BotP Close-up 076

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Bobkat
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BotP Close-up 076

Post: # 647Post Bobkat »

Hi again! This week is an ep full of intrigue, excitement and a lot of snark! :lol:

Zoltar has a brand new weapon - The Awesome Ray Force! He has discovered G-Force's secret (kinda) and wants to use it against them! But first, Jason is competing in a race that he's ordered to cut short. Which is dumb, in my opinion, if they're on the final lap! duh!

Because he doesn't take off with his teammates, Jason is able to rescue three of them who have been captured. Mark is the only one who is free but Zoltar zaps him with the ray! He gets his own help. :)

In the end, it's a typical day for our favorite team (sort of!). Enjoy!

The Other Jason's write-up is here: https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/ep76.html

E76: The Awesome Ray Force

Act One

7-Zark-7 scans the universe for any sign of trouble or threats to Earth from Center Neptune, deep beneath the sea. Even with all the work, Zark does get a ten second oil break every now and again. His latest oil of choice is a "domestic" peanut oil but it hits the spot. 1-Rover-1 yips at him to play but he can't at the moment because Zark needs to turn his monitors on and aim them toward planet Spectra. Rover asks why and Zark explains that according to Intelligence, Zoltar has the evil Dr. Glok building another weapon to use against Earth. Zark tunes the monitor to peek into Dr. Glok's laboratory.

Surprise! Spectra is working where they left off – when Zoltar was able to radiate Princess' shoe and discover the mechanism behind the transmutation process. Zoltar was able to build an Anatomic Replicator to reveal Princess in civilian form. Dr. Glok has now weaponized the Replicator but Zark doesn't know what its purpose is.

The Luminous One confers with Zoltar and Dr. Glok, questioning why the underground city was allowed to be evacuated prior to their attack. Zoltar answers that somehow Earth anticipated their offensive and ordered evacuations before Spectra could complete their mission. Zoltar quickly changes the subject saying Dr. Glok has some good news for them. "The masterpiece of his career" is revealed to be a shiny new gun, "beautiful to look upon." Dr. Glok tells the "Radiant One" that if the gun is fired upon a G-Force member, the transmutation process will be reversed. The Luminous One is pleased knowing the gun isn't just pretty. Dr. Glok says the final test is actually firing it on a G-Force member – only then will they know it works. The Luminous One wants it tested at once – they now have the "ultimate weapon" against G-Force. Zoltar salutes the Great Spirit and will "se to it."

Jason is competing in a race while the rest of the team hang out in the pits. Keyop cheers him on falling into the tires he was sitting on. Tiny says, "Racing is dangerous." He notices Jason's has the race pretty much won but Princess tells him not to cheer until they see the checkered flag! Jason is rounding the turn and knows he's got the race won. Just then, his bracelet beeps – it's Mark who says he has to drop out of the race and report to "Neptune Center!" Jason argues about it and isn't about to drop out. Jason adds it'll only take him a few more seconds but Mark's attitude is "an order is an order." Keyop asks if they can't wait just a few minutes more while Princess notes if they're all late, it'll be even worse! The team takes off with Keyop jumping off the tires.

On the track, Jason speeds to victory so he can give the chief the trophy. He wins the race, the crowd goes wild and he makes a hasty retreat to face Chief Anderson. He uses the number 12 car as a launching pad and jumps his car over the rail to take off for Center Neptune. When he's clear, Jason transmutes to make up lost time. Meanwhile, Zoltar's men picks up the transmutation signal but they don't know what they're looking at. However, Zoltar does know – it's a G-Force vehicle!

Zoltar contacts his men informing them that a G-Force vehicle is in their sector and laughs evilly tracing Jason's path. The men hop to it and soon find "a G-Force car" on the road. Jason notices the Spectran vehicles right away and doesn't like how they look. Jason is soon surrounded and trapped! Jason keeps driving as the Spectran cars try to ram him between them. An idle bulldozer sits in the road and Jason avoids it but one of the Spectran cars isn't as lucky. Jason tries to escape down a ravine but the Spectran cars don't give up and follow him. Jason is then cornered in a valley rock face. Stopping suddenly, he takes flight out of the G-2.

The Spectran cars surround the G-2 and deploy Dr. Glok's gun. A goon fires changing the transmuted G-2 into its civilian form! Jason watches in horror from his hidden vantage point as the car changes back. The goons walk to the civilian G-2 happy the gun works as ordered with one goon saying he'll be promoted on the spot. They want to see what their prisoner looks like but Jason surprises them from above. "Then it might be a good idea if you looked up here!" The goons take aim at him including the one manning the ray gun. He tells Jason to stand still but the gunner is doing anything but! However, the goon is able to hit Jason is the lower left leg with the ray causing him to fall backward but he's out of sight of the goons. They report to Zoltar their successful mission and Zoltar is beyond happy about the results. Zoltar wants Jason brought back but Dr. Glok interrupts telling him that the gun must be adjusted without delay. Zoltar orders his men to "leave the prisoner" and return to base at once. They comply. As Spectra retreats, Jason claws his way back to the top of the cliff he was standing on. He rolls over and sees his leg, "I've been detransmuted!"

At Center Neptune, Chief Anderson briefs the team on the Spectran attack on the underground city of Lulo. Even though it was evacuated prior to the attack, Zark's long-range sensors have detected survivors. Their job is to locate and rescue any survivors in the city. Mark was sure Jason would have shown up by now with Princess saying something had to have happened because G-Force means a lot to him. Mark is at a loss of what the something could be and really hates to leave without him. Chief Anderson tells Princess she's a good friend for sticking up for Jason but tells her that the fact is Jason isn't here when they need him. They must leave right away. They chant, "G-Force!" and salute before running out. The Phoenix launches for the mission.

Jason shows up at Chief Anderson's office with the chief twists around ready to chew him out. The chief wants an explanation and tells Jason it needs to be good. Jason is reluctant because "you've already judged me guilty." Jason tries to explain he ran into some of Zoltar's goons but Chief Anderson says the real reason is that the gunner was racing. Jason knew he wouldn't believe him but goes on to say they have a weird ray gun that knocked him out of transmutation and left him "powerless." This last bit gets the chief's attention, "Force Ray!?"

The Phoenix arrives at Lulo where smoke wafts out of the ground. Zark says the city was the finest example of subterranean city planning but now lays in ruin. Lulo was named for the first President of the Intergalactic Council. The team disembarks the Phoenix with Mark surveying the destruction. Princess picks up a doll that disintegrates in her hands, musing about a child leaving it behind and the sadness of the situation. Keyop shakes his fist, "That Zoltar!" Tiny manages to refocus everyone that they have a job to do. Princess suggests they split up and use their "Personnel Infra-detectors." She opens her bracelet to switch out pieces to use the equipment. Once everyone has done that, Mark tells them to start their search and not to take chances. They chant, "G-Force!" and run in different directions to search. Meanwhile, Jason speeds to Lulo hoping he's not too late to save his teammates from a trap.

Act Two

Zark checks his monitors trying to keep his nervousness at bay. However, every sensor in his Superstructure is telling him that Jason is right about the team falling into a trap. What's worse, he can't contact anyone because they're using "anti-detection adapters" in their wrist activators to scan for survivors. Rover says he can catch Zoltar but Zark tells him he could probably get a few "good bites" but doubt's the robot dog could catch Zoltar. Zark keeps trying to contact G-Force even though radio communications is impossible.

Mark, like his teammates, walks through the destroyed city completely focused on his wrist activator. He picks up a signal in an abandoned building and finds a woman clutching a 'baby' sending out a signal. Mark kicks in the door and the woman explains that somehow they were left behind. She walks to Mark but falls to her knees out of exhaustion. He asks if she's alone or if there are others. She cries that she hasn't seen anyone else and is in a desperate state of mind looking at her baby. She takes off running with Mark hot on her heels. He catches up with her at a cemetery where he tells her that he just wants to help and her baby needs food. He peers over her shoulder to find the baby is only a doll! Suddenly, Zoltar asks, "You want to play with my baby!?" Mark steps back in shock, "Oh no! Not you!"

Zoltar stands before Mark saying they meet again. Zoltar orders his goons to surround Mark and to use the "Anti-transmute Ray" on him. Mark fights back, throwing his boomerang at Zoltar. But he loses in the end. Zoltar shoves a goon out of the ray to work it himself. Zoltar fires the ray and hits Mark square in the back. Mark falls to the ground, passed out and out of uniform! A pair of shadows approaches the commander.

Elsewhere in the city, Princess and Keyop continue their search finding a signal in a television van but get a huge surprise when they open the door – Spectran goons! A goon reports to Zoltar that they just captured "two more" but Zoltar is frustrated. He wants to know what happened to the G-Force commander that they used the ray on. The commander has disappeared! Zoltar realizes he's "surrounded by fools!" He wants the commander found and now!

A silhouette of a Red Ranger spins in Mark's dream as he wakes up. Mark wakes fully and sits up asking about his teammates. Colonel Cronus informs him they've been captured and Lulo is crawling with Spectrans. Colonel Cronus goes on to say they set out for Lulo as soon as Chief Anderson contacted them. Mark tells Colonel Cronus that Zoltar has to be stopped, he's a "mad man." Colonel Cronus wants to take things one step at a time: Mark needs to contact Chief Anderson immediately.

Mark calls on his wrist activator with the chief answering. Chief Anderson informs Mark the energy field of the ray gun can be reversed and the best part: Zoltar can be tricked into doing it. Mark says it sounds great, what do they need to do? Chief Anderson tells him that the ray needs to be pushed into the "Ultra-sync Zone" and it will blow up. Mark is determined to make it happen right away and he gets out of bed. Colonel Cronus puts a hand on Mark's shoulder and says they'll be around if he needs them.

Zoltar gloats in front of three tied up G-Forcers as he readies the ray to use on them. Before they can fire, a feather flies through the air breaking the binds holding Princess and Keyop. Everyone looks where it flew from and Jason stands ready to fight with his cablegun in hand. "I think I got here just in time!" Jason frees all three and Zoltar is done playing games firing the ray gun! Jason grabs up his teammates in a run to avoid the ray. Keyop can't help himself – he pokes his head up with his tongue out! Jason grabs him to duck just as a ray hits!

Zoltar isn't happy about missing them and moves the ray gun closer to G-Force's hiding spot. He says he has all the time in the world to find them and shoot them. Zoltar is about to move in when something else catches his attention – incoming missiles! "Is there never any rest for the weary!?" A fighter jet closes in on Zoltar's position and 'Colonel Cronus' emerges masked. He leaps into the air and it's revealed to be Mark! Zoltar is incensed and orders the ray shot at Mark and not to miss this time! The rest of the team is happy to see Mark with Jason saying, "Right on time, ol' buddy."

As Zoltar tries to aim, the team reunites with Mark telling them to give Zoltar the "full treatment." Mark orders evasive tactics to give Zoltar multiple and moving targets. As the team flies all over, Zoltar starts shooting in frustration. He keeps firing even when Dr. Glok warns him not to. The ray gun is pushed into the Ultra-sync Range and it explodes into a million pieces. The plan worked!

Zoltar manages to escape even when he futilely attempts to take a piece of equipment off the ray gun. G-Force watches from a distance as the ray gun self-destructs. Mark and Jason are both glad the gun is no more and Keyop hopes it's the end of Zoltar. An escape rocket takes off into the sky and the Red Rangers follow it. Back on the ground, Mark says Zoltar always manages to land on his feet "like a cat" but there will be a time he won't. Maybe this time, Colonel Cronus will catch him. Jason hands Mark Colonel Cronus' hat to hold until Colonel Cronus returns. Zark says Mark will take good care of it as they each make a silent vow that Zoltar will not wreak havoc on Earth again. They watch the ruins of Lulo continue to burn for a bit before leaving.

At Center Neptune, Zark chats with Rover that he's glad G-Force was to reverse the effects of the Anti-transmute Ray. Zark can't help worrying about Jason because he disobeyed orders but Rover knows things will be okay. Zark isn't as confident because chief Anderson can be a stickler for rules and discipline. Mark and Princess drop in on the pair with Zark being honored by their presence. They tell Zark that Chief Anderson has left it up to him to mete out the 'punishment' to Jason for his infraction of the rules. Zark faces a dilemma because Jason proved his loyalty to the team. Running the situation through his Multi-Plex Discontinuity Filters, Zark figures "x equal y" and that Jason needs to represent Center Neptune in the Interstellar 500 stock car race next month. Mark says it's great because "you know how Jason hates to drive racing cars." Princess tells Zark a Supreme Court Justice couldn't come up with anything better and calls him a genius. She plants a kiss on him and Zark says he does have a knack for diplomacy. He knows he was manufactured but wonders if he's not becoming a bit human.

This plot summary Copyright Bobbi Baker ©2021. No reproduction of any kind without permission.
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