[971004]
                                                                      [Preview]
Ginara ventures out to Mercury's fifth dimension to seize its solar sphere, but
the waterworld it turns out to be may be too dangerous; meanwhile, EarthRobo is
the Astroranger battle team's only hope of keeping AstroMan, now under the sole
control of Cyborg Micron, from destroying Los Angeles in episode #45, "Reclaim!
The Warrior Robot!"

                                                                  [Title Theme]

Artist Bros. Enterprises presents . . .

                        GALAXY TASK FORCE ASTRO RANGER
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Starring...

         Sheratan Kasei, a.k.a., Dave Marcello.  MarsAstro!

         Australis Mokusei, a.k.a., Will Richards.  JupiterAstro!

         Nashiran Dosei, a.k.a., Tom Nevison.  SaturnAstro!

         Messuta Suisei, a.k.a., Ron Michaeli.  MercuryAstro!

         Lotia Kinsei, a.k.a., Amy Leven.  VenusAstro!

         Beverly Tenmei.  EarthAstro!

  and... Commander Leto, a.k.a., Dr. Aaron Hanson.

  Featuring...

         Detective Frank Mahoney and Detective Kathy Sanchez.

 with... Captain Tony Fleishman.



  ACT I:

Last time on Astroranger:

    A computer monitor came up from behind another tombstone with graphics
  on the screen displaying a round face showing an evil smile.  The monitor
  was the head of an almond colored robot with a tower computer in its
  chest.  On it's left arm was a keyboard with keys that had unknown symbols
  instead of letters and numbers.
    Ron removed a flower from his jacket and laid it upon Lucy's grave and
  stood up.  "As my New Year's Resolution--I'll get Ginara for what she did
  to you."  Ron's bike was kicked over and he looked behind himself at it on
  the grass.  "Hey, what's the big idea??"
  Cyborg Micron, on heavy iron legs and feet stood six and and a half feet
  above Ron who looked at the robot flex its completely metal-made arms.
    "AstroCharge!"  The stone on his golden ring flashed brilliantly.
    Within another flash, the mask of MercuryAstro's helmet appeared in the
  field of tombstones when he assumed his three-way mercury insignia battle
  pose. 
  Cyborg Micron walked over to him and raised its foot.  The white
  Astroranger looked up and saw the heavy, metal made cyborg start to drop
  his foot on his chest.
    A green arrow shot Cyborg Micron in the chest causing sparks to blast
  out of its chases, knocking him back.

    Rising against the sunlight brightly illuminating the clear blue sky was
  the ninja-styled warrior, standing over 150 feet in height. Titan-Ginara
  flexed her arms before bringing them apart.
  "Merge to form AstroMan."  A five-way view of all cockpits showed the white
gloves of the Astroranger's fists pulling back a large black lever.
Cyborg Micron ran through the graveyard before leaping into
the air, turning into a glowing sphere of blue light.
  Like a shooting star, the blue sphere came at the forming robot while the
white TurboShuttle and black SolarShuttle hooked up to the shoulders.
     Walking in steps to the side, Titan-Ginara and AstroMan did not
take their eyes off of each other.  Suddenly, AstroMan's fist pounded
Ginara's chest.
    Pushing a button on its chest, a tray holding a compact disc slid out of
  Cyborg Micron's chest before it removed the disc.  Walking up to a wall,
  one of many panels were torn off by its bare hand showing blinking lights,
  many cards inside of the wall and wires connecting it all together.
  Micron inserted the compact disc into a vacant expansion slot in the wall
  and pushed certain keys on its left fore-arm mounted keyboard.

    AstroMan brought up its sword and was going to strike down but suddenly,
  the huge robot froze. 
    SaturnAstro looked up.  "What in the hell?"
    Suddenly, the door in the back of the cockpit had slid up and Cyborg
Micron had entered the spacious chamber.
    MarsAstro jumped off the second level and onto the third to tackle him
  from behind.  "Guys, we can't let him take control of the stations!!"
  Cyborg Micron knew the red Astroranger was coming up the ramp so it turned
  around and fired flash of white light out of the computer monitor it had
  for a head. 
    "Aw, ugh, agh!!" MarsAstro yelled when multiple bright sparks exploded
  out of his uniform like fireworks, lifting him off of his feet.
    Overhead, the red Astroranger dove head first from out of the bright
  blue sky when he was followed by the black and white Astrorangers.
  VenusAstro along with JupiterAstro also plummeted from the sky above.  Along
with them dropped an Armaton soldier.  Landing on its feet, it held up a remote
control and pushed one of two buttons on its surface.
  AstroMan's yellow eyes behind its red visor began to glow red.  Inside of the
cockpit, MarsAstro's station was occupied by Cyborg Micron.
  Armaton soldiers on the grass leaped into the air, traveling the height of
AstroMan.  On top of its head, four of them had leaped one by one inside.
  The other seats on the two top and bottom levels of AstroMan's cockpit were
taken by Armatons.
  Meanwhile, the Astroranger task force were in the process of getting up.  All
of them soon realizing they were hijacked. MercuryAstro lifted up VenusAstro to
check her condition.  "Lotia--are you okay?"
  She moaned but nodded her head.  "Mmm--what happened?"
  "The Nazitans have control of AstroMan!" SaturnAstro said.  "We were set up!"
  JupiterAstro looked at MarsAstro.  "What are we gonna do now, Sheratan?"
  "Your guess is as good as mine, Aus," the red Astroranger replied.
  "Oh man--it's moving again," MercuryAstro observed.  AstroMan put out its
fists, one of which holding the SunSabre.
 On the inside of the cockpit--Cyborg Micron pushed in the panel of the console
facing itself causing it to flip out and hang by hinges, showing an array of
jacks and data ports.  Micron held up a 25-pin connector and inserted it into
one of the ports and began pushing keys on its left forearm-mounted keyboard.
  AstroMan started marching forth and MarsAstro struggled to move so that he
could pick up JupiterAstro.  "We gotta find somewhere to hide!"
  SaturnAstro stood up with VenusAstro's arm around his shoulder and they moved
away.  AstroMan's visor gleamed again before a build up of energy led to a beam
of yellow light pulsing forth.
  Fire repeatedly exploded from the grass while the Astroranger ran towards the
exit.  MercuryAstro kept shooting at it with his Moleculatom Blaster but minor
sparks bounced off AstroMan's thick armor.
  "We're not gonna make it!" VenusAstro shouted.
  "Yes we are!" MarsAstro replied.  "Galaxy Task Force Command: Hydro...  UGH!"
Another blast of sparks knocked the crew backwards into the grass.
  "Aw man," SaturnAstro gasped--he looked up and saw AstroMan raising his foot.
"Look out!"  Gravity pulled its foot down again and each Astroranger watched as
it dropped foot by foot towards themselves.
  The giant yellow jet fighter plane, AirShuttle flew through the clouds while
it fired several rounds of ammunition against AstroMan.  Like fireworks, sparks
bounced off its hull causing it to stumble back.
  On the ground, MercuryAstro took his arms away from the back of his helmet as
he stood up and looked into the sky.  The others reacting similarly, VenusAstro
pointed up.  "Hey, it's Beverly!!"
  Within the cockpit of AirShuttle, EarthAstro looked out of her dome window
and gave a thumbs up while her space craft banked.
  "Come on, everybody!" MarsAstro said.  "Let's get out of here while we've got
the chance." The five of them continued on their way out of Centinela Park.


                                  Episode 45:
                          "Reclaim the Warrior Robot!"                        

     Mercury--Dimension V.  It was stormy and turbulent winds created a high
surf on the island which was predominately a beach.  Ginara walked up the
hillside and upon reaching the top, she looked out to sea.
  "According to the sensor sweep, this was the only formation of land on the
planet.  I hope that sphere is close--otherwise, this will be one swim."
Within the ocean an unknown event began to take place that was unique to this
world; whirlpools began to open up at random intervals. The vortexes would vary
in size, depth and in strength.
  Ginara shook her head.  "I knew there'd be a catch!"  On the ocean floor, the
white solar sphere was lodged underneath a slab of rock at the bottom of the
sea, ironically where the most violent currents are occurring.  Ginara eyed a
pad showing an electronically generated map.  "That's a long way down."

     Meanwhile in Inglewood, AstroMan used the SunSabre to knock missiles that
were being fired by the yellow jet, AirShuttle.  Within AstroMan's cockpit,
Armatons held on while Cyborg Micron typed into its left arm-mounted keyboard.
AstroMan's red eyes were illuminated and held its sword up high.  The mighty
robot swung down and AirShuttle turned onto its side while flying at AstroMan.
The yellow jet pulled up into the sky and banked to the left so it could return
for another pass.
  Inside of the cockpit, EarthAstro gripped her velocity and altitude levers
when she quickly grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it off to the right to
avoid a blast of sparks bursting beneath her.  "Okay, big guy--I'd hate to take
you down but I can't let you destroy the city no matter who you are!"
  AstroMan chopped side ways and AirShuttle's nose pulled up, taking the plane
high into the sky.
  "AirShuttle to EarthRobo now!" EarthAstro commanded when pulling back a lever
on the opposite side of the AstroRobo merge lever.
  The altitude of her massive yellow jet plane climbed dramatically.
  The afterburners became robot legs as the wings turned upside down.  The main
body of the jet 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 in front of a hospital and assumed the "T" battle position.
  The configuration of the yellow Astroranger's cockpit changed when she took
hold of the various levers on the console.  "EarthRobo ready."
     AstroMan walked forth and EarthRobo pulled up its fists.  AstroMan
threw the first punch and EarthRobo of much lighter construct swiftly
hammered the multi-colored robot's huge black fists.
  EarthRobo's left hook came after its abs and sparked off of its tough
armor.  AstroMan wasn't moved by the blow before it kicked EarthRobo in
the side, making it stumble back from a blast of sparks.
Inside of EarthRobo's cockpit--the yellow Astroranger was throttled within her
seat upon the tough impact.  "Ough!"  These hits were more powerful than usual.
Within the cockpit of AstroMan, Cyborg Micron pushed a large key on the right
side of its forearm-mounted keyboard.
  AstroMan took its fists away from its face and fired the wide yellow VisorRay
from its face.  EarthAstro attempted to step out of the way but it's armor took
the shot and almost fell down from the blast of sparks.
Within EarthRobo's cockpit--EarthAstro screamed from the sparks exploding in
front of her.  "Oh, God I need help here!"

     Behind the dark side of Earth's moon was the Astroranger SpaceBase, the
opal, sphere-shaped space station hidden from detection.  Onboard, Commander
Leto listened to Nashiran give a crisis situation report.  "...and as soon as
Sheratan had all the primary and emergency routes to shuttle and main cockpits
shut off, there it was."
  "That's when it beat up Australis and damn near electrocuted Lotia by
throwing her into the main viewer," Messuta added.  "The suit protected her
from the 480 equivalent volts of electricity but it also attacked Sheratan
after Nash and I tried stopping the cyborg.  That's when we were all kicked out
of the cockpit and Titan-Ginara was nowhere to be found."
  Leto nodded.  "By the way, are you three all right?"
  "Physically, I'll live," Australis groaned, "but I'm rather disturbed knowing
that the Nazitans have one of the most deadliest weapons we've got to within
their possession."  He stretched out to get the kinks out of his back.
  Sheratan nodded.  "Me too; I _know_ what AstroMan can do.  There IS no titan
cyborg that can come close to its power."
  "I know I wont feel better until I know how the hell they got a cyborg on the
inside of the AstroMan," Lotia said.  "It's no accident they've never been able
to do this before.  It's quite obvious they've bent over backwards to build one
like this."
  "I'm declaring this a Code Z level emergency," Leto said.  "It sounds drastic
but I haven't been able to regain control of AstroMan using any of the shuttle
terminals here onboard the SpaceBase. We have to assume the worse case scenario
is now a reality and that the only course of action is to destroy AstroMan."
  
   Near Derby Park, AstroMan and EarthRobo had engaged in a boxing match in the
graveyard as spectators had cast aside their fears to watch the unusual fight.
AstroMan one-two punched EarthRobo in the chest and again in the abs.  AstroMan
blocked EarthRobo's fist trying to counterpunch on both sides and then punched
back, sparking off of its armor and knocking the robot to into stumbling back.
  Aboard EarthRobo's cockpit--EarthAstro was shaken in her seat but managed to
stay in control of her console. "All right, I've had about enough of this crap!
Earth Daggers!"  The yellow Astroranger pushed a pair of buttons.
A large replica of EarthAstro's dagger was found within the huge silver fist of
EarthRobo as the thin robot crossed its arms and then aimed the daggers.
  AstroMan's chest sparked when the blade of EarthRobo's weapon came down on it
and EarthRobo's left dagger came in horizontally for an abdominal attack.  The
forearm of AstroMan blocked the dagger.  Its other fist came up to knock it off
and allow its first first to punch EarthRobo.  Sparks exploded out of
EarthRobo's yellow metal body.
  EarthAstro was, again, rocked in her chair.  "AstroMan's hard to beat!"
  The SunSabre reappeared within AstroMan's fist as it struck down. EarthRobo's
left dagger was held high to block the downward attack while it used its right
to slash AstroMan's abs.  EarthRobo turned around and swung down both daggers
sparking off AstroMan's chest armor.
Within AstroMan's cockpit--Cyborg Micron was jolted along with the Armaton
solders.  Cyborg Micron typed on its arm-mounted keyboard.
  AstroMan held out its left fist before forming a blue triangular grid that
became the DeltaShield.
Onboard EarthRobo's cockpit--EarthAstro clenched her fist and nodded happily.
"Got 'em on the run; now to finish this."  She shifted levers on her console.
  EarthRobo took slow steps while approaching with its daggers.  The yellow
robot struck against AstroMan and it immediately held up its shield.  Pulling
away, AstroMan knocked its blades high with its SunSabre and then sliced into
EarthRobo.  Sparks had blown everywhere when the yellow robot to fell into
high-voltage electric cables strung between two towers and dropped its daggers.
Inside of the yellow Robot's cockpit--EarthAstro screamed as she felt the pull
of gravity bring her robot down.
  AstroMan stepped close as the smoking robot layed in the grass, trying to get
up.  "I have to get rid of that shield!" EarthAstro figured.  "But if I can't
get this thing up yet, I'm dead meat."  AstroMan pulled up its foot and kicked
EarthRobo over, the metal clashing that hard causing more sparks.
  "Ough!!" EarthRobo screamed again.  "Afterburners!  Now!!"
 Jets brought the robot back onto its feet and AstroMan defensively moved back.
EarthAstro pulled up her two fists and pointed them ahead.  "Laser Bazookas!"
  EarthRobo brought up its two fists and then pointed them ahead.  On each arm
there came a long thin tube that came from open slots.  Long thin bursts of ray
beams shot out of the tubes that caused sparks to explode like fireworks on the
DeltaShield but AstroMan was unaffected.
  EarthAstro's white glove slapped her masked forehead.  "Oh bloody hell."
  AstroMan held the SunSabre against its face as its eyes zapped the sideways-I
shaped guard of the single-sided sword.  This caused a yellow light to travel
the length of the sword's blade transforming it into a laser saber.
EarthAstro was frozen by surprise.  "Oh shoot.  That's the SunSabre Supernova!"
  AstroMan swung down its sword causing the laser light to leave the blade of
the SunSabre. The beam entered EarthRobo's abs causing the tall yellow robot to
writhe while sparks exploded out of every area of its body.
  Inside of the cockpit, EarthAstro put her white-gloved hands against the
sides of her helmeted head while sparks broke out of various panels within the
cockpit.  While she screamed, more sparks rained from the ceiling with a
fountain of sparks blasting out of her main console.
  Smoke came out of EarthRobo like steam while fireworks continued to spray out
of its metal body before it began to come tumbling down once more.
  In the grass, AirShuttle dropped to the ground and inside of the cockpit, the
yellow Astroranger kept shifting a lever underneath the console. "Come on, damn
you!  Fly!!  Damn it--fly!"  The engine was finally online but the jets weren't
able to reach maximum output yet.  AstroMan was walking closer and closer and
she knew it.  "Come on!" she cried out.  "Please!!"  Finally, AirShuttle picked
itself up off the ground before the nose could be stepped on by AstroMan.
  In the sky, the AirShuttle flew around the sky.  AstroMan looked up and its
red visor sent a yellow ray of light upward.  AirShuttle was shot in the wing
and black smoke poured out of the jet as it began to lose altitude.
  "Oh no," EarthAstro moaned.  "This can't be happening to me."
AirShuttle began to crash towards Hollywood Park. The neon sign: Hollywood Park
sprayed sparks when the yellow jet plowed through it.  Meanwhile, EarthAstro
was catapulted through the blue sky.  After her jet crash landed into the
parking lot, EarthAstro dropped into the lawn.  As she tumbled rapidly through
the grass from the thrust of her ejection from AirShuttle, she switched between
her shiny yellow uniform and her yellow shirt and jeans in each flip.
Eventually, Beverly stopped--left in her street clothes.  AstroMan walked
through the park and when she rolled over onto her back, she looked up and saw
the 150-foot robot approaching her.


 ACT II:

   The Astroranger SpaceBase, an opal sphere-shaped space station synchronously
orbited the Earth's moon while onboard--Nashiran read the display of a station
opposite the AstroShuttle terminals and shook his head.  "Bad news guys; Ginara
was found on dimensional level five on the planet Mercury."
  Lotia stood up and walked over beside him.  "Ginara?  I bet they were trying
to disable the shuttle fleet so that we couldn't follow her too easily."
  "Yeah," Messuta agreed.  "Boosting sub-atomic vibrational levels requires a
tremendous amount of energy that only our shuttles can easily provide."
  "In that case, we've got to get AstroMan back under our control; we can't let
the Nazitans get another solar sphere!" Sheratan told everyone.
  Australis looked at him with his arms crossed. "Yeah, but, Sheratan; AstroMan
is basically a loss and as long as a has cyborg control of it, we have to get
rid of AstroMan.  Otherwise, we can kiss California goodbye."
  Sheratan looked back at him.  "There has to be a better alternative."
  "He's right," Nashiran agreed.  "AstroMan is too valuable let it go to waste.
We must find out what the cyborg did to pirate it so we can get AstroMan back."
  "Well, according to system logs recorded here at the SpaceBase," Leto began,
"there was a microscopic breech in the tractor force fields for less than a
millisecond shortly before TurboShuttle connected to the rest of AstroMan."
  "That's probably when the cyborg entered its body," Lotia suggested.
  "More than likely.  There was also a quick power fluctuation at the central
electrical impulse/data network core and that's when the network stopped
responding to cockpit commands," Leto reported.  "My guess is that the cyborg
has now attached itself to core somehow."
  "So how do we pull the plug?" Lotia asked.
  "Enter AstroMan, find out what it did at the main core junction and undo the
damage," Messuta said.  "I'm best qualified for that job."  Two bells sounded
and a yellow hues of light colored the white walls.  Commander Leto walked up
to the RescueShuttle console and converted it to the AirShuttle console.
  "What's happening?" Australis asked.
  Leto paged down through screen-fulls of text.  "System Logs say: outer hull
breach at sector 2F07, emergency retro-conversion to AirShuttle mode, emergency
pilot ejection activated."
  "Pilot ejection??" Lotia said.  "Beverly's in DEEP trouble.  Shoot, if they
find her with AstroMan..."
  Sheratan interrupted her.  "Don't even say it."
  "We need to AstroCharge--now," Australis said to everyone.

     Underneath the surface of Pluto--Ginara stood in the main chamber soaking
wet holding the white solar sphere before Adol the Great, standing in front of
his throne.
  "Well, sire--here it is," Ginara announced while breathing hard.  "It took me
forever to find it and I went through hell getting out of there but I made it."
Igan walked up to Ginara and took the sphere to give to Adol.  He looked at her
and lasciviously grinned.  "You should go swimming more often."
  Ginara back looked at him with disgust and then ignored him.  "Anyway, you
should have been there, Adol.  First there was..."
  "Fascinating, Ginara--now that we have the Mercury solar sphere," Adol
interrupted, "we can wait until Cyborg Micron kills the Astroranger task force
with their own robot."  Igan gave him the solar sphere.
  "And then we use AstroMan to take the Earth solar sphere," Adol announced.
Ginara looked off to the side, not believing how her tale was totally ignored.

     In the lawn surrounding Hollywood Park in Inglewood--Beverly used her
hands and feet to push herself back away from AstroMan walking forth.
Eventually, it raised its foot and began to drop it on the yellow Astroranger.
She pulled her helmeted head under her arms while the tall robot's foot cast a
shadow over her body.  Fireworks exploded on AstroMan's chest causing it to
stumble back.
  Flying in the sky, the five Astrorangers returned on their HydroCycles.  More
blue bolts were shot from above the headlights causing more sparks to blast out
of the gigantic robot.
  "Lotia, Messuta and I are gonna rescue Beverly, cover us," MarsAstro radioed.
  "You got it," JupiterAstro replied.  "Let's go, Nash."  The green and black
HydroCycles flew ahead while the red, pink and white flying motorcycles came in
for a landing.
  Beverly stood up as the three Astrorangers drove towards her.  "I've never
been so happy to see you all."
  "Are you okay?" MarsAstro asked.  She nodded yes.
  MercuryAstro sighed.  "Good, then I better get inside of AstroMan and..."
  "No, Messuta," VenusAstro interrupted.  "Beverly and I should go.  We'll need
you guys to get rid of the Armaton soldiers and take control of AstroMan when I
get rid of the cyborg and its Armatons."
  MarsAstro walked up to her and pointed his finger. "Have you gone bananas?  I
can't let you go in there alone--you'll be blown to smithereens!"
  "She won't be alone," Beverly said; she walked up to him and MercuryAstro,
putting a hand on both of their shoulders.  "Believe in us. Together, Lotia and
I will be able to reclaim AstroMan." She looked at both of them and they looked
at each other wondering what to say when suddenly all four looked into the sky.
  AstroMan was using the SunSabre like a fly swatter--swinging it through the
air, trying to knock the two HydroCycles flying around its head out of the sky.
  SaturnAstro ducked when the humongous blade swung over his head and looked
behind himself.  "Damn, Australis--what's ever control AstroMan's insane!"
  "Probably got an Armaton helping out," JupiterAstro said.  "We've got to keep
stalling until the others can get control of AstroMan."
  On the lawn, Beverly put out her hand and looked at VenusAstro. "Ready, sis?"
  VenusAstro took her hand and shook it.  "Ready."  
  "Change form!" Beverly brought up her right fist showing the jade GeneGem
ring.  "AstroCharge!"  Her gemstone's ring flashed brilliantly of white light.
     Beverly's face was before a black background as it had dissolved into a
black silhouette; her body a black silhouette before a red grid, a white bar of
light scrolled across her body from left to right.  When the light returned to
the left, she was in her shiny yellow Astroranger uniform and helmet.
  AstroMan repeatedly fired from its VisorRay at the flying HydroCycles.  The
two female Astrorangers ran through the lawn of Hollywood Park before they
leaped into the air.
  The two of them jumped high up into the sky, traveling the vertical length of
AstroMan's front side.  Eventually, they landed on top of its head and stood
up before turning around and dropping inside of AstroMan's head.
  Within of the cockpit--the backdoor slid up before the yellow and pink
Astrorangers moved inside.  The Armatons all jumped out of their seats in
surprise and VenusAstro promptly beat them up.  "Now you know what it's like!"
She used both hands to karate chop a soldier's shoulders, double-punched its
abs and then punched it across the head.  
  EarthAstro pulled Cyborg Micron out of MarsAstro's seat and pulled its plug
connected to the console.
     Still swinging its sword, AstroMan had suddenly froze.
  Inside of the cockpit--an Armaton swung its fist at VenusAstro's head.  She
ducked and caught its back-up punch, using it to put the soldier into an
arm lock.  "Beverly!  I'm going to the main deck of the electric impulse core."
  EarthAstro nodded.  "Okay--I'll try and hold off some of these goons for ya!"
VenusAstro flipped the Armaton onto its back and gave a thumbs up before
running out the door that automatically slid up.  EarthAstro stomped an
Armaton's knee and then knee-kicked its abs.
  VenusAstro ran into the dimly lit chamber that featured partial access to the
big metal ringed core holding thousands of data and electrical cables.  The
walls surrounding her were lined with access panels and she was checking for
which of those had been tampered with.  While walking, her white boot caught a
red dot of light indicating she'd tripped a sensor ray.
  Suddenly, a surveillance camera mounted close to the ceiling had shot a laser
beam point blank at VenusAstro.  Sparks broke out of the pink Astroranger's
uniform and she screamed before hitting the floor.  Another camera fired a thin
red beam of light as well.  Shiny battle suit still smoldering, VenusAstro
rolled out of the way in time before a tower of sparks leaped out of the floor.
She drew her Moleculatom Weapon and shot a bright blue beam of electricity into
the air.
  The wall-mounted camera exploded and sparks dripped out of the wall.  Above,
a net fell from the ceiling and the pink Astroranger was instantly covered with
it.  "Oh man!  I should've known!  That cyborg must've booby trapped this place
just in case we'd try to get AstroMan back!!"  She was suddenly suspended above
the floor inside of the net.  Another ``camera'' descended from the ceiling and
fired a consistent laser beam sparking off the wall behind VenusAstro.  Still
descending very slowly, laser was eventually going to cut through the net that
the pink Astroranger had occupied.
  From out of the darkness, two yellow daggers came through the air.  Sparks
had rained out of the metal strap that held up the net when the blades cut it
down. VenusAstro fell into EarthAstro's arms.
  "Now, I've never been so happy to have seen you!" VenusAstro said upon
standing on her feet.  "Beverly, Duck!"  She pushed the yellow Astroranger down
and tossed her Sonic Boomerang at the converted surveillance camera.  It was
about to cut across at the female Astrorangers when the boomerang knocked out
the camera as it exploded.  "What happened to the cyborg?" VenusAstro asked
before catching her Boomerang.
  "It's attempting to regain control of AstroMan using another device so we've
got to hurry," EarthAstro answered.  "I hope that you've set off all the booby
traps but in case you haven't--cover me."
  "Try using your PortaScanner to locate the panel of irregular configuration,"
VenusAstro suggested.  EarthAstro nodded and took the gray device out of her
belt's right-hip mounted holster and opened the flap.  Pressing a number of
buttons, the yellow Astroranger managed to point in a certain direction.  "That
way."  VenusAstro cautiously walked ahead of her and up to a wall.  Behind them
was Cyborg Micron who reached under the keyboard on its forearm and pulled out
a hidden sword.
  From its point of view, it saw the Astrorangers as graphics representing
variables in calculating the equation of a successful battle.
  The PortaScanner started sounding an alarm.  "Lotia!" EarthAstro had alerted.
VenusAstro turned around and saw the cyborg come after them.
  The pink Astroranger stepped out of the way.  "Here Beverly, you've got the
PortaScanner--see if you can fix it.  I'll deal with the cyborg."
  EarthAstro grabbed her shoulder.  "But, Lotia, I've got to help..."
  VenusAstro looked behind herself at EarthAstro.  "Just fix AstroMan!  Uh oh!"
     Cyborg Micron aggressively stepped forth striking down with its
silver-metallic sword.  VenusAstro swung her boomerang up to knock it away.
  Micron sliced up at the pink Astroranger and she ran under the blade.
She turned around and spin-kicked the cyborg's sword before it could
finish trying to push it into her.
  Using both hands, VenusAstro cut down on the Cyborg Micron with her
boomerang.  It took its sword and knocked her Celestial Weapon high up
and swung into her shoulder.  She too swung into its neck.
  When they both dragged their razor sharp weapons back, sparks
exploded out from the both of them.
     The pink Astroranger stumbled back but when the smoke cleared, she
held her weapon out to be ready.  Cyborg Micron held up its sword, also
ready to kill.
     Micron swung down on VenusAstro and she cut across knocking the
blade and the cyborg spinning to the side.
  Cyborg Micron stood on the edge of the deck facing the network core
which featured a 50 foot drop.  "Aw, no you don't!"  VenusAstro shin-kicked it
in the chest.  "Get away from that!"  Cyborg Micron stumbled backwards.
  EarthAstro held her PortaScanner up to the wall that caused it to make an
irregular sound. She closed her device and put it away before pulling the metal
panel off the wall.  Inside she reached in and pulled out a compact disc that
was attached to a foreign device mounted on one of the vacant expansion slots.
  In Hollywood Park, MercuryAstro pointed up into the sky. "Hey, Look at that!"
AstroMan's eyes returned from red to yellow. Overhead, a group of Armatons fell
out of the sky after AstroMan's emergency cockpit ejection system activated.
  "AstroMan is now back under control," JupiterAstro said.
  MarsAstro clenched his fist happily.  "All right then, let's go!"  He jumped
into the air.
  SaturnAstro nodded.  "Right behind ya!"  The black Astroranger also leaped
into the air. Side by side--they jumped into the sky, followed by the green and
white Astrorangers.
  Inside of the cockpit--the red Astroranger sat in the center seat while the
green and black Astrorangers sat on the bottom and MercuryAstro sat in the top
left-seat.  SaturnAstro took control of his console. "AstroMan now under manual
operation."   MercuryAstro clenched his fist happily.
  MarsAstro nodded with satisfaction.  "Hey, by the way, where's Lotia?"
    Within the inner-back of AstroMan--Cyborg Micron's sword slammed
across her ribs sparked off the pink Astroranger's uniform before she
could try attacking.
  She stumbled in front of Micron and turned around to face the cyborg again.
     Cyborg Micron's sword was high up before it came down on
VenusAstro.  They clashed weapons in the air and she pulled hers away
for an offensive counter-strike on the other side.
  She came in and used her boot to high-kick the cyborg in the abs and
chest, making it back off.  Micron wasn't quitting so it brought its
sword high and chopped down again.
     VenusAstro ran behind Cyborg Micron and held her boomerang
vertically just before Micron turned around and swung its sword at her.
The blade collided against her weapon as hoped but Cyborg Micron kept
pushing against her.
  She jumped back while the blade of Micron's sword stayed pressed
against her boomerang.  The pink Astroranger pushed her weapon up to
lose the sword and prepared to cut down against Micron but the cyborg
kicked her in the abs.
  VenusAstro was momentarily lifted off her feet by the kick before
Cyborg Micron turned around and sliced into her ribs.  The sparks
blasting out of her uniform from the blow forward flipped her over onto
her back.
     Micron ran up to VenusAstro and swung its sword down into her.
She held its blade back with her Sonic Boomerang but the cyborg took
her hand holding the boomerang away and tried striking again.
  The pink Astroranger held Cyborg Micron's big strong fist back when
it took her hand holding the boomerang and then got up to stomp on her
wrist.  VenusAstro screamed from the pain while letting go of her
weapon.  Cyborg Micron kicked the boomerang across the floor but when
it looked back at the pink Astroranger on the floor, her Moleculatom
Blaster was pointed directly at itself.
  Sparks blasted out of its chest when she fired a beam of electricity
into its chases.  Cyborg Micron stumbled back through the white smoke
and VenusAstro got up.
  Micron came back with its sword and chopped down at her.  She ran
behind the cyborg and waited for it to turn around before she leaped
up and hurricane-kicked it across the face.  Cyborg Micron was kicked
into the shadows and out of view.
  Outside, Cyborg Micron free-fell out of an exhaust pipe in the back of
AstroMan's tall body.
  VenusAstro put her fist inside her palm and popped her knuckles.  "And don't
come back!"
  "Get this thing out of here, Lotia--I'm gonna go down there and finish him
off!" EarthAstro said.  "Nobody uses AstroMan against EarthAstro and gets away
with it."  VenusAstro watched the yellow Astroranger move past her.
  In the sky, the yellow Astroranger somersaulted out of the back of AstroMan.
  The backdoor of AstroMan's cockpit slid up and VenusAstro walked up to the
top level where she sat at the top right station.  "Hey, guys."
  "Lotia!" MarsAstro called out.  "Man, am I glad to see you."
  VenusAstro nodded.  "Me too.  Okay, we're ready to take it home."
  "We'll stand by just in case the cyborg is energized into a titan,"
JupiterAstro replied.
     At the starting gate of a race track at the park--EarthAstro jumped in and
a jockey looked at her with surprise.  "Hey!  What is this!?"
  "I'm afraid I'm gonna need to borrow #6," EarthAstro said.  "She's got good
odds."  She began to mount the saddle of the horse.
  The jockey's mouth was hanging wide open.  "But...  But, you can't..."
  The yellow Astroranger looked at him.  "Just open the gate."  The jockey, too
stupefied to think, did exactly what she said and allowed her to get going.  On
the track, the horse ran over the dirt while EarthAstro rode him.  "Yah!  Yah!"
she shouted.  She led him towards the guard railing of the track where Cyborg
Micron ran through the grass lot where television vans covered the race.
  "Come on, boy--go!" the yellow Astroranger said to the horse.  He jumped over
the guard railing and into the field where she turned around and chased Micron.
  Cyborg Micron was running as fast as he could when from behind, the ranger on
a race horse came riding up from behind.  When she got close enough, EarthAstro
leaped off the saddle of the horse and jumped onto Cyborg Micron's back.
  Micron fell over and EarthAstro let go of the cyborg, allowing it to roll
away.  When it got up, Micron's monitor-screen face was cracked and smoking.
  The yellow Astroranger stood up holding her Lightning Daggers.  "TwinSword
Terra Power!"  Lightning had transformed her daggers into two-swords and posed
with them.  Cyborg Micron ran after EarthAstro, trying to stop her from doing
the inevitable.
  "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 clear blue sky,
EarthAstro's swords of laser light cut down and through the body of the robot.
  The tips of EarthAstro's two-swords stuck out of its back as blades returned
to daggers.  Standing there, Cyborg Micron had fallen apart and shattered while
bursting into flames. Soon, the cyborg exploded, the fire consuming the remains
of its body.
  EarthAstro watched the flaming debris.  "I did it!!"  The yellow Astroranger
stood in front of AstroMan and clenched her fist with pride.

     On a crisp and cool evening in Westwood, Amy wore a black conservative but
flattering evening gown with Dave who wore a relaxed suit as they strolled down
Le Conte Avenue.  Amy smiled.  "Thanks for taking me out to dinner.  After
today's adventures, anything I'd make would probably set off the smoke alarms!"
  Dave laughed.  "Yeah, I'm just glad we ordered a light snack. That restaurant
has a tendency to over stuff you--but I guess it is an italian restaurant and
they do like to eat big and hearty meals."
  "With the way they cook, can you blame them?" Amy said.  Dave looked at her
and smiled.  Some time passed before they finally reached Dave's red Pontiac
Trans AM.  When he removed his car keys to disarm the anti-theft system, he
looked at Amy and paused for a moment. "Amy, there's something I need to say to
you.  Let me try to finish before you say anything; this is going to be hard."
  Amy nodded and smiled.  "Okay."
  Dave put his keys away and leaned up against the passenger door.  "Well,
basically...  I don't think I need anymore proof that I love you more than
words of any language could describe.  I've been to hell and back over our
relationship and I'd do it all over again just to be able to stay with you.
  "I think of you constantly, from the time I wake up until I fall asleep and
even then you're in my dreams.  I can't imagine living life without you.  My
eyes will see other women who might look better in different ways.  But the one
thing that makes you the only one I want is how you're so pure.  Your undying
care and consideration for other people."  Amy smiled and felt flattered.
  Dave averted his eyes to maintain his courage while continuing to speak.  "We
might both have problems but in the past years, we have managed to get past
each one of them.  he simple fact of the matter is, whether or not anybody
likes this or not, we were meant to be together.  So this is why I need to ask
you a really big favor.  I promise to make it worth your while for the rest of
your life."
  "Sure, Dave," Amy replied.
  "Amy Leven--will you make me the happiest man alive for the rest of my life?
Or, better put," he asked before showing a tiny black box.  Opening the velvet
covered container, revealing a diamond ring that twinkled in the night lights.
Dave presented the ring to her and asked, "Will you marry me?"
  Amy looked at the ring and then at him.  "Oh, Dave--you have no idea how long
I have wanted to hear those words from you; of course I will."
  Dave smiled brightly.  "Thank you, Amy.  Thank you so much."  Amy took the
ring and slid it on her ring finger next to her GeneGem Ring situated on her
middle finger--both shining brightly.  She looked up at Dave, leaned closer and
kissed him on the lips.  Dave put his arms around her and continued their kiss.

     A black pick-up truck drove quickly down the street the following early
morning as it made a sharp right turn into the driveway of Sara Berg's house.
After he abruptly stopped, Tom turned off the engine and took out his key
before getting out of his truck.
  Inside of the living room, Sara saw Tom walk towards her front door through
her window and walked over to unlock the door.  She opened the door before Tom
could even knock.
  "I got here as soon as I could, Sara," Tom said upon entering.  "You sounded
quite upset; what's the matter?  Is it an emergency that I can help you with?"
  Sara pulled her hair back over her forehead while nervously pacing around. "I
uh, I--I don't know...  I just called you 'cause I had to tell somebody about
this before you got the wrong idea about me."
  Tom looked confused.  "Tell me about what, Sara?"
  "Lord knows you're probably going to get some twisted story from one of those
jackasses," Sara continued.  "Oh God, I just don't know I'm gonna do!"
  "Wait, stop for a minute," Tom said.  "Just start from the beginning, okay?"
  Sara nodded while coming close to hyperventilating.  "Um, okay.  Remember I
told you I went to the house where they hold the club meetings for the Southbay
Computer Users Group in Torance, right?"
  "Right, right," Tom answered while crossing his eyes.  "Go on."
  Sara sharply inhaled.  "Well, one of the members in the garage they converted
to the meeting area told me that Stephen was in the house."
  "He lives with his parents I take it?" Tom asked.
  Sara nodded nervously.  "(Yeah, he's going to a community college.)  Anyway,
I went in and his mother told me he was upstairs and warned me not to go up
there.  But I went up anyway and opened his door.  Guess what I saw?"  Without
a clue, Tom shrugged.  Sara squeezed her tear ducks at the bridge of her nose
and then looked up.  "He had a print out of the photo that Ryan scanned of me
skinny dipping in his hand that he was staring at while playing with himself."
  "Oh my," Tom moaned.  "So what did you do?"
  She shook her head.  "I beat him up."
  "You did what??" Tom shouted.
  "I kicked the crap out of 'em," Sara said.  "I tore up the picture and yelled
at Stephen while he pulled up his pants.  The next thing I knew, I'd socked him
in the gut, kneed him in the crotch and punched him out."
  "Sara," Tom was about to lecture.  "Why did you..."
  "I don't know!" Sara replied.  "It was just all I could take, you know??  I
mean, first my friends leave my club for his, then my administrators and then
my husband who just gives him copies of of honeymoon photos.  That freakin' SB
club had been getting celebrity appearance from corporate bigwigs that _my_
club SHOULD have gotten because I bent over backwards to make it happen.  And
now, I have to look at this man, apart of a group I hate get off on a picture
of me posing for who I thought was the man I loved."
  Tom shook his head.  "Sara, I don't know what to say..."
  Outside, a black and white LAPD car drove up to the curb and when the driver
side door opened, Officer Beverly Tenmei stepped out and closed it before
walking around the hood towards the sidewalk.  Tenmei walked up the path
towards the front door of Sara's house.
  After turning down her police radio, Beverly knocked on the door. "LAPD--open
up."
  Inside--Sara looked at Tom with a fearful look.  Tom recognized Beverly's
voice through the door.  "You better get that, Sara."
  "Police, open up," Beverly said.
  Sara was confused.  "Just a minute!" she called out.  Walking up to the door,
Sara looked through the peep-hole first and then unlocked the closed door upon
opening it.  Officer Tenmei stepped inside but her hat almost fell off when she
turned her head sharply at Tom who she did not expect to see there.
  "Yes?" Sara asked.
  "Sara Tucker Bergstrom?"
  Sara nodded.  "Yes?"
  Officer Tenmei removed a pair of handcuffs from her black leather utility
belt and approached her.  "You are under arrest; you have the right to remain
silent.  Anything you say or do can be held against you in a court of law," she
recited after applying the handcuffs.  "You have the right to an attorney.  If
you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you.  Do you understand?"
  "Uh wait a minute!" Tom protested.  "What's the charge??"                   
  Beverly looked at Tom.  "The aggravated assault of Stephen Raymond, Jr."
  "Tom, you're not going to let this happen to me, are you?" Sara asked.
  Beverly held Sara by her elbow.  "I'm afraid there's nothing he can but try
to post bail once you're released.  If it's any consolation to you--the charge
seems trumped up to me and you shouldn't be convicted of anything."
  Tom heard Sara's thoughts loudly, however.  She swore she was going to get
Stephen _and_ Ryan for this if it were the last thing she'd ever do.
  "Let's go, Miss Bergstrom," Officer Tenmei said.  Sara nodded as they walked
out of her house.  Shortly thereafter, Tom followed them out of the door and
watched Beverly open up the back door of her police car where Sara got in.  Tom
continued to walk down the pathway towards the sidewalk.  When Beverly closed
the door, he could see tears beginning to drop down her face through the window
while Beverly got in and started up the ignition.
  Sara looked at Tom helplessly as the car drove away.  Tom watched her ride to
jail and wondered what anybody could do to deserve life to be this cruel to
anyone for.

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    

Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . . 

Daydreams of nightmares paralyze the Galaxy Task Force so no one can stop them
from taking Earth's solar sphere in Episode 46: "Terrorism" 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"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)1998 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]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------