Cliff flipped some switches above his head, reaching to his left and entering a code. "Sky guard megazord formation!" He called out

"Lets go! Megazord formation!" He called out. A five-way split screen is shown as all five rangers flip the same switches, and then all enter in the code 1-9-4-5. The Eagle zord stops, the legs folding up and the wings folding. Kyle and Damien's zords fold up and form the arms, as Heath and Kristen form the legs.

Cliff moves forward, as his zord folds up, but as it goes to connect, it break the combination apart. "End simulation." A voice came over the speakers, as the screens all went dark.

Back on the ground, Cliff took his helmet off, throwing it hard against the ground before storming out. "What's his problem?" Heath asked, as the team removed the rest of their helmets. "He's one of the top agents, yet there's something he's not good at." Damien said, placing his helmet on the top of the computer terminal as he looked up Cliff's profile.

The rangers saw all of his stats. "Top with a blade, one of the top 3 with a gun, a top notch flyer, but his zord combat stat is in the lower 50%." Heath said, smirking. "So we're better than him at something."

Cliff is shown in the bunkroom, and he pulls a small shoebox out from under his bed. He opens it, and inside are several pictures, he grabs one and stares at it, remembering when it was taken.

[flashback]

A younger-looking Cliff stands next to an older man in a sky guard uniform with orange accents, who's speaking inaudibly to Captain Harrison. "You'll be deployed at the ready tomorrow." The words hit Cliff like a ton of bricks before the two men exit the room. "What was that about?" He asked, as the two headed up to the roof.

"Sit, Cliff." The other guy said, sitting down on a crate left up there. "There's signs of trouble, an ancient organization known as the League of Devastation. These guys have remained relatively well contained thanks to the Birds of Prey operations. But with the merger with Sky Guard, we have to cut down our efforts."

The man sighed, before turning to look at Cliff. "I qualified for ranger status, and I'm being deployed in the mission known as the Heart of the Beast. I'll be leaving tomorrow."

[End Flashback]

Cliff clenched his free hand into a tight fist, remembering his promise to be the best he could be. He put the picture and box back, before walking down to the launch bay, grabbing his helmet. "Let's do this again!"

Everyone was surprised, but didn't argue as they all put their helmets back on and climbed into their zords. "Megazord Formation!" Cliff said, before entering the code. "Okay guys, let's try this again." He reached up and flipped a couple switches as the zord shot by him.

The simulation is interrupted by the alarms going off. The five rangers disengage from their zords, climbing onto their sky cycles. "Sky Cycles launch!" Cliff called out, as all five cycles were launched. They sped off, arriving at the scene of an attack. People were panicking, many were hurt, and there was a building that was on fire. "Red Eagle requesting civilian rescue services at the scene."

"10-4 Red Eagle, rescue services enroute. Dispatching scene clearing team as well." Cliff looked around, noticing the monster. "There he is! Lets go!" He called out, charging forward as the team followed him.

"Birds of Prey! Take off!" He called out, as they all morphed, coming to a stop in front of the monster. "Oh look! You must be those rangers the boss was talking about!" It was a large bulky monster, with two cannons on its arms, and bright green eyes. Several people around them were frozen in place, causing Cliff to speak. "Attack pattern Omega-1. Protect the civilians at all cost."

"Right!" The rangers chorused, summoning their weapons and charging in. "Yigrans!" The monster said, thrusting an arm forward. The footsoldiers appeared, and Cliff charged through directly to the monster. "Eagle sword!" He called, slashing the monster as he ran passed. He executed a maneuver that involved turning on one foot to change directions immediately and he delivered two more slashes to the monster.

"I think I'll freeze you!" The monster said, blasting at Cliff, who rolled to one side. "Bird Emblem!" Cliff called, placing his emblem in the slot of his sword, which began to glow. "Eagle Sword!" He called, holding the sword above his head, "Soaring strike!" Before he can deliver the attack, however, a female monster, holding a shield and jumping in front of the monster, spoke. "Frazien, go." The female's shield took the slash from Cliff like nothing, before she blasted him and vanished.

"Cliff!" Damien shouted, as the others finished off the Yigrans as Damien ran to his side. "What was that?" Cliff asked, forcing himself to his feet, before leaning on his sword and clutching his side. "Are you okay?" Heath asked him, as he nodded. "I will be. Let's head back, we'll need to brief the Captain on what happened." Cliff said, as they headed back.

When they got back to the bunker, Cliff winced as he sunk into a chair in the rec room, rubbing his side. "Damn that hurt." He stood up as the door opened, and Captain Harrison entered. "Sit. You're hurt."

Cliff scoffed, and walked over to the table. "I'll be fine. We need to defeat that monster. How are those people?" Harrison nodded, "if you defeat it, they'll come out of it, but first we have to find it."

Damien scowled, slamming his fist on the table. "How about our Zords scanners?" Harrison nodded, "it'd take too long, even with all five of you up in the air, to scan the entire city for that thing."

"The Albatross Zord. It's a remote piloted Zord with the newest AI, it's our best hope." Heath spoke up, causing the entire team to turn and stare at him. "What? It was in the Zord briefing when Mr Holmes introduced it to us." He said, "I'm glad you paid attention, Mr Roten." Harrison said, nodding.

"The five of you in your Zords, plus the Albatross Zord should cut our search time down greatly, plan is named Gamma-1." All five rangers saluted, before running out of the room to the Zord bay, jumping into their zords. "Sky Guard Zords! Launch!" Liam Holmes's voice came over the comm, as the zords were launched.

"Alright! Albatross Zord! Launch!" Cliff said, placing the emblem in the slot in his zord as the bright green bird shot passed. "I've got the Albatross's scanners on my screens, Cliff." Heath said, as the six zords gathered. "Alright, split up. Signal if you find the monster."

A few hours later, as Cliff is heading back to the Bunker empty handed, his scanners go off. "Bingo! Guys! I'm sending coordinates meet me there!" He sent the coordinates, before jumping out of his zord. "Frazien, it's you and me this time!" He said, summoning his sword, charging in. "Yigrans!" Frazien called, the footsoldiers appearing, and Cliff slashed at them, charging through them to Frazien.

He tries to fight Frazien, but he keeps getting distracted by the Yigrans, until they are taken down by several blasts. "Focus on him, Cliff, we'll get the little guys!" Damien said, as him and Heath ran up, soon joined by Kristen and Kyle.

Cliff threw himself into the fight, charging up his sword again. "Eagle Sword!" He raised it above his head, "soaring strike!" He brought it down, spinning around with it, shocked that the monster wasn't destroyed.

They formed the Raptor Cannon, before Cliff looked at Heath. "You do the honors." Heath nods, as he moves to the back to support it with Kristen, Cliff and Damien kneeling in front, "Osprey emblem!" He said, inserting it into the slot. "Fire!"

A green-colored blast emerged from it, growing into a giant Osprey before crashing into and destroying the monster. "Let's get to our zords!" Cliff said, running and jumping up into his own. As they waited for the monster to grow, they each set up for the megazord sequence. "Are you sure you can do this, Cliff?" Kyle asked.

Cliff's jaw tightened. He saw a lot of himself in the enthusiastic kid that was Kyle. He was young, excitable, and at only 18 was being thrown into a world far too harsh for anyone, a world where they could possibly die.

[Flashback]

A younger Cliff sat in his ranger qualification class, listening to the instructor. "If you manage to pass this qualification, you will be thrown head first into the world of a ranger. You won't be able to see your family, friends, or even go do the things you love to do, as you will be a target. It might not be from the League of Devastation, but you'll be a target."

"The fight you guys are training for is not a joke, we've lost too many operatives to the League in the last few years, and with one of the few rangers with a morpher getting deployed." Cliff's fist tightened-that ranger was JJ, and his best friend. "You will be the only line of defense if the League rises back up. It will not be a battle for training points, or to take down an enemy of the organization, it will be a battle for the Earth."

[End Flashback]

"Yeah, I'm sure. We're not fighting for ourselves, we're fighting for the entire Earth." He said. "Megazord formation!" He enters the code as the sequence is shown, this time with the Eagle zord forming the head.

"Sky Guard Megazord! Online!" The team said all together, as they were teleported to the cockpit. "Now this is cool." Cliff said, reaching up and flipping a couple switches.

The monster blasts at them, freezing the megazord in place. "Ah! This is not good!" Kristen said, jiggling her controls, "we have no control at all." Cliff pressed a button on his control panel, causing the surface of the megazord to heat up, freeing them.

"Awesome! Thank you Cliff!" Heath said, as they powered the megazord forward. They slashed at it, and knocked it back, as cliff pressed some buttons. "Let's power up!" He said, the sword starting to glow as the megazord rushed forward, delivering an X strike as the monster exploded.