[970915]
                                                                      [Preview]
Beverly is willing to endure torture treatment from Ginara but Lotia wants Leto
to give up the Solar Sphere to spare her--will he do it?  Will Amy make him?

                                                                  [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 Galaxy Task Force ASTRORANGER:

Amy runs into a Junior Highschooler being confronted by bullies.
    "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?"
...
    "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.

Meanwhile, Tom helps Dave take a new perspective on things with him and Amy...
    "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."

Peter later caught up with Amy and managed to ride the subway home with her.
    "What's your name?" Peter asked.
    The question caught her off guard, but, she turned to glance at him.
  "Amy."  Amy smiled at him and he smiled as well.

    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."
    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?"

  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.  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.

    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.

    "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.
    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.
    Ginara raised her eyebrows in a cavalier fashion.  "Wouldn't I?"
JupiterAstro looked at recovering EarthAstro and then at Ginara.  "We are not
giving you a damn thing until you promise Cyborg Stomper wont cause anymore
earthquakes."
  While JupiterAstro negotiated with Ginara, MercuryAstro held onto
EarthAstro's shoulders.  "Beverly, are you all right?"
  "I feel like somebody's beat the living hell outta me," she answered.  "But,
then again--I should be used to that by now."
  "You have one Earth hour to make your decision, Astroranger--by then, the big
earthquakes will begin until you give us what we want," Ginara said.  "Clear?"
  JupiterAstro nodded affirmatively.  "Remember this, Ginara--we don't give up.
If you get what you want, you better prepared to hang onto it like your life is
dependant on it."


                                  Episode 43:
                     "Power Play!  The Ultimate Trump Card"                   

     Southbound on Figueroa Street, the red HydroCycle made a sharp right turn,
driving westbound on to 7th Street.  MarsAstro drove at top speed as his engine
became louder.  The red brake light on the rear of his motorcycle came on as he
slowed down.  Looking ahead, he reacted with disappointment.  "Aww man," he had
moaned.  CalTrans crews blocked off area with yellow "Do Not Cross - Hazardous
Area - Do Not Enter" tape. They were attempting to secure one of the pillars in
the center of the street that held up the freeway's bridge.  MarsAstro'd pulled
his foot off the street and drove towards the crew slowly.
   One of the men in red hard hats walked under the tape and approached the red
Astroranger stopping once again.  "Okay, I don't know who you are but you can't
come in here.  In case you didn't notice, a quake damn near took down this here
freeway."
  "I know, but I don't know if _you_ noticed, but there's a subway underneath
this street that stuck," MarsAstro said.  "I have to make sure those people are
going to be okay in case this place comes apart again."
  The crewman became increasingly annoyed.  "Hey listen, man, that's not my
problem.  But if you wanna get under there, you're gonna have to deal with
MTA's engineers but you're not going to get there from here."
  MarsAstro exhaled but shrugged off his irritation to turn his bike around and
drive off in the opposite direction.

     The cloaked space station that synchronously orbited the moon had remained
on the dark side of the lunar body.  Aboard--the three of the four team members
took seats as Commander Leto walked up to Australis, glancing at the others and
then at him.  "What's are status?"
  Australis firmed up his lips while looking down.  He looked Leto in the eyes
and shook his head.  "It doesn't look good Commander."
  "We've got 52 minutes and counting before LA looks like a third-world country
overnight," Messuta reported.  "I'd hate to say it but we should have seen this
coming."  Nashiran frowned and nodded.
  Australis knew his sentiment and then looked at Leto.  "We cannot give them a
single solar sphere.  What they already have may be too many.  If they get ours
and fight us for the Mercury and Earth spheres, IF we lose, we are looking at a
_big_ problem."
  "The Infinitum Genesis Ring in the hands of the Nazitans would be devastating
but I still don't understand; why must we give in to their demands now?  Surely
this cyborg is nothing we can't handle with a little time," Leto assumed.
  Nashiran stood up.  "You're wrong, Commander.  Those artificial earthquakes
were being caused by something Ginara called Cyborg Stomper.  And it's pretty
deadly at that but the worst part is we can't lay a finger on Stomper."
  Leto looked confused--still believing the threat only tactical.  "Why not?"
  "Commander--Pleadia, apparently their scientific specialist has tampered with
Beverly, allowing Ginara to induce pain anywhere in Beverly's body," Australis
answered.  "Who knows what she'll do to her if we don't do what Ginara wants."
  "How do you know they can do this?" Leto asked.
  Nashiran looked at Beverly, shaking slightly and then at Leto.  "Ginara had a
preview of what it could do demonstrated to us to ensure we knew she was being
very honest with us."
  "Hey, come look at what I've found, you guys," Messuta called out. The others
gathered around Messuta next to Beverly while he was holding up her hair.  A
tight eye from Australis was on the back of her neck.  "What do you make of
this?" Messuta asked.  On the back of her neck where her hair would hang was a
small black gadget.  Australis' mouth hung open in shock.
  Beverly, sensing the room going dead, darted her eyes to the side.  "What!?
What is it?" She put her fingers behind her neck and felt the tiny thing there.
  "It looks like a micro-receptor node," Leto guessed.  "It is strategically at
a junction in your vertebrae indicating it's more then likely connected to your
spinal cord."
  "Oh God," Beverly whispered, staring blankly.  "How did that get there??"
  "Pleadia must had already bought himself some insurance in case a rescue from
us was successful," Nashiran figured.  "What are the chances we can remove this
thing, Commander?"
  Leto frowned and looked down.  "Spinal surgery has been a mastered science on
Terrania for a long time now but who knows if that translates over to Beverly,
given that she isn't completely Terranian.  Besides, who knows how long before
an operation can be arranged.  There are very few surgeons on our world."
  "We'll think of something in the meantime," Australis concluded.  "We have a
real good reason to believe that this is the way Ginara is torturing Bev.  What
if you could arrange a surgery?"
  Messuta sighed.  "We don't know that much about Human physiology to perform
such a surgery.  If they fail, Beverly would end up paralyzed from the neck
down."  Beverly couldn't believe what was happening to her.

     In downtown Los Angeles, it was raining again at the 7th Street station as
the light-rail Blue Line began and terminated at this station, taking people to
and from Long Beach to the Red Line subway.  MTA Police in uniform directed the
passengers away from the Red Line, however, due to the emergency.  Other subway
trains were delayed by the stuck subway under the freeway.
  Underground on the station platform, the red HydroCycle came down the stairs;
Metro engineers in white hardhats and jumpsuits looking at blueprints suddenly
heard the motorcycle's engine echo throughout.  "What in the?"
  MarsAstro drove over the bumpy concrete steps and drive towards the benches.
MTA Police followed him down the steps and yelled out at him.  "Hey!  You can't
go in there!"
  The motorcycle took the red Astroranger onto the tracks.  Its black tires had
caused the gray gravel to leap out from between the iron tracks.  The bike took
MarsAstro away from the station and into the dimly lit tunnel as he sped up. He
immediately noticed the concrete ties the tracks were bolted to made his bike
jerk up and down over each tie.  "Better activate the power shocks."  He pushed
a key on his terminal and a audible confirmation beep had sounded.  The vehicle
elevated itself above the tires some as he was able to drive smoothly over the
uneven surface of the railroad.
  The sound of his engine echoed through the hollow tunnel of gray concrete as
his headlight lit the way for the red HydroCycles driving fast.  Checking his
terminal's active matrix display monitor, a realtime image of the tunnel and
his position were seen on screen along with numbers showing MarsAstro's
current location.
  "Getting pretty close, better slow down," MarsAstro said to himself.  "Hope I
have what it takes to get everybody out of there."  Driving down the railroad,
he hit the brake suddenly.  "Oh no!"  There was a pile of crumbled concrete on
the tracks and bent steel ribs fallen from the rounded tunnel ceiling.  "Ugh!!
This sucks!"  MarsAstro walked his motorcycle back away from the debris in the
front of the train.
  "Moleculatom Guns!" he commanded.  Pushing the key on his terminal, the front
of his HydroCycle's hood opened as a dark gray barrel slid out.  "Fire!"  A big
flash of white light preceded a streaming blue ray of electricity shooting out
of the motorcycle below the headlight.  Sparks from the shots blasted boulder
sized chunks of debris into smoke pebbles.

     Within the dimly lit subway, the frightened passengers started looking all
over the cab as they returned to making fearful sounds.  They all heard a noise
that seemed to be ongoing and near by.  Amy didn't think it was Sheratan so she
never tried to speak to him mentally--at the moment, her primary concern was on
Peter.  He was nervous from the threat of death, and not knowing what to say.
  "Got any friends in school?" Amy asked to make for small talk.
  "A couple of guys who I like to chat with but it isn't as serious as I'd like
it so I wouldn't say so," Peter answered, guarding against rambling.
  Amy grinned at him.  "Not even a girlfriend?"
  Peter looked at her immediately.  "NO.  Uh...  Uh, I mean..."  He'd tried to
correct her to eagerly, Peter thought.  Being the self-perfectionist, he tried
cleaning up after that.  "I'm not seeing anyone right now."
  Amy smiled nodded and looked ahead.  "I see."
  Peter looked down as his mind began to wander.  "Actually, that's not because
nobody is interested in me but it's because I like older women."  Amy looked on
the floor and raised an eyebrow.  A gentle rumbling built up quickly that which
resulted in a strong vibrating rocked the subway again; loud screams were heard
by the women aboard while Amy reached over and secured Peter's body against the
wall with her hands.  "Don't worry, Peter, I got you."
  "This is one strong aftershock!" Peter complained.

     It was still sprinkling in downtown as Ginara walked beside Cyborg Stomper
within a safety radius. A small region for her to stand on without being shaken
while the earthquakes occurred. She looked at a digital clock on a bank reading
"5:00 P.M." and then at Stomper.  "Their time is up.  Stomper, increase power!"
Stomper nodded and dropped the fists of its barbel like arms onto the ground, a
number of pedestrians ran screaming for cover while power lines were pulled off
the polls hitting the ground causing sparks off the cracked up pavement.

     Within the subway tunnel, MarsAstro stood behind the derailed train when a
strong jolt caused him to turn his head and look around.  "Oh no!  Those quakes
are starting up again!!"  The shaking caused him to stumble around, but the red
Astroranger managed to put himself up against the tunnel wall behind the train.
  "Moleculatom Blaster!" he shouted; the weapon in his belt's holster was taken
by his white gloved hand.  "Full power," MarsAstro confirmed after looking at
the weapon.  "Fire!"  A strong beam shot out the glass in the train operator's
cab windshield. Instantly shattering from sparks bursting out of the glass, the
windshield rained down on the ground outside as well as the inside of the cab.
Another thunderous rumble was heard because of another strong quake.  MarsAstro
put away his blaster and stepped in front of the train.  "Hope I can get
everybody through this window safely," MarsAstro said to himself.  "Here we
go."  The red Astroranger crawled onto the train and inside.  People on the
floor jumped back when the cab door suddenly opened.  MarsAstro looked around
at everyone and put up his hands. "Don't worry, I'm going to try to get you all
outta here."
  ``Sheratan?'' Amy thought to herself.  ``Oh thank goodness.''  MarsAstro came
up to a door and used his powerful strength to pull the locked doors open.  The
doors gave way when a loud pop heard.  The red Astroranger's white gloved hands
managed to slide the doors open.  "Looks like there's a three foot clearance
between the train and the wall on this side."  More earthshaking began again as
MarsAstro held onto a pole to stay steady until it stopped.  Stepping aside,
he used his arm to rally the passengers.  "Come on everybody, if you're not
hurt, get out of the train now and run to your right.  Keep running until you
get back to the station platform," MarsAstro announced.  "Watch your step."  He
watched as people who'd stood up run out of the door, jump down onto the bolts
that held the iron track to the ties and ran down the tunnel.
  MarsAstro looked over and noticed Amy with Peter and moved quickly.  Amy with
Peter looked grateful to see him.  "Glad you're here!"
  "I barely made it," MarsAstro replied; he looked at Peter.  "Is he going to
be okay?"  Peter wasn't paying any attention to MarsAstro.
  "He's dislocated his shoulder but when the paramedics get here, he should be
fine," Amy answered.  "Do you have any idea why there are so many earthquakes?"
  MarsAstro nodded.  "A cyborg is responsible.  Lets go--we've got to take care
of business."
  "I can't," Amy replied.  "My ankle is messed up."  MarsAstro knelt down and
put his arms under Amy, she put her arm around his neck and stood up.
  "Wait," Peter said.  "Where are you taking her?"
  Amy looked at him.  "It's okay, Peter.  Trust me."  MarsAstro carried her off
while walking away.  "I wonder why the earthquakes stopped?" he asked himself.

     In the parking lot of a bank, EarthAstro used her forearms to block Cyborg
Stomper's jack hammer.  Taking her arms away she jumped backwards onto her
hands and used her feet to knock the jack hammer straight up.  The yellow
Astroranger had done a low spin-kick causing the cyborg to tumble over.
  "Moleculatom Weapons!" JupiterAstro commanded.  "Dagger mode!"  The three of
the Astrorangers held their daggers high and then jumped into the air.  In the
sky, the green, black and white Astrorangers somersaulted overhead in opposite
directions and then out of sight.
  All three came down on Cyborg Stomper upon landing--they pushed their daggers
down against the cyborg's jack hammer, but Stomper stood up and pushed back.  
They all were launched upwards and fell back onto the ground.
  Ginara stepped up while holding the dark gray box in her hands.  "This is too
easy."  She flipped the switch and EarthAstro, standing at the other end of the
lot, grabbed her shoulder and yelled out.
  The yellow Astroranger dropped to one knee.  "Damn it!" she screamed.
  "Beverly!" MercuryAstro shouted.  "Guys, we _have_ to get that transmitter!"
  JupiterAstro nodded. "Let's go!"  The three of them ran ahead.  Stomper waved
its finger from side to side indicating it shouldn't do that.  It stabbed the
ground with the jack hammer and turned it on.
  Suddenly, there was a powerful shaking that caused all four Astrorangers to
fell down.  SaturnAstro rolled over and looked up at the others.  "What was the
back-up plan??"  Ginara changed coordinates on the location of the next area to
be stimulated as she flipped the switch again.
  EarthAstro lost control of her pelvic muscles because of a sharp pain that
ripped through her nerves.  "Don't let Cyborg Stomper destroy this city," she
gasped.  "I'll try to hang on; don't give her the spheres."  JupiterAstro was
impressed with her determination.
  Down the street, MarsAstro drove down the street with Amy riding behind him.
The red HydroCycle slowed to a stop and MarsAstro put his white boot-covered
foot on the asphalt.  "What the hell is this?"  EarthAstro yelled out again
while holding her ribs.
  "Something's wrong with Beverly!" Amy noticed.  "She's hurt."
  JupiterAstro ran up to the red HydroCycle they were on followed by the white
and black Astrorangers.  "Amy!  You're okay!"
  "Yeah, barely," she replied.  Amy wiped wet hair away from her eyes.  "What's
going on?"
  MercuryAstro looked at Amy.  "They've found a way to torture Beverly somehow
if we try to fight the cyborg called Stomper causing the earthquakes.  And the
quakes wont stop until we give them the solar spheres."
  "Oh crap," MarsAstro groaned.  "Is Beverly okay?"
  SaturnAstro shook his head.  "She's barely holding on.."  Amy looked over and
saw EarthAstro holding her ribcage.  This time, Ginara had left the pain going.
  Amy looked at JupiterAstro affirmatively.  "There's nothing else we can do."
  "What are you saying!?" MercuryAstro asked.
  Amy looked at the white Astroranger.  "I'm saying:  give Ginara the solar
spheres."


 ACT II:

     It began to rain again in downtown Los Angeles while in the parking lot of
a bank, EarthAstro hung off of MercuryAstro's shoulder while Ginara and Stomper
stood watching. JupiterAstro stood in shock while looking at Amy who sat behind
MarsAstro on his red HydroCycle.  SaturnAstro looked at them impatiently.  "Hey
guys, time's running short."
  JupiterAstro nodded at him and returned to looking at Amy. "There's no way we
are gonna just give the Nazitans the solar spheres!  If they fight for the ones
on Earth and Mercury and win--we can kiss this world goodbye."
  "But we can't just stand by and watch Beverly get tortured to death by Ginara
you guys," Amy replied. "And we would be responsible for the deaths of hundreds
of thousands if we let Cyborg Stomper destroy the city so we have to give in."
  MarsAstro shook his head.  "No way, there has to be another way out of this!"

     Meanwhile at the Nazitan outpost under the surface of Pluto--Adol sat upon
his throne and watched the Astroranger task force on his crystal ball.  He knew
their leader refused to hand over their solar spheres. Standing up, Adol walked
towards the glass-like sphere with his wand in hand.  "The Astroranger warriors
will succumb to my demands one way or the other."  The crystal ball displayed a
picture of Stomper in the parking lot.
  "By the power invested in me by Lord Vahora of Procyon III, I, Adol the
Great, command you to _grow_, Cyborg Stomper!"  The pinwheel on his wand spun
faster with increasing speed.  "Multiply your size one hundred fold; make your
strength one thousand fold and augment your powers ten thousand fold!  Grow,
Tortan and become Titan-Stomper!"  Bits of light began to stream into the globe
giving a visual of the cyborg on Earth.
  In the rain drenched parking lot, the cyborg's aluminum-like skin started to
expand as its head struggled with its next stretching upwards.  Its legs began
to expand and stretch as well.  All of a sudden, against the gray cloudy sky, a
150-foot mutant humanoid was seen waving its massive jack hammer about.  Ginara
looked up and clenched her fist.  "Good!  Adol knows."
  EarthAstro hung from MercuryAstro's shoulder by her arm and looked at Ginara
grinning at them.  "Guys, let me get EarthRobo; at that size, it could create a
quake that would instantly destroy this city!"
  "No!" Amy shouted.  "Beverly, they'll..."
  Ginara interrupted.  "You'll feel like every part of your body has a knife in
each area.  You wont die but you'll wish you could."
  "We're checkmated, Sheratan," JupiterAstro said.  "I'm afraid we have no
alternative but to surrender all three of our solar spheres."  MarsAstro looked
at him and then down again.
  "Tick tock, Astrorangers," Ginara reminded.  "Titan-Stomper isn't waiting for
very long."  Thunder and lightning led to the raining getting much worse.
  MarsAstro pushed a key on his terminal with an audio confirmation indicating
the comm-channel was open.  "SpaceBase--this is MarsAstro.  Commander Leto, are
you there?"
  "Acknowledged, MarsAstro," Leto had said through his helmet's micro-speakers.
  MarsAstro braced the handle bars on his motorcycle and took a deep breath.
"Send down CombatShuttle with the Venus, Saturn and Neptune solar spheres."
Ginara grinned and SaturnAstro noticed. EarthAstro was able to stand on her own
now because her anxiety and nervousness distracted her from remaining pains.
  "Sheratan, are you certain??" Leto asked.  "Is there any other way to..."
  MarsAstro interrupted, "No, Leto--I'm afraid there isn't.  Send it right away
because we don't have a lot of time."
  Aboard the SpaceBase, Leto leaned over the communications station on the
right side of the main deck.  "I understand," he said with a tone of defeat.
"CombatShuttle is now ready to go."
  "Acknowledged; MarsAstro out," he said as it rained harder.  "Okay, Ginara;
now that you've got what you want, Nazitan--give me that transmitter.  Now!"
  Ginara shook her head.  "Not so fast, red Astroranger--first, I want to see
your AstroShuttle drop off all three solar spheres.  Then I'll give it to you."
  JupiterAstro looked up and pointed.  "Here it comes."  The red winged shuttle
flew through the gray cloudy sky between the skyscrapers there in downtown Los
Angeles.  It began to descend and then hovered above the ground using vertical
air jets.  A circle on the ventral side of the hull irised open as a ray of red
light came forth.  On the black wet pavement of the parking lot, three glowing
spheres of purple, pink and light blue color materialized.
  MarsAstro dismounted his motorcycle while JupiterAstro held it steady for Amy
to sit on.  Ginara walked forth holding out the transmitter. MarsAstro extended
his gloved hand to hold it while she picked up one of the solar spheres. Taking
another, he let him have the device.
  Ginara picked up the last solar sphere and MarsAstro shook the transmitter.
"Hey, this thing is surrpisingly hollow."
  "Ha-ha-ha," Ginara giggled.  "I know!"
  MarsAstro threw the empty box onto the asphalt, causing it to pop and bust
apart.  "It's a fake!!"  The other Astrorangers watching shifted their
shoulders, reacting to her unsuspected tretchery.
  "What?!" JupiterAstro exclaimed.  ``I had a feeling she'd try this.''
  "It doesn't matter that she still has the real transmitter," MercuryAstro
explained.  "If we can remove the implant, anything they've got will be
useless."
  Ginara juggled the spheres until they disappeared one by one.  "See you all
again soon but then again--maybe not.  Titan-Stomper, reduce this city to
rubble."  Titan-Stomper activated its jack-hammer and held it while waiting for
Ginara to leave.  The team jumped back ready for its attack as the rain began
to subside.
  "Of course," SaturnAstro mumbled.  "Ginara, you're a fool if you think you're
going to get away with this."
  "I already have," Ginara said while vanishing.  JupiterAstro kept a close eye
on the cyborg.
  EarthAstro looked at Amy while MercuryAstro held up the red HydroCycle.  "How
come you haven't AstroCharged?"
  "My ankle's twisted," Amy answered.  "Get EarthRobo and keep Stomper busy; we
will assemble AstroMan in the meantime."
  EarthAstro nodded.  "You got it," she said while moving away; Amy grabbed her
arm.  The yellow Astroranger looked at her wondering why she stopped her.
  "Are you okay, Bev?" Amy asked.
  EarthAstro nodded quickly.  "Yes--I'll be fine."  An explosion was heard and
they both turned to look at the origin.  Another explosion of sparks broke out
of Titan-Stomper's chest from electric blue beams of light being fired from the
Moleculatom Blasters the others held.
  "This isn't going to work for very long," SaturnAstro complained.  "Sheratan,
board your AstroShuttle until EarthRobo can help."
  "Okay," MarsAstro replied while he put his weapon away.  "Australis, help Amy
AstroCharge and form AstroMan."  Titan-Stomper stabbed its jack hammer into the
ground and the three Astrorangers leaped away from the gigantic metal.  The red
Astroranger stood up and jumped into the air.
  In the sky, MarsAstro leaped high up into the gray cloudy sky.  Inside of the
cockpit, the red Astroranger landed in his seat. On CombatShuttle's console, he
pushed up a slider on his console. "Ready!" he announced.  The red AstroShuttle
flew around the cloudy sky.  Titan-Stomper looked up at CombatShuttle flying by
and turned to see it return. 
  JupiterAstro looked at EarthAstro and nodded signaling her to proceed.
  "Galaxy Task Force Command: AstroShuttle!" EarthAstro commanded.  "AirShuttle
blast off!"
  The floating AirShuttle, anchored beside the Astroranger SpaceBase, orbiting
the moon in space had detached it's chain link to the space station and engaged
its engines.  The jet fighter plane-like space craft blasted off to Earth.
  JupiterAstro looked away from EarthAstro and at the red bike parked in the
lot.  "Amy, now!"
  "ChangeForm!" shouted bringing up her right fist; her Zircon GeneGem ring had
gleamed a bright pink.  "AstroCharge!"  Forcing the golden ring forth, the gem
flashed.
  Amy's face was before a black background as it had dissolved into a black
silhouette; her body a black silhouette in front of a red grid, a white bar of
light scrolled across her body from left to right.  When the light returned to
the left, she was in a shiny pink Astroranger uniform with a skirt as light
flashed again.
  VenusAstro dismounted from the red HydroCycle standing on the kickstand and
stood beside it.  "Ready guys."
  "Great," JupiterAstro said.  "Galaxy Task Force Command--AstroShuttle Fleet!"
  In the zero-gravity take-off bay at the bottom of the SpaceBase, the
air-pressure force field activated in the take-off bay as the bay doors began
to open.  The rocket boosters behind four space vehicles started glowing when a
brilliant blast of light followed.
  In outer space, the shuttles flew towards the Earth away from the moon.
  AirShuttle flew by and joined CombatShuttle already shooting at Titan-Stomper
and began to ascend further.
  EarthAstro was seated within her cockpit and grabbed her console's controls.
"Activating EarthRobo mode!" She pulled back a black lever on the right side of
the wall.
  Her altitude climbed dramatically.  The afterburners of the yellow jet became
robot legs as the wings turned upside down. The main body of the huge spaceship
unfolded to become robot arms.  The nose of the jet craft came down to form the
chest as the head ascended where the cockpit was.  EarthRobo landed feet first
on the ground and assumed the "T" battle position.
  EarthAstro pounded her left palm with her fist and then held up her fist.
"Transformation complete!  Celestial Weapon--Lightning Daggers!"
  The yellow robot's fists held up giant sized versions of EarthAstro's daggers
and stood ready.  Meanwhile, the five AstroShuttles flew towards the city.
  MarsAstro looked to his side while flying his shuttle.  "Beverly can hold him
off for now--let's unite!"
  "Ready," JupiterAstro replied while being seen on his screen. All five pulled
back a lever on the left side of their cockpits.
  MarsAstro nodded.  "Here we go!"
  The shuttles, red CombatShuttle and pink RescueShuttle formed feet and
legs and landed on the ground.
  The green CommandShuttle's nose folded down under the space craft while the
afterburners hooked onto the sides of the craft forming shoulders; it turned
upside down and attached to the nose of the two legs on the ground.
    Meanwhile, different tubes were bringing each Astroranger in their seat to
the primary cockpit.
  The rockets--white TurboShuttle and black SolarShuttle, flew into the
shoulders on the CommandShuttle and extended into arms.  Fists came from the
afterburners of the rockets.
  From between the shoulders ascended the head of AstroMan.  Behind the visor
in the cockpit, green JupiterAstro and black SaturnAstro came up on the bottom
level.  On the top level sat MercuryAstro and VenusAstro while MarsAstro was
centered in the middle.  All had risen behind their consoles when the ceiling
lights had illuminated the cockpit.  "AstroMan merger complete."
  With its fists' knuckles together, the giant robot AstroMan's visor gleamed
into a twinkle in the corner when bringing its fists apart.
  EarthRobo's chest was jabbed and struck by the hammer operated by Stomper and
sparks exploded twice from the hard hits.  The yellow robot still stood and had
struck back with its daggers.  The blades sparked off of its aluminum skin and
Titan-Stomper got wise fast because it held its jack-hammer sideways, using the
length of its hammer to block both blades.  The titan cyborg removed its hammer
and punched the robot in the chest causing a burst of sparks to knock the robot
down.
  Within the cockpit of AstroMan, MarsAstro pressed a key on his terminal.
"VisorRay!" he commanded.
  AstroMan took its fists away from the visor in its face as a wide yellow ray
streamed forth.  Multiple sparks blasted out of the cyborg's chest as it became
unstable.  On the street, the huge robot fell into the ground.
  EarthAstro looked at her screen showing what her robot saw.  "I'll take it
from here.  (Mess with my nerves will ya...)"  The yellow Astroranger shifted
the sticks on her console.
  EarthRobo crossed its daggers as lightning struck the blades.  The blades had
become glowing beams of light that had grew in length becoming double swords.
  Titan-Stomper got up on one knee and tried to activate its jack hammer but it
wouldn't start; it stabbed the ground with it but nothing happened.  AstroMan's
ray damaged its jack hammer.
  "Celestial Weapon Termination!" EarthRobo shouted.  The yellow robot's eyes
flashed repeatedly while the long swords struck diagonally down one right after
another.  Eventually, the robot turned around and used both swords to slice
against Titan-Stomper's flank; every blow causing sparks to explode out of its
abs.
  Titan-Stomper turned around and tried to move but it all of a sudden, it was
frozen.  EarthRobo stood in wait as the statue-like titan had began to shoot
sparks out of random locations on its body.  Eventually, it was consumed by the
explosions until it disintegrated.
Both robots stood side by side in front of the flaming remains as they returned
to stand by mode.

     It was still raining that night in Los Angeles at the house in Los Feliz.
Inside, Tom was about to walk out the front door while Will stood in the living
room.  Amy and Dave sat on the couch as they were about to leave.
  "I'll be waiting in the van," Tom told Will.  "Later guys."
  "Bye," Amy said.  Dave waved as he left.
  "Where are you two going?" Dave asked.
  Will took a deep breath.  "Well, we're going up to the SpaceBase to go get
Beverly back from surgery.  Ron called and said she's okay but I'm still not
going to feel better for a while.  Knowing the Nazitans have got the last three
solar spheres we had makes me real nervous."
  Dave smiled.  "Will relax. Didn't you wonder in the least why I asked Leto to
send _my_ shuttle to Earth?"
  "No, of course not," Will replied.  "Why?"
  "Those spheres are props that Ron developed in case of such an emergency," he
answered while grinning.  "Not even Leto knew."
  Will's eyebrows wrinkled his forehead.  "You mean they weren't real?"
  Dave grinned and shook his head.
  "Dave!  You genius!!" Will cheered.  "Oh man, I can't believe it!  I can't
wait to tell Tom."  Dave chuckled.
  Will walked towards the front door.  "I'll see you guys later, okay?"
  "Bye, Will," Dave said.  Amy waved.  He nodded smiled gleefully--he was happy
to new heights.
  Amy smiled.  "The Nazitans are bound to find out those are fakes."
  "Boy will they be pissed.  It'll be what they deserve," Dave replied.  "We'll
be ready for them when they try to get the last two spheres now."  Amy nodded.
  Dave sighed. "You know it's funny.  You and I--we fight some of the most ugly
and the most twisted, mutated, warped creatures man has ever seen in real life.
And yet, the scariest most frightening aspect of living still remains to be all
in the mind itself."  Amy focused on Dave as he spoke.
  "It's amazing; I have to wait until you're trapped beneath the surface of the
Earth and injured while the whole city is at threat of being destroyed before I
can be courageous enough to tell you the truth."
  "You don't have to be scared of the truth," Amy softly replied.  "I think you
will find it's what we both want."
  Dave looked down and nodded. "I know, it's just that after all that I've said
and done, I feel like a fool now.  You have to realize, I was only trying to do
the right thing."  Amy nodded and smiled.
  "Being leader of this team is an incredible responsibility and sometimes the
lines between what's right and what's wrong are hazy," Dave said; he looked up
at her and said, "but all I know is that I love you."  Amy smiled brightly.
  "I never would've thought of this but Tom's input was useful, he said that by
me attempting to deny my feelings over you for the purpose of being objective
in our mission, my objectivity will be slanted even worse," Dave told her.  "It
was hard to admit it but he was right for once."  Amy chuckled.
  Dave nodded.  "Amy, I am sorry for what it is that I've put you through and I
can only imagine what you've been going through.  And, what you've been through
to even try to tell me how you feel about me."
  "Dave, I understand what you did--you did in the best interest of the team,"
Amy said.  "But I think that things will work out in the end.  Nothing could
ever really stand in the way of true love."  Dave smiled at her and rolled off
the sofa.  Amy watched him while he stood on his knees.   Dave wedged himself
between her's knees while facing her and, smiling, Amy looked down on upon her
lap at him.  "Dave?  What are you doing?" 
  "Apologizing," he said while pulling apart the belt on her jeans.  Amy looked
at him curiously for a long while.  She opened her mouth to speak but gasped
instead.  Her eyes fell shut and looked up into the sky while breathing deeply.
"Aheh; Dave--we're not.."  Exhaling sharply she looked to her side and blew out
of her lips.  "We're not going to be alone for long, Dave..."
  Dave put his hands on her thighs and looked up.  "Amy, just--relax.  Please."
  "Dave... (Heh, this is nice.)," she whispered while grinning.  "Can you..."
  "Amy," Dave was getting ready to complain.  "Are you gonna..."
  She looked at him expressionlessly.  "Dave.  Don't stop now."  He smiled back
and lowered his head. Amy took a deep breath and leaned her head back.  Outside
the rain poured harder as the water rinsed the windows.

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    


Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . .

How will the Astroranger task force go to Mercury's fifth dimention without the
AstroShuttle fleet?  Cyborg Micron is AstroMan's greatest challenge in Episode
No. 44, "Espionage!  The Sabatoge of AstroMan."

[624]
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Artist Bros. Music and Dairenn Lombard.  All Rights Reserved.  Country Of First
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and Ishimori Productions.                                               [TV-PG]
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