Episode 7

"Radio Augmented Detection and Ranging (R.A.D.A.R)"

Radar systems come standard in every military grade plane, but for some reason the Sky Machines are lacking in this department. This precious system remained absent until someone decided that it was finally time to fit the Sky Machines with Radar Machines to see where their enemies are coming from even they can't see them. No longer would they have to rely just on the base to get information: they can not get it within their Sky Machines.

The radars are out to the test when a fast moving and sneaky plane enters their airspace. The enemy plane moves fast and often comes from behind, so just looking behind them will only get them so far. To make things worse, these teens will have to operate as both the pilot and the radar operators at the same time, meaning that their attention will be constantly shifting.

In order to win this battle, they'll have to prepare for what's coming up.

[Beginning of Episode]

It was a usual morning for the employees at the Sapphire Shores Air Base, except for the Rangers. At their table, Wave is discussing to her friends about the work that she did on the Sky Machines and how she found it suspicious that no one who is working with her is talking about what they're doing. It seemed as if they knew what they're doing, except for Wave. She's just following orders without an indication about what she's working towards.

That all changed when the top three people at this organization arrived and approached the Rangers.

"Rangers," Firefly greeted. "I came here to inform you that we've installed radars into your Sky Machines. Now, it can send radio signals into the air and detect objects in its range."

Wave suddenly jumped out of her chair in surprise. "Wait, so that's what we're working towards?" she asked. "I was wondering what's with the components I'm installing." Firefly then gave the signal to make Wave sit down.

"Oh, finally. They've been installed," Spitfire said, sighing in relief. "I was wondering where they were this entire time. Wonder why we didn't see them initially when we came here."

Chuck chuckled for a moment, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, we were planning to include them, but then Megatron escaped and began attacking us, so we hurried up and finished the Sky Machines as soon as we possibly can," he explained. "We had to exclude a few things from the initial release, such as a lot of random buttons because who knows what they do. But the big thing that we excluded is radar."

"As you know, many military planes are equipped with radar technology to spot objects in the air even if the pilot cannot see them," Blackbird lectured. "Without them, pilots are vulnerable to surprise attacks that they may not see coming." He then gazed away from the teenagers for a moment. "I know I lost someone because of a faulty radar..."

The team got curious. "Blackbird?" Jet asked. "You lost someone because of a faulty radar?"

Sighing, Blackbird nodded as he recalled the day when his brother perished. "Yes, my brother and I fought during the Columbian War that these guys love to talk about," he said. He received disapproving looks from Firefly and Chuck, but Blackbird doesn't budge. "We were top pilots in the air division, with a record of taking down hordes of enemy air forces over the years. That is, until someone sabotaged his plane's radar, and lunched missiles at us. We were in a squadron at the time, and me and my teammates escaped due to being aware of where the missile is coming from. My brother, however..."

"Let me guess," Spitfire pondered. "He was shot out of the sky?"

Silently, Blackbird nodded. "He couldn't figure out where the missile is coming from since he is unaware of its location relative to him," he continued. "Had he'd known the location, he would've dodged in time. Since he didn't, he has no idea where to dodge to since every direction contains a risk. The missile, as it turned out, came from underneath his plane. You can guess what happened next."

"He died?" Fleetfoot guessed.

Blackbird took a few steps away, gazing off into the ceiling. "Never saw his body ever again," he said, recalling the moment where he and his squad searched frantically for his brother, but found nothing.

"After the war ended, he had focused on improving radar technology to give them better performance and make them less susceptible to tampering," Firefly added. "He was hired into this team during its formation, where he offered his help into monitoring the radars."

Blackbird suddenly turned around. "So far, we've been giving you information based on our radars," he told them. "However, they have their limitations. For one, we are close to a populated area, so our radio signals can't be too powerful, otherwise they might cause interference to civilian technology that uses electromagnetic signals. The second is that we can only see you as far as...well...the eye can see. At that point, our radars are unreliable since it can't tell the difference between an enemy plane and one of ours. This wouldn't be so bad for most pilots since their planes are equipped with radars for looking around."

"But for you before this moment, this can get problematic," Chuck added. "Luckily, we managed to install them during these times of peace." He then eyed at Wave, who is just staring blankly at them. "You were there when we installed them, right, Wave?"

At this point, Wave only stared at the mentors in shock. It took a slap to the back courtesy of Storm to snap her back. "Huh," she muttered. "I was wondering what I was working on. I've been informed that I'm working on installing an improvement to the Sky Machines, but not what improvement."

"Well, time for your first flight with your radars on," Firefly concluded. She leaned towards the Rangers. "This afternoon, come to the hangar and get into your Sky Machines. Take them out on a joyride and test out the radars. Trust me, you'll love them."

Inside Megatron's base, he and a few others are planning out their next action on a table. Among them is Ramjet, a crew member who is skilled at using his body as a weapon. While it could be interpreted as him being proficient with using his fists and feet, he is more well known for his unorthodox tactic of ramming into enemy units at high speed. Normally, this is a last resort move when things get very desperate. However, Ramjet just survived the ramming, so much so that he enjoys it. He loved doing this so much that he is considering using his tactic as a strategy.

"Here's the plan, master," Ramjet began. He began by pointing to a building on the table, representing the enemy's base. Next to it is a compass indicating which way is north. He pointed to the east of that base. "I suspect that attacking them from anywhere near their base will not go well. They're going to notice and shoot our units down. So the old tactic of attacking the center of operations is not going to so well. So instead, I propose a different solution."

Megatron grew intrigued by one of his soldier's suggestion. "And what is your plan, Ramjet?" he asked, curious to hear what he has to say.

"As the fastest plane with a high durability, how about we take them by surprise?" Ramjet suggested. "Yes, we'll attack them from behind! I'm going to ram them from behind!"

"But if you do that and miss, they'll know where you are just by looking out in the front," Megatron pointed out.

Ramjet scrapped his original plan. "Scratch that. I'll ram them from the side!" he suggested instead. "That way, even if I miss, they'll have no idea what's about to hit them."

"Okay..." Megatron said, still interested in this plan but still finding holes. "But what if they're next to their base at the time? Wouldn't you be spotted?"

Ramjet made even more adjustments. "I know! I'll strike them when they're far from their base!" he said. "They'll be distant from the base at the time, allowing me to do what I wanted without their mentors-"

Megatron then snapped. "Okay! That's it!" he declared. "Brilliant plan! Go ahead! Do your thing! Get out of here!" He then began to walk back to his throne.

The other robot soldiers whisper to each other, remarking on how Megatron nearly broke their auditory sensors.

Ramjet noticed that there was one thing missing. "Wait, what about that embiggening juice?" he asked. "Don't I have to get that stored for later use?"

"I had someone install that tank of that serum while you were asleep," Megatron answered.

"Oh," Ramjet replied. "That explains why I felt a tickle." He then ran off to the nearest exit, transforming into a plane along the way.

As Megatron went back to his throne room, he noticed that Starscream has taken a seat, donning a starry wizard's hat and robe as well as a staff.

"At long last, the Great and Powerful Starscream takes the position that he deserves!" Starscream declared. "Mwahahahaha!"

Megatron grew infuriated that his right hand robot took his throne while he was absent. "Get down there, Starscream!" he roared, startling Starscream. He then dragged Starscream out of his throne. "You have no place in my throne! Who are you trying to imitate? That girl that one of allies hired?" Starscream responded with a sheepish smile, which prompted Megatron to toss Starscream into the floor as he took his rightful place. He then groaned. "You're a headache, Starscream."

The Sky Rangers are in their Sky Machines, ready to take off to try out their new built in radars. Today, they'll be flying off farther than ever before, into the upper limits of the base's radar systems. The previous missions have taken place over the skies of Sapphire Shores, which is a bit concerning considering that debris might fall on people's heads. Hopefully, the following missions will take them beyond the city limits into safety.

"Unfortunately, the Sky Machines only have enough seats to support one pilot," Firefly told them as they put on their seatbelts. "The cockpit has enough space for two people, one sitting and one standing, but who's going to stand around in a fighter jet?"

Spitfire looked behind her at the empty space behind her seat. There's plenty of room for a second person, but without a seat to secure them they might get tossed around as the Sky Machines fly. "The answer is obvious," she answered. "None."

"Most fighter jets have two cockpits that seat two people," Chuck lectured. "Typically, one does the piloting, while the other checks the radar. As the sole pilot of your Sky Machines, you'll have to take the role of being both the pilot and the radar operator. So...be prepared to switch focus very frequently during fights. I hope you can handle such a burdening task."

Jet looked around the cockpit and couldn't help but feel that this is getting a bit complex too soon. He felt like he and the other Sky Rangers are totally unsuitable for the job. "Okay, I have a question," he asked. "Why did you hire us, teenagers, to pilot these military grade flying machines? You couldn't bother to ask...oh, I don't know...your own employees to do the work for you? Because this is starting to sound a bit much for us to do. This is way more complex than I thought..."

The other Sky Rangers groan upon hearing Jet's question.

Wave covered her face as she shook her head. "Jet, this isn't the time to ask stupid questions," she said. "Can we please-"

"You know, he does have a point in this," Spitfire said. "Let me guess, was it because of your children?"

"It's tradition," Firefly replied. Then she chuckled. "Nah, I'm kidding. You see, you're the ones who will be inheriting the world that we'll leave behind in the next generation, and it's your job to push the world in the right direction. There are many stories of old people not getting the world around them and doing actions that the majority sees as unforgivable. You know what they say: The most suitable people to lead the world are those who understand it."

There was a brief silence coming from the Sky Rangers. Some of them are trying to process what they just heard, while others are waiting for the hangar doors to open up.

Firefly realizes that they are waiting for her. "Oh right," she said. "The hangars." She then connected her communicator to another channel. "Open up the hangar!"

The hangar doors open and the Sky Machines roll out into the runway, where they line up in formation and took off.

The Sky Machines flew in formation going south. Behind them, Sapphire Shores can be seen getting smaller. Their base is barely visible from here.

"It's so nice having to fly this far away from the base," Spitfire remarked.

Fleetfoot turned around, watching Sapphire Shores slowly getting smaller. "Yeah. I can barely see it from here," she remarked.

Soarin then got an idea in his head. "Say, can we take our Sky Machines to fly to places?" he suggested. "You know, traveling to different places and-"

"Dude," Jet blurted, not even taking his eyes off the instrument panel. "We're Rangers, not tourists with a pilot's license."

"Pilot's license?" Storm asked. "Since when did we get pilot's license? I don't remember getting one..."

"That's because we never did," Wave replied.

"Huh?" Storm asked, still confused.

"Look, we can chose to use our Sky Machines to travel to places," Spitfire clarified. "But we'll probably get ourselves a earful courtesy of our mentors for not doing our duties. So...don't."

"Wait, aren't we traveling to the south towards Emerald City?" Soarin asked.

"We're flying over Emerald City and then we turn around," Spitfire replied. "No more."

The Sky Machines continue onwards heading south.

While Firefly and Chuck are looking at papers and plans, an employee walked up to them to give the latest report.

"Sir, madam," the employee greeted to get their attention. "Blackbird has sent be here to inform you that the Sky Machines are no longer visible from here. Our radar cannot separate ally and passive planes and enemy units."

Firefly sighed. "Well, the good news is that Sapphire Shores will not be getting debris dumped into its buildings after every mission," she said. "Bad news is that the Sky Rangers will have to rely on their own radar and their sight. That's all I have to say about this. You are dismissed."

Firefly and Chuck returned to looking at paperwork, which made the employee curious. He walked around their desk and take a look at what they're looking at. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Firefly gazed over and saw that one of her employees has not left when she told him too. "You're not leaving?" she asked. "You're more interested in what we're doing? Fine. We're just looking at our future plans for the Sky Rangers in the upcoming weeks."

The employee leans over and reads the list of things to do. One of them reads, "Provide the Sky Rangers with a second weapon".

"You've built a second weapon for the Sky Rangers?" the employee asked.

"Yep," Chuck said as he leaned back on his chair. "We're saving it until a later point. Don't want to make it too complex too early. We're just gradually introducing features to them over time as they learn and grow. You can't just give someone everything and expect them to understand it-"

Suddenly, there's an alarm on the communicator. Firefly picked it up.

"Hello?" Firefly began. She got a shocking response. "What? You've detected an enemy plane? It's already passed us? That can't be right...this radar has an enormous range! How could any plane be fast enough to-" She got interrupted by a loud sound coming from above. She then turned around and faced the window behind her and saw a plane speeding past them. They then gaze on the plane for a little longer, noticing that it's heading south.

Firefly lowered her communicator as she, Chuck, and some of the nearby employees watch with their jaws dropped. "Oh dear..." Firefly remarked. "This could be troubling."

They've been flying south for a few minutes at this point and are beyond the range at which they can no longer see their base behind them until they return. Just using radar to keep track of enemy locations becomes pretty unreliable since it can't distinguish between ally and enemy. Up until their radars are installed, they've limited their battle sites to within Sapphire Shores, where sight from the base is enough to keep track of the enemy units. Now, with short range radars ready, they can travel farther than ever before. They can tell that they've traveled far because they can see a city down there.

"Hey look. I think I can see Emerald City from here!" Spitfire said as she peeked out the canopy.

"Wow. What a nice view," Soarin remarked, also looking out. "It's not often that civilians get this view of their home city."

"This view is great," Wave replied. Her attention turns towards her left, towards the east. In the distance, she can spot another city from across two lakes. "I bet we can get a nice view of Diamond City if we can just make a turn. What do you say, Jet?" She waited for him to respond, only to get none. "Jet? Jet, are you listening?"

Jet glanced down at his radar, checking the positions of his friends as they travel together. He is ignoring the words coming from his friends, being to absorbed into his radar to even listen. Well, he ignored them until someone yelled into his ear.

"Jet!" Wave shouted.

"Ahh!" Jet yelped, startled from the sudden shouting.

"Are you listening?" Wave asked. "I was trying to get your attention for the last thirty seconds!"

"Sorry!" Jet apologized. "I was looking at the radar for nearly the entire flight."

Spitfire was baffled. So during this entire flight, one of them is not paying attention to what's in front of him and is staring at his radar screen for minutes. It's a miracle that they didn't crash into each other. She still has questions, though. "Why'd you do that, Jet?" she asked.

"I figure that one of us can be the radar operator while the others fly, right?" Jet suggested.

Spitfire had a bewildered look for a moment before putting on her drill sergeant mask as she delivers an ear piercing speech to Jet. "It might be the case during casual flying when we're together, but in the realm of aerial combat, we must assume both roles," she said, growling. "We'll have to switch our focus at every moment, keeping an eye on the target! If our focus ever lingers outside or our radars, we might get attacked by something we didn't see coming. Do you understand how important mastering these two roles is? DO YOU?"

Unfortunately, Spitfire had the team communicator mode on the entire time, meaning that everyone has to hear her loud voice much to their discomfort.

"Whoa! Calm down, Spitfire," Wave said. "What's with that tone?"

"What? I like doing that voice," Spitfire responded. "Hey, is Jet listening?"

Wave sighed. She turned in the direction of the Green Hawk. "Jet, did you hear that?" she asked. "We can't just-" She then frowned when she noticed that Jet is looking down again, implying that his attention is back to the radar screen. "I think he's looking at the radar again."

"Dang it!" Spitfire said, pounding on the control panel. "I was hoping that I might drill the importance of doing two roles at the same-"

Suddenly, Jet spotted something zooming past them, going across the entire radar screen in seconds. He yelped when he saw it. "Whoa! Did you guys see that?" he asked.

The others stopped in their tracks as they looked at their radars.

"Uh, see what?" Fleetfoot asked.

"On the radar, something whizzed by us," Jet explained. "It appeared on our radar for about second."

Wave scratched her helmet as she observed the radar screen. "What's the range of these radars?" she asked. "I bet whatever flew by us must've broken the sound barrier or something."

Problem is, if the sound barrier really is broken by whatever passed by them, they would've felt its effects moments after the plane went past them. Since it did not, that implies that whatever they spotted is moving somewhere below the speed of sound at this altitude.

The object went past them again, and this time they were able to notice it on the radar screen. As if that wasn't enough, they could even spot it zooming away from them to their side, implying that it was trying to ram them. The object is a plane, equipped with engines that appear to have afterburners.

"There it is again!" Jet shouted, pointing outside.

Ramjet is living up to his name by attempting to ram the Rangers out of the sky. He has failed at doing his job...twice at this point. "Darn!" he shouted. "I missed again! They've must've move out of the way at the last moment. Or maybe I was a bit to twitchy."

"Is that plane trying to ram us?" Soarin questioned. "What kind of plane just rams into another? Is it a suicide mission?" He then remembered that there's a name to his maneuver. "Oh, what's the name of that tactic? Kamikaze?"

"What is that pilot thinking?" Jet shouted, bewildered and angered. "It's not even a crippled plane! What a waste of a perfectly functioning plane."

Wave took a close eye on the enemy plane as it turned around and heads straight for them once again. "Its coming back for us!" she reported.

"Split up!" Spitfire shouted as she yanked on her control wheel.

The flight formation split up, making way for Ramjet to pass through without them getting hit.

"Grr!" Ramjet growled. "You were anticipating that, weren't you?"

Spitfire pointed to the escaping enemy plane. "After that plane!" she screamed. "Keep your eyes on that plane and your radar. We can't afford to lose sight of it!"

The Sky Rangers went after Ramjet in a wild dogfight. They flew from various angles in an attempt to catch Ramjet off guard. Spitfire fired upon the enemy plane, and at first she landed all of her shots. Then Ramjet moved back and forth, forcing Spitfire to constantly adjust her aim. At the same time, the other planes are being forced to move out due to Ramjet getting closer than they feel comfortable.

"Jet, when you say that the plane appeared for about a second, how long did that radar detect the plane?" Wave wondered. She looked at her radar and she can spot Ramjet's signal on it. "I can still see it on my radar."

"I think it was there for a second before I noticed," Jet guessed.

"One second?" Wave questioned. "Man, if your reaction time is that poor, you'll be destroyed by Spitfire if she ever-"

"Hey, where did that plane go?" Spitfire shouted to the point of nearly hurting their ears. "I swear I had it in my sights for a second."

Wave looked down and saw that there was a signal right behind another signal. It seems to be coming from her left. Looking over, she spotted Ramjet trailing behind the Yellow Albatross. "Storm! Behind you!" she shouted.

"Huh?" Storm replied. He glanced down for a moment, seeing that there is something behind him. He looked behind him and saw Ramjet.

"Teehee!" Ramjet said as he slowly approaches Storm. "I'm going to catch you! I'm going to catch you!"

"He's right there?" Fleetfoot asked. "What are we going to do? Ram into him?"

"He'll ram us down if we saw us trying to use his tactic against him," Wave guessed. "Right?"

"Why ram into a plane," Storm said as he reached for a button, "when you can PUNCH IT!"

A boxing glove sprung out of the back of the Yellow Albatross, striking Ramjet in the nose and causing him to slow down.

"Ah!" Ramjet screamed. "Clever...oh so clever." He then flew off to target another plane.

Spitfire saw that Ramjet is approaching Fleetfoot. "Fleetfoot! He's coming from your right!" she alerted.

Fleetfoot looked outside to her right and saw Ramjet approaching. An idea popped into her head. "Hey, remember what I said about using an enemy's tactic against them?" she asked. "Well, I'm doing it now!" She yanked her control wheel to the right and slammed into Ramjet.

Ramjet had his wing damaged from the impact. "Ah! My wing!" he screamed. "Grr...you react fast."

Soarin then flew his plane so that he's trailing right behind Ramjet. "Hey buddy!" he said. "If you're thinking of ramming us, then you better have a good reason for it. Such as being durable. Or being desperate! Guess what side you're on!" He then moved his plane so that it popped right in front of Ramjet, hitting him in the process.

Ramjet began to plummet from the sky. "Ahh! I'm falling!" he screamed. "Mayday! Mayday! Time to change forms!"

Spitfire saw that Ramjet is going down. "This fight isn't over yet," she reminded. "Go after him and combine into the Sky Icarus!"

The Sky Machines flew after the falling Ramjet.

As Ramjet fell, he got transformed into robot mode as he prepares to land on his feet. He crashed down on a field somewhere between the lakes. The momentum shoved the rest of his body to the ground, forcing him to lift himself back up as the Sky Rangers arrive on their Sky Machines, now combined into the Sky Icarus.

Ramjet looked up at the giant robot that is towering over him. He might be outclassed at this moment, but he doesn't feel intimidated. He grins as he looked up. "This isn't over yet, Rangers," he declared. "I am about to enlarge myself! Watch!" Activating the embiggening fluid pipes, Ramjet grew into a giant size matching that of the Sky Icarus.

"Here we go again," Spitfire remarked.

Jet inputted a code and out comes the Sky Icarus Sword and its Wing Shield. The Sky Icarus held them both and went into a fighting stance.

"Alright, guys," Spitfire shouted. "Let's show him our tough we are. We'll drain him of what little energy he has remaining and-"

Ramjet grew bored of the Ranger's inaction when they could've hit him at least once. He slapped the sword away, leaving the Sky Icarus with nothing but its shield.

"What?" everyone gasped as they watch their sword tumble behind them.

"You won't be needing that," Ramjet said.

"Aww, shoot!" Fleetfoot reacted. "Our sword! We've got to get it!"

The Sky Icarus took one step in turning around, but was stopped by Ramjet.

"Don't even bother," he told them. He then grabbed them by the shoulder and showed them his fist. "If you even dare attempt to get your sword back, I will punch you in the cockpit. You will watch in in horror as I dispose of your robot, helpless to do anything about it." He then gave them an ultimatum. "So what's it going to be? Are we settling this with martial arts? Or are you willing to take a punch to the cockpit? I'm going to give you one minute to choose."

The others thought about this for a moment. The Sky Icarus was never designed to use its body as a weapon. Rarely do they ever use the Sky Icarus's hands and legs to attack. They've mostly relied on weapons to fight off against their opponents, yet here they are without a weapon to use against an enemy that seems very proficient with using his body as a weapon. It seems that they are stuck.

Soarin remembered that they still had their shield, so he attempted to shove Ramjet with the shield, thinking it could be used as a weapon.

Ramjet took notice of this face and jumped backwards only to lean forward and grab the Wing Shield. He then yanked it out of the Sky Icarus's hands, flinging it behind him. "Sorry," he unapologetically said. "Shields don't count."

Soarin stared at Ramjet with a dropped jaw. He was shocked that their enemy reacted this fast.

"What are we going to do?" Fleetfoot asked. "He just denied us access to both of our weapons!"

Wave tapped away at the console. "I'm going to contact base," she said. "We could really use their help right now. Spitfire, the call is coming to you!"

Spitfire picked up her communicator.

"Spitfire, how are the radars?" Firefly greeted. "Did you enjoy using them?"

"Uh, save that for later," Spitfire said as she looked outside while sweat is dripping from her head. "We're trapped in a corner. We just had our weapons knocked out of our hands and are forced in hand-to-hand combat." The Sky Icarus then suffered another blow. "Ah!"

The Sky Icarus crashed down on its chest. It reached out and attempted to grab its sword, but was stopped when Ramjet grabbed on it by the back and lifted it up to his face. "How many time to I have to tell you?" Ramjet roared. "No weapons!" He then gave the Sky Icarus a few more punches to the chest before tossing it.

The Sky Rangers were thrown forward as the Sky Icarus crashed down once again.

"Ah!" Spitfire screamed. Shew then shouted at her communicator. "Firefly! Save us!"

Back in the base, Firefly and Chuck are looking at their plan, paying close attention to the line that reads, "Provide the Sky Rangers with a second weapon".

Firefly thought about doing it for a moment, even if they're not ready for that. "Should we tell them about the second weapon?" she asked.

"This isn't time to introduce their second weapon yet, right?" Chuck asked. "We just introduced them to the radars today. Isn't that enough?"

"They're trapped in a desperate situation, Chuck," Firefly replied. "We need to find a way to bail them out. So, are you in?"

Chuck glanced over at the list of things to do. Even though the feeling in his stomach is making him want to hold that off until its time, he can't just let the Sky Rangers fail. They've only gone through a handful of missions at this point and they've invested a lot of time into them. They cannot afford to let all of that effort go into waste. Reluctantly, he agreed to his action. He flipped over to where they keep the codes. "Tell them the code for the second weapon," he ordered.

Firefly nodded and soon got up to her communicator.

"Rangers, there is another code that will give you access to your second weapon," Firefly said.

The Sky Rangers were too busy with trying to remain alive to really notice. They'd barely heard her say anything.

"What?" Spitfire shouted. "Sorry, I couldn't really hear you at the moment. We're trying to stay alive!"

"Jet, are you listening?" Firefly asked. "The code is 9115."

"What?" Jet asked.

"I said, the code is 9115," Firefly repeated. "Got that?"

Jet inspected the code he was given and remarked at how uncreative that was. It's the same four digits, but arranged differently. "What kind of passcode is that?" he asked, questioning their sense of security when it comes to creating passcodes. Then he snaps back into focus. "Alright. I'm trying it now." He inputted the code 9115 and submitted it.

The Sky Icarus suddenly gained a sidearm. It pointed it at Ramjet's face, surprising him.

"Huh?" Ramjet gasped.

Spitfire put on a smug grin on her face. "Surprise," she said.

The Sky Icarus pulled the trigger, firing off a shot at Ramjet and damaging him.

"Ah!" Ramjet yelped as he stumbled back, covering his hit chest. He then looked up at the Sky Icarus. "Oh, that's just sneaky," he remarked. "You had a second weapon this entire time?"

"Surprised? You should be," Spitfire said. "I call that our Stratos Zapper."

"By the way, we were intended to reveal this sometime later when we feel like you deserve it," Chuck pointed out. "But then your sword got knocked off and we revealed the code for your second weapon early. Sorry, we didn't see this one coming."

Ramjet growled at them for revealing a secret weapon. "You'll pay for this!" he declared as he blasted forward and rammed them.

"Ow!" everyone yelped as the cockpit shook. They were a bit distracted by the call, so none of them are looking forward and saw it coming.

Spitfire looked around, trying to look for the enemy Ramjet. "Wha-? Where'd he go?" she asked.

Soaring looked around along with everyone else, but there is no sign of Ramjet anywhere in front of them. Wait, anywhere in front of them? What could imply that he is behind them. Looking down, he noticed that there is a radar screen installed which caught him by surprise. Then he noticed that there is an additional dot right behind them, confirming that Ramjet is about to strike from behind.

"Oh, so you think you're sneaky, huh?" Soarin asked. "Well, I don't think so! Turn it around, guys!"

"Turn around?" Spitfire asked. 'What do you mean turn a-"

The Sky Icarus turned around and sue enough, they caught Ramjet right behind them about to strike. In a panic, Spitfire made the Sky Icarus fire off a shot, which caught Ramjet off guard.

"Ow!" Ramjet screamed as he is knocked down. He then threw a fit of rage. "How'd you figured I was right behind you?"

"Uh, we just got lucky?" Spitfire replied.

"Lucky?" Ramjet asked, questioning that response. "That was too convenient to be passed off as luck. You must've saw me coming. You had something that made me visible even if you couldn't see me. I knew it. I knew it from the moment you started coordinating attacks on me, the fast-moving plane. Come on! Tell me! What's your secret?"

"Secret?" Spitfire questioned. She looked around at her teammates looking for responses to give. They remain silent. "We don't tell secrets. Goodbye!"

The Sky Icarus charged up a powerful shot, which had Ramjet panicking. He attempted to transform back into plane mode, but it was futile. He had to wait until the effect worn out before he could transform. In the meantime, the Sky Icarus is ready to fire a powerful finishing shot.

"Stratos Zapper!" everyone shouted. "Aerial Blast!"

The Sky Icarus fired its finishing blow to Ramjet. He lingered for a few moments in a severely damaged state, only managing to look up at the Sky Icarus and spitting out one word.

"Pathetic..." Ramjet muttered.

"Hey! You're severely crippled!" Soarin shouted, suddenly getting an idea. "It's a great opportunity to try to take us down with you!"

Ramjet then fell, exploding into a fireball.

"Or not," Soarin finished.

The Sky Icarus stood victorious over its opponent. It walked over and picked up its other weapons before splitting apart into its components and flying off to the north.

As soon as they landed, the Sky Rangers burst into the office of their mentors. They stop to catch their breath. Their clothing is battered with burn marks, presumably from all the flying sparks.

"Are you guys okay?" Firefly asked. "You look like you came out of that unscathed."

"Unscathed?" Spitfire questioned. She looked at her clothing before looking back at Firefly. "Do you call this unscathed?"

"We're fine," Wave replied.

"Oh, thank goodness," Firefly said, letting out a sighed of relief. "We were getting worried about you during that mission. So, how was the radars?"

"They worked out great for us!" Soarin responded in a excited manner. "We used them to keep an eye on our target, even when we couldn't see them. Also, it was a good thing that the radar monitor is incorporated into the group cockpit, otherwise we would've had our butts kicked when our enemy when he went behind us."

"Ah, so you do enjoy it," Chuck observed. "Good to hear that from you."

"Just one complaint before we move on," Spitfire said before suddenly yelling. "The range is too short! Do you guys realize how much range our radars have? Less than a kilometer! From our Sky Machines! Are you seriously okay with giving us radars with that short of a range? I-"

"Spitfire!" Wave shouted as she covered Spitfire's mouth. "Don't be so harsh on our mentors! I'll upgrade the radars for us. Understand?"

"If you don't upgrade those radars before the next mission," Spitfire threatened, "I will personally kick you out for-"

"Hey! Cut it out!" Jet yelled. "She's my friend!" Jet then grabbed Wave in an attempt to pull her away.

This soon turned into a pulling match which pulled everyone in. Jet and Storm are trying to pull Wave away, while Soarin and Fleetfoot are trying to pull Spitfire away. Meanwhile, Wave and Spitfire are resisting the pull on their friends.

As Firefly and Chuck watched with widened eyes, an employee, the same one that walked up to them earlier, walked up to them to ask a question.

"So...thinking twice about hiring teenagers with altitude?" the employee asked. Then he realized the mistake he made. "Err...attitude?"

Firefly and Chuck stared at the employee, looking at him with disapproving glares. The employee attempted to make himself not look guilty with a sheepish grin.

"Please..." Firefly said. "Don't bring it up."

[End of Episode]

From the Author:

This used to be completely different, but then I decided that I didn't like the plot and decided to scrap the original dialogue and rewrite it with the exact same premise. Originally, it was going to focus more on the side character Blackbird, but that was scrapped in favor of focusing on the main addition. Also, I just had to put an acronym for the title of this episode. Actually, a slightly modified version of the real deal.

This is unintentional on my part, but apparently the original Ramjet character likes to slam into things. I'd imagine him being powered by ramjet engines to increase his speed and maximize his slamming power, thus giving him his name. But apparently, Ramjet thinks he is a bull. A flying bull. A flying mechanical bull. A flying transforming mechanical bull. A really fast flying transforming mechanical bull...

Written by TheAPPstore

Sonic the Hedgehog characters property of Sega

My Little Pony and Transformers characters property of Hasbro

Series inspired by Super Sentai/Power Rangers by Toei Company/Saban Brands

Spiritual successor of Jetman (Super Sentai Season 15)