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The Fine Joys of Publicity is the twenty-fifth episode of Power Rangers Universe. It features the debut of the Phoenix Steel Megazord and the Phoenix Steel Launcher, as well as the Hyper Sector Key. It also reveals the backstory of Arkeyan senators Z'Aezoth and Gazla.
Synopsis[]
Having recently aided Star Battleforce in the Arkeyans' climatic attack on Earth, the enigmatic Agent 263 of the Galactic Affairs Bureau - having become a ranger in his own right, declares that the other rangers had accomplished their duty and must leave the rest to him. However, Arthur and the others refuse to comply, and Ryan and Joi are ordered by 263 to unearth a conspiracy containing His Magnificence's ultimate manifesto.
Plot[]
With Earth recovering once again after an attempted takeover by the Arkeyans, Agent 263, the mysterious new ranger who arrived to reinforce the S.B.F. Rangers during the offensive, assumes command of the Prometheus ship, which Arthur had helped rechristen; he sets a course for the Destiny, intent on having some much needed words with its commanding officer. On the Destiny's bridge, Russell and Joi - the former of whom as been filled in on the information of recent events by the latter - are discussing new information that they have regarding the mysterious ranger to the team, especially Arthur, Ryan, Megan, and Wild Bill, along with the fact that his codename of "Agent 263", and his real name is classified. Suddenly, the alarms begin to sound, after an unauthorised docking is detected - that being the Prometheus. Agent 263, along with some fellow GAB agents, decide to storm the bridge to further introduce himself to the other eleven rangers. Already morphed, he marches down the hallways of the station, amazing some of the passengers, and arrives on the bridge, as the rest of the crew, besides those who were the first to encounter him, are immediately alerted to 263's presence, with Megan even demanding that the ranger reveals himself. To this end, he powers down, and the rangers have so many questions. Meanwhile, in Xibalba, His Magnificence is desperate to see more from Senators, after months of sitting on the sidelines. Gazla, feeling undermined by his own superior, remembers the time His Magnificence sought him out as he began assembling his armies. Z'Aezoth remembers nothing, while at the same time, he insists on electing a third senator, which piques His Magnificence's interest.
Back on the Destiny, Agent 263 proceeds to explain his allegiance, and that he is of the Galactic Affairs Bureau, and is currently its top agent, a status which allowed him to be hand-picked by the bureau's director to use the Crimson Phoenix Armor. To this end, he decided to come on board the Destiny for some guidance. First off, he questions them as to who is the current head of the Arkeyan Empire. Dimitri says thereās only ever been one leader of the empire, His Magnificence. 263 says that isnāt possible, but he doesnāt elaborate. Instead, he tells them that now thatās heās revived, they are no longer needed. He commends them on their work up to now, but heāll take over from here. Enlisting him and the bureau is enough to get them in the history books, but Arthur says they havenāt been fighting merely to revive him, and are here to defeat the Arkeyans. Colonel Xiao, having arrived on the bridge amid the bickering, protests against any attempts by 263 to sabotage his people, and despite this, 263 dubs Joi and Ryan as his new "zealots', and orders Joi to find any Arkeyan educational center on Earth. She quickly does and he, along with a reluctant Joi and and an even more reluctant Ryan head down. After Colonel Xiao chooses Moose and Bronzee to head to Moorlands to obtain more information on the Prometheus, 263 orders Arthur, Florian, Russell and Megan to hunt down Clarence Little and Tom Goldberg, two moles in the agency with links to the Arkeyans, Arthur unsuccessfully attempts to back out of 263's orders by saying he's not going to do a hitman-style task, as that would make him a fugitive, while Russell, Megan and Bill refuse to do 263's bidding altogether. Colonel Xiao tells Arthur and the remaining four that of course they arenāt going to just stop fighting merely because 263 told them to.
Down on Earth, 263 learns not a single Earthling has ever heard of the Galactic Affairs Bureau before, and suspects Arkeyan spies had written over the bureau's existence. He and the other two head to an "Arkeyan Outreach Centre" where various Arkeyan individuals are learning to create commandants to serve His Magnificence, overseen by a commandant known as Extra Neck-Teach. 263 interrupts the class and Neck-Teach recognizes him as being on His Magnificenceās blacklist. 263 figures Neck-Teach is the one who has framed the Bureau for fraud. 263 then morphs and he takes Neck-Teach outside to fight. Ryan and Joi both morph as well, but 263 canāt believe an assistant and chef could possibly fight in battle. Ryan and Joi try to show what theyāre capable of, but Neck-Teach tosses them around. He then shoots at Ryan and writes āAttacking me will hit the agency guyā in his "history book". Ryan shoots at Neck-Teach anyway, but his shoots indeed get redirected toward 263, as the commandant escapes. Elsewhere, Arthur, Megan, Florian and Russell are in the city looking for Goldberg and Little, and Arthur in particular does not know what to do, and is worried that if they were to assassinate them, He and the other three would be deemed fugitives. When Neck-Teach shows up, the four of them are forced to abort 263's request and morph, and get into a fight with the commandant, as the other three find him. 263 slams Ryan - who is an experienced Star Battleforce operative, is not experienced enough to 263's standards. Before the rangers can protest, Wild Bill calls and tells them the nearby A-Drone is in danger of exploding as the Planesium has started to flow backwards, and suggests they could shut off the valve to prevent further chaos.
263 tells Joi and Ryan that they will go after Manabiru. Although he's told that the priority should be to ensure the people in the area are safe, 263 says he is more concerned with dealing with the one who wrote over his legendary history. Megan again tries to speak up, but all 263 does is hand her the Hyper Sector Key to borrow, but to her obliviousness. 263 leaves and tells Raptor to follow, as she tries to tell him that she can indeed fight and has been doing so all this time. He corners her and tells her to be quiet, and listens to her insides, angering Ryan - who demands intel regarding the commandant from 263. Meanwhile, the other rangers have arrived at the overheating A-Drone, as Russell finds something interesting. This location seems to have once been a G.A.B. research facility. Elsewhere, 263 explains that the Tyrell Corporation, based in the Aquilla Sector, is the manufacturer of the Joi brand of robotic assistants, the one that he suspects Russell built by himself. But she is definitely different from the combat model so she must not fight again. Ryan defends Joi, but 263 says a chef should be fighting either. A Moonbilly and Roswell attack the other Kyurangers, as Arthur, Florian and Russell morph and take care of them while Megan and Bill hurry over to the Planesium valve. 263 tells Ryan and Joi that an inexperienced cadet who relies on luck (Arthur), a girl who apparently likes to eat (Megan), an Eastern European "party animal" (Florian), a child genius (Russell) and a "rasta-speaking" talking dog (Wild Bill) have no business fighting in battle. Itās a wonder how theyāve managed up to this point. Ryan has had enough - especially at the sight of 263's criticism of Megan, and he grabs 263 by throat and pins him against a wall. Before they can properly argue, Neck-Teach appears and shoots at them.
263 tells them that if they want to prove him wrong, they have to show him their power, so the three of them morph. Meanwhile, Bill is struggling to shut off the valve. Megan remembers she has the Hyper Sector Key which 263 gave her earlier. She uses it and immediately gets super strength, allowing her to shut off the Moraimarz. 263 is impressed by Joiās moves against Neck-Teach. But Ryanās shots still ricochet back to target 263 per Neck-Teachās history book. Ryan has an idea, however; He takes on 263, who understands the plan. They are able to work together to knock Neck-Teach around and break his laser stick. Ryan insists 263 is wrong about the Star Battleforce's Rangers, as 263 says heās looking forward to be proven wrong. 263 turns to Neck-Teach, as he and the other two Star Battleforce Rangers deliver finishers at him. Neck-Teach is subsequently enlarged by an executive order, as an A-Drone activates. Arthur, Megan, Bill, Florian and Russell then join them, as Arthur plans to form the Voyager Squad with Ryan, Joi, Florian and Russell - with Bill and Megan providing backup, but 263 orders them all to leave it to him, as he summons the Phoenix Steel Zord, which launches from the Phoenix Steel Launcher which makes its way from the G.A.B. Headquarters. Upon assuming control of the zord, he initiates a Megazord protocol, which sees the zord combine with the Phoenix Steel Dish, forming the Phoenix Steel Megazord, which lands down on Earth to make easy work of Neck-Teach and the A-Drone, finishing them both off with a Phoenix Steel Inferno Strike, the other rangers are amazed by that new megazord, as Russell notes that this appears to be the work of a modified Uni-Voyager.
In the aftermath, Megan reports to Colonel Xiao via Russell's laptop that they had to abort 263's request to take out the two alleged moles. Xiao claims that there is now a clash of control now between him and 263 over the leadership of the Star Battleforce Rangers, but calls on them to focus on their main objective of defending against the Arkeyans. Arthur, however, is dreading returning to the Destiny, seeing as 263 will not be happy about his request not being fulfilled. To this end, Wild Bill thinks that rangers should form a mutiny against 263 until he can be trusted, and Arthur and Megan agree with it, with the latter even claiming that the bureau is just taking credit, while Florian thinks the new ranger is very cool. Russell then tells them to give 263 a chance, seeing as he may not realise Star Battleforce's code of conduct just yet, and also reveals that he has now designated 263 as Ranger Series Phoenix. Elsewhere, 263 is notified that the others had failed in his request to have Goldberg and Little assasinated, and is fuming. Ryan and Joi are still with him, and Ryan insists that they need to head to the station for their next objective, but 263 has an assignment for them: remain on Earth and delegate with G.A.B. officials on Earth for joint operations between Star Battleforce and the Galactic Affairs Bureau, much to both of their disdain. Meanwhile, in Xibalba, Z'Aezoth delivers an Imperial Address, announcing that he, as a senator under His Magnificence, will very soon make his presence known, especially to Star Battleforce.
Cast[]
- N/A as Arthur Morgan (Star Battleforce Red)
- N/A as Megan Sawyer (Star Battleforce Green)
- N/A as Ryan Torres (Star Battleforce Yellow)
- N/A as Moose (Star Battleforce Black) (unmorphed only)
- N/A as Wild Bill (Star Battleforce Blue) (voice) (unmorphed only)
- N/A as Bronzee (Star Battleforce Gold) (voice) (unmorphed only)
- N/A as Florian Hebitsuvic (Star Battleforce Silver)
- N/A as Joi (Star Battleforce Pink) (voice)
- N/A as Dimitri Skorpirov (Star Battleforce Orange) (unmorphed only)
- N/A as Colonel Xiao Longbao (Star Battleforce Drago) (voice) (unmorphed only)
- N/A as Russell Cubowski (Star Battleforce Aqua)
- N/A as Agent 263 (Ranger Series Phoenix)
- N/A as His Magnificence (voice)
- Paul Harrop as Z'Aezoth (voice)
- N/A as Gazla (voice)
- N/A as General Sawyer
Sector Keys[]
- Ranger Series Red - Leo (Leo Impact Slash)
- Ranger Series Orange - N/A
- Ranger Series Blue - N/A
- Ranger Series Gold - N/A
- Ranger Series Black - N/A
- Ranger Series Silver - Ophuichi (Ophiuchi Impact Strike)
- Ranger Series Green - Hyper
- Ranger Series Pink - Aquilla (All-Star Sector Strike)
- Ranger Series Drago - N/A
- Ranger Series Aqua - Ursa Minor (Ursa Impact Burst)
- Ranger Series Phoenix - Phoenix (Phoenix Sector Strike), Phoenix (Phoenix Steel Zord)
Notes[]
- Agent 263's morph sequence and roll call is seen for the first time.
See also[]
- Space.22: True Identity of the Legendary Savior - Super Sentai counterpart in Kyuranger. (fight footage and story)