolled into the curb. SaturnAstro caught a high-punch with the palm of his white glove and forced the Armaton into flipping over. "This is a distraction, Australis!!" "I know!" JupiterAstro replied; he ducked and then gave a punched out another soldier. "Where's the cyborg?" MercuryAstro tornado kicked down a soldier and used his staff to knock another one down as well. "Heh... 'Hard to say; 'too busy getting my butt kicked!" A trio of Armaton soldiers upon a bus bench shot bolts of light from their rifles and EarthAstro leaped out of the way. Three towers of sparks exploded from the street but she got up on one knee and looked ahead. "What the heck?" Up the hill, she saw Cyborg Stomper's arms folded into its back and were replaced with heavy metal extensions. Standing up, the yellow Astroranger looked at it when upon a single story building Ginara looked upon the Astrorangers. JupiterAstro jammed two fists into a soldier's stomach and punched it across the face, knocking it into twirling into the air before dropping onto the sidewalk. "Uh oh, guess who's back?!" "Ginara!" SaturnAstro said while he clenched his fist. "Take away your quake making cyborg!" "Heh, right; green hero--and who is going to make me?" Ginara rhetorically asked. "Cyborg Stomper, do it now!" It nodded; Stomper's attachments to the Earth were complete as it stood there and began to glow. On meters on expansion cards within its cranium, segmented LED lights were illuminated one by one starting with blue, then green, yellow; eventually, the red light was reached. Its massive arms began to pound the surface of the Earth. Using the wires it connected to the ground, it's hammer action was magnified. Another great stomp pounded the pavement. Cracks in the street began to result as the ground shook violently. The Astroranger task force tried standing up but the jerky shaking was making them wobble beyond their ability to maintain balance. Ginara leaped up into the air ahead of time. In the sky, she somersaulted over, Ginara landed on the sidewalk. By this time, the shaking was stopped and the Astroranger battle team had fallen. She, the Armatons and Cyborg Stomper stepped forth as JupiterAstro stood on a knee. "You've just witness a sample of Stomper's true power, Astrorangers. It will destroy the city if you do not meet our demands," Ginara said to them all. EarthAstro stood with her fist in her other palm looking at her sternly. "We don't respond to extorsion, Nazitan." "I don't think you have a choice in the matter," Ginara replied. "And soon, you, yellow Astroranger, will personally realize this." ``What is she talking about?'' JupiterAstro asked himself. Ginara pointed at the four Astrorangers. "Take 'em out, Stomper." The cyborg took a few mighty steps forth while holding its jack hammer's dual-handles. The Astroranger task force split up and ran after him from all angles. JupiterAstro got to him first as she grabbed its shoulders, kneed it in the abs and chopped it shoulders. Both blows had no effect and pushed over over into the asphalt. EarthAstro's daggers with SaturnAstro's scythe came down on Cyborg Stomper's jack hammer. Both of them pushed down upon the cyborg but it pushed back forcing them into the air and to fall back into the street. MercuryAstro swung down with his PowerStaff. Stomper blocked it once and once again on the side. The cyborg caught a direct jab to the abs but it turned around, kicking sideways the staff and then crushing down upon the white Astroranger with his jack hammer. Sparks exploded off of his uniform while falling over and into the curb behind himself. Ginara didn't want the Armatons to help for some reason and Beverly was aware of that; what she wanted to know is what she was up to. Delayed beams of light twirled in JupiterAstro's hands while he formed fists. "Celestial Weapon!" the green Astroranger shouted. "ThunderBow!" The green bow had materialized in his hands. Ginara grinned. "This ought to be good." The green Astroranger stood in front of the skyscraper that cloudy day firing an arrow ahead. JupiterAstro let go of the bowstring again, shooting a green arrow at his target. A pair of bright flashes from the sparks exploding had followed upon being shot as Cyborg Stomper fell down. Suddenly, Ginara's metal-gloved hand brought out a black rectangular box with knobs, buttons and a couple of levers on it. She pushed a button, cranked one of the knobs and flipped that lever. A green light changed to red on the front end of the controller. EarthAstro's elbows involuntarily crossed themselves around her abs, clenching her stomach. A sharp pain of an electrocution type sensation was the reason the yellow Astroranger bowed over and hollered out. MercuryAstro turned his head and saw EarthAstro's forearm holding her gut under her ribs. He ran towards the yellow Astroranger to hold her up. "Beverly, what's wrong?" "I don't know," she gasped while looking up at the white Astroranger. "It's a lot worse than an ulcer, I know that." "Check it out, guys," SaturnAstro pointed and said. Armaton soldiers helped Stomper to stand up while Ginara stepped forth with the black box within her iron grip. JupiterAstro angrily stepped forth. "What are you doing!?" "Watch your step, Astroranger; I've got you covered," Ginara warned. "I knew you would never believe me if I have told you I could do this so I decided that I'd show you what my demands are before using words. After all, actions _are_ louder, no?" JupiterAstro shook his head violently. "Answer my question, Ginara!" "It's really obvious: touch Cyborg Stomper and your yellow Astroranger will receive minor to major amounts of pain any part of her body I choose," Ginara said. EarthAstro, able to stand and feeling fine, looked at her, frozen with psychological shock. It just couldn't be true! she thought. It can't be. "Why her?" MercuryAstro asked. "How come you wont do it to anyone of us?" "Pleadia took the liberties of wiring her central nervous system to an implant that gives me control over what every single nerve in her body feels." "I don't buy it," SaturnAstro scornfully said. "We're going to do whatever it takes to kill your God awful cyborg." JupiterAstro nodded at him and looked at her while MercuryAstro joined him. "I agree. You're lying to us--we would have found your implant by now." "Still don't believe me?" Ginara asked. She pointed the thin rectangular box at yellow Astroranger again. In an eardrum piercing scream, EarthAstro's head pointed up while her hands grabbed onto her stomach again. Her knees gave way from the pain, causing her legs to buckle, dropping the yellow Astroranger onto her skirt-covered bottom. JupiterAstro spun around and looked at EarthAstro. "Beverly!" The yellow Astroranger had bowed completely over her slanted legs while heavily breathing; JupiterAstro knelt beside her and looked at the attentive and alert MercuryAstro. "Messuta, how the hell is that bitch doing that?" MercuryAstro looked at Ginara's hands. "A transmitter might be signaling the implant or implants in her body, causing her body to feel pain. This is really bad." SaturnAstro looked at the white Astroranger waiting for him to finish. "This affects muscle control because the nerves are what the brain uses to control them," MercuryAstro said. "This is for real, everybody." "Exactly," Ginara pointed out. SaturnAstro looked at her, moving in such a way as to indicate strong contempt. "Why is this cyborg so important to you? So important that you would do this!?" Ginara put the device away, behind her back and looked at each one of them, including EarthAstro, standing on a knee. "Simple--give me all the solar spheres you have and I wont destroy this city with cascade earthquakes." "You wouldn't dare," EarthAstro gasped, forcing the breathless words from her lips. Ginara raised her eyebrows in a cavalier fashion. "Wouldn't I?" SaturnAstro looked to JupiterAstro, knowing she would. MercuryAstro wanted to make a move for that transmitter but knew he couldn't stand a chance with a dozen Armatons and Ginara there. JupiterAstro looked at recovering EarthAstro and then at Ginara. TO BE CONTINUED Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . . Amy attempts to comfort injured Peter from the traumatic experience of being trapped underground in a subway, pending MarsAstro's rescue. Meanwhile, the task force must make the ultimate decision in Episode 43: "Power Play! The Ultimate Trump Card". [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. [TV-PG] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------