Weight of the World

by LongTimeFan

Because even leaders have moments of doubt.

Title: Weight of the World

Genre: Captain Power & the Soldiers of the Future

Author: LongTimeFan

Rating: teens and higher

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction based on the television series, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. It is in no way intended to infringe on the copyrights of Landmark Entertainment Corporation or anyone else who may have legal rights to the characters and settings. I don't own the characters. Only using them for a short time and will return them in relatively the same shape as when borrowed. As always, any errors or inconsistencies are of my doing.

This story is simply because even leaders have moments of doubt. Italicized text is a memory of the day's events. Enjoy.

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Allowing the door to close behind him, Captain Jonathon Power's shoulders sagged as he ran a hand over his face. He didn't bother switching on a light. He knew the layout of the room like he knew the back of his own hand. Besides, he was far too tired to read or strategize his next move against Dread.

Laying his gun belt on the desk, Power traced his fingers over the leather before turning away. Every so often, he was reminded of the power he possessed and the corresponding responsibility that went with it. During those times, it overwhelmed him.

Collapsing in a chair, Jon unbuttoned his shirt before reaching down to untie his boots. Fatigue made his movements slow and clumsy, a far cry from the lightening sharp, coordinated movements he had made throughout the day. Soon his outer clothing was gone, exposing the power suit that had become as much a part of him as his own skin.

The suit had made him a legend in the fight against Lord Dread. His was only one of seven that existed in the world. Four others were in use, each on a member of his team. The remaining two hung in a secure locker, waiting for the right persons.

Some claimed the suits had allowed him and his team to save mankind from extinction. He didn't deny they helped to save some people. But he couldn't go as far as to say he had saved mankind.

Not yet at least.

That wouldn't happen until he had defeated Dread, once and for all. But that day would have to wait.

Dread was still too powerful. Today had proven that.

Scout had picked up intel that Dread's troops were on the way to a small settlement in an area that was once known as northern Michigan.

"How many?" Major Matt "Hawk" Masterson asked, referring to the number of people in the area.

"Unsure," Sergeant Robert "Scout" Baker answered. "Can't be more than twenty or so."

"You hope," Lieutenant Michael "Tank" Ellis countered, turning towards his leader. "If there's more than that, we'll have a hard time keeping Dread's troops busy til Pilot can get back."

"Pilot?" Power barked, looking across the room towards her.

Turning away from the monitor she had been studying, Corporal Jennifer "Pilot" Chase grimaced. "Tank's right. It'll take at least twenty minutes to get the first load to safety and make it back."

"We'll have to risk it," Jon surmised. "Hawk, Tank, load up the heavy armory. Scout, see if you can find out any more about the area. Pilot, we'll get the jump ship ready."

The memories flowed through Jon's mind unabated. A sigh escaped him as he was reminded of the scene that awaited them.

Skirting the edges of the ruined buildings, Power signaled his team to spread out. They had landed without encountering any resistance. Although they had seen no sign of troops, it did not put them at ease.

Picking his way over the rubble to the corner of a building, Jon scoured the area for any sign of life. Finding none, he triggered his communications link. "Got anything?" he asked quietly.

"Not a thing," Pilot replied, quickly followed by the others saying similar things. "Maybe they got out already."

"Okay, one quick sweep to make sure no one's around, then we get out of here," the Captain ordered. "And keep your eyes open. I've got a feeling we're not alone."

"Roger," Tank acknowledged, tightening his grip on the laser rifle in his hand. He learned a long time ago to trust Power's instincts. Besides, he had the same feeling.

Pushing open the door in the next building, Tank reeled back from the smell that blasted through the doorway. Gulping in fresh air, Michael shook his head. He knew that odor – it was the smell of death. Taking a step inside to confirm, he quickly backed out and pulled the door closed with him.

"Captain," Tank called into his com. "I've found a group of ten or so. They're all dead," he reported, sadness echoing in his voice.

"I've got the same thing here," Jon replied, pulling close the door to the small hut he stood outside of.

"I've got more," Jon heard Jennifer's voice interject softly. He could hear the regret in her words and knew she took their deaths as hard as he did.

"Captain!" Scout called. "Troops, and a lot of them!"

"Everybody head to the jump ship," Jon ordered, snapping off shots at the troopers as they marched around the building into view. "Hawk, see if you can give us some cover."

"You've got it," Matt answered, spreading his wings so he could take flight.

It had not been an easy exit. Six troopers had managed to corner Scout at one point, bombarding him with blasts that seriously depleted the energy in his suit. Hawk and Tank had arrived in time to save him from being killed, but the lively young man had ended up with burns, bumps and bruises.

Power himself had taken several rounds that had thrown him off his feet as he had fought his way back. Pilot arrived in time to help him eliminate the units that stood between them and the ship.

Jon had provided cover while Pilot prepared the ship for a fast getaway. It seemed like an eternity to him before the others appeared. Scout, his suit off, arm thrown over Hawk's shoulder and limping appeared first, followed by Tank spewing round after round at the troops following them.

Stepping forward, Power lent his gun and skill to the effort, taking out the remaining troops threatening his men. "Come on!" he urged, waving the others to hurry. Following them into the ship, he slapped the console to close the door while barking "Pilot, get us out of here!"

Laser blasts rocked the ship as it made its sharp climb out of the area. Tank fired several shots from the rear lasers towards the remaining troopers to discourage them. The small break was all Pilot needed to leave the area.

Just when they thought they were in the clear, a blast slammed into the side of the jump ship, sending sparks throughout the electrical system and nearly jolting all of them out of the seats.

"Report!" the Captain snapped, his voice raspy from the smoke in the cabin.

From the hold, Scout called out. "Fire's out Captain."

Trying to blink away the tears in his eyes caused by the irritation, Matt struggled to make sense of the readings. "Sensors and communications down," he reported tensely as he had taken over Scout's position on the fly out.

"Weapons are operational," Tank relayed from behind the Captain.

"Pilot?"

Gritting her teeth while trying to keep control of the ship, Jennifer tore her eyes from the sky to glance briefly at the indicators. They simply confirmed what she already knew. "Horizontal stabilizer, gone. Vertical stabilizer iffy," she grunted, pausing to fight the controls. She had been using the landscape to keep the craft fairly even and the momentary distraction had caused the ship to pitch badly. After a few moments, the ship stopped bucking. "We either sit it down soon or we're going down."

Realizing the struggle Jennifer was having, Jon dashed for the other seat. Taking the controls, he offered his strength to keep the ship from crashing. "Find us a spot," he said, letting her know it was okay to take her eyes off of the horizon.

Running her eyes over the rapidly passing terrain below them, Pilot spotted an area that was big enough for the ship, yet hidden so they could make the repairs needed. "There," she finally shouted. "Four o'clock," she added telling him which way they needed to turn.

"Hold on," Pilot called back over her shoulder. "It's gonna be bumpy," she added quietly, lining up the ship to land. Reaching up to flip off the alarms that were going to start due to the abrupt stop they were about to make, she focused on the task at hand. "I've got it, Captain," she stated, bracing for the full force of the thrusts she was going to feel when Power released his hold.

Letting go, Jon could do nothing but wait and be ready if Jennifer needed his assistance again. "Fifteen seconds to touch down," he yelled out, marking the height of the ship relative to the ground.

The force of the landing bounced all of them out of their seats. Somehow, Pilot retained her grips on the controls. When the ship finally stopped, she killed the engine switch and sank back into her seat.

"Everybody okay?" Jon asked scanning the crew. "Pilot?" he called laying a hand on the slumped woman.

"Okay," Jennifer murmured sitting up and rubbing her arm. "Remind me to put that on my list of thing 'not to do' again," she said, throwing a shaky smile at the Captain.

Smiling in relief, Jon got up and headed toward the back. "We're sitting ducks out here. Let's get this bird back in the air before they find us."

"Helluva job there kid," Hawk praised Pilot as she rose from her seat. Seeing the telltale trembling of muscles that had been overstrained, he gently pushed her back down. "Hold on a minute. Give your body a little chance to recover," he chided. Glancing back, he told to her to stay while he dashed to the rear of the ship. When he returned, he had a canteen and protein bar in his hands.

"Here." Matt knelt, holding out the items. "Can't have you passing out now can we?"

"Pilot?" Jon called, coming up behind Matt to see what was happening. Obviously she had not been truthful earlier about being unharmed.

"I'm okay," Jennifer insisted, trying to ease the concern on Jon's face. "Hawk's just being a mother hen."

"And you're trying to take on too much," Hawk countered back. "I know what this ship weighs and you having to fight it like you did would take the stuffing out of anyone." Nudging the water in her hand to indicate she should take a drink he added, "Five minutes of rest isn't going to make a whole lot of difference in when we get out of here."

"You hope," Chase added dryly, before taking a drink. Unfortunately, they both knew five minutes could mean the difference between a clean get away and having to fight their way out.

"We'll risk it," Power decided for them. "Pilot, you take a few minutes while Hawk helps Scout on communications and radar. When you're feeling stronger see what you can do about those stabilizers. Tank and I are going to take a look around outside."

"Be careful out there," Matt said, rising to watch the Captain and Tank leave.

"You ARE a mother hen," Jon threw back over his shoulder, before nodding to Tank that he was ready.

"Power on," the duo intoned, activating their suits before they exited.

"Nice neighborhood," Tank declared stepping outside. "Mother Masterson will like it."

Jon smiled remembering Hawk's response to the teasing that filtered out as the hatch door closed. It was moments such as these that got them through the dangerous times. Those few precious minutes of humor allowed a little bit of the tension to seep away. It allowed for a moment of normalcy in an otherwise chaotic day.

Other times, it was the only piece of humanity they had to hang onto. Today had been one of those days.

Twenty-seven souls had been lost today. An entire camp wiped out in the name of Dread's mechanized world. The memory made Jon's stomach churn.

Leaving the now folded suit on top of his uniform, Jon moved over to the sink and turned on the water. Throwing several handfuls on his face, he snagged a towel and wiped the water off as it dripped down his neck. Several drops escaped the towel and pinged on the bowel, the sound of it reminding him of the distant sound of laser bolts as he and Tank were heading back to the ship.

"Captain…." Tank began, straining to judge if what he was hearing were actually blasts.

"I hear 'em," Power countered. "Let's go," he ordered, setting off toward the ship in a trot knowing that Michael would be right behind him.

As they neared the ship, the sounds of the fight grew louder. As they came into position to see the ship, Jon realized that Hawk was crouched behind a boulder near the rear of the ship. Behind him, he could see Pilot's leg, her suit inactive.

Shots coming by the open hatch of the ship drew his attention away from the two. Peering intently he spotted Scout carefully picking his targets while staying as protected as he could given the low power status of his suit. Jon knew that one or two shots would cause the espionage specialist to loose the protection of his suit and leave him vulnerable like Pilot. Driving back the impulse to dive head long into the fray, he forced himself to stay focused on how to eliminate the threat to his team without putting them in any more danger.

Coming beside the Captain, Tank hissed. "Pilot's down and Hawk and Scout can't last much longer."

"Head over that way. Get 'em in a crossfire," Jon snapped.

Nodding, the large man began to stealthily move to angle his position away from the both the Captain and the ship. Gaining a spot behind a partial wall, the one-man attack force triggered his com. "I'm ready Captain."

"GO!"

At the order, Ellis opened fire with his laser cannon at the same time as the Captain began shooting. The added support quickly dispatched the troopers.

Closing the gap between the others, Power headed to check on Pilot. He was stopped in his tracks however by the sound of Hawk speaking.

"You about done in there?" Masterson called, turning to look down toward the ground. "They probably got off a signal and let every bio-dread within 100 clicks know we're here."

"Almost," Jennifer's muffled reply came back. "I just need to check the, OUCH," she exclaimed, crawling from the cavity in the side of the ship. "It's active," she added dryly, gaining her feet.

"You alright?" Jon asked Jennifer, confusion in his tone.

"Yeah, fine," Chase threw back lightly. "Hawk and Scout had me covered."

Seeing a shared look of confusion between Power and Ellis, Hawk grinned. "Pilot was working on the stabilizer connection when our friends here showed up. Given that she is the only one who can fit in there to do that…."

"And only if I don't have my suit activated," Pilot clarified, passing between the men to head back inside.

"And she was at a point that if she stopped she'd depolarize the entire electronics field on the ship," Hawk continued.

"You covered her while she continued to work," Power finished for him, nodding his head in understanding.

"Risky," Tank murmured.

"But worth it," Scout offered from the doorway. "We're ready to go."

Easing onto the bunk, Jon laid himself down. A sigh escaped him as he reached up to run a hand over his face, trying to push back the memories of the day.

The image of the bodies piled on top of one another again popped into his mind. If he had to hazard a guess as to what happened, it would be that the town folk knew Dread's forces were coming and had hidden in bunches, hoping to make it appear the camp had been deserted. In truth, all they had accomplished was to make their deaths easier.

Rolling over, the glint of the metallic threads of his power suit twinkled in the muted light and seemed to mock him from across the room. Rarely did he allow himself the luxury of taking it off when he lay down to sleep. Trouble could erupt at any moment and he and the rest of the team would have to respond. Being fully undressed caused a delay in that response time.

It was only on days like this that he did it. Days when the burden of responsibility that came with the suit seemed too much; the cost of failure too high. It was on those days that for a time, no matter how short it might be, he needed to remove it.

He wondered if the others felt the same. He suspected they did. An aura of grief had descended in the ship once they had gotten safely in route to the base camp. The futility of their attempt had set in.

Jon could not find the words to ease their pain. Not today. All he could offer them upon the return home was a quiet, "Let's all get some rest."

No one argued. They simply took their weary souls to their quarters.

He had taken the first watch in the control room. It wasn't until Scout came to relieve him hours later that he saw any of them again.

"Quiet?" Scout asked easing himself down the stairs into the command center.

Turning to acknowledge Baker's approached, Power nodded. "Very." Appraising Scout's slow cautious movement, Jon could tell the young man was hurting from the battle earlier in the day. He could also tell he had not slept. "You okay to take over?" he asked casually, pulling off his headset.

"Me?" Scout tried to laugh off the Captain's question. "Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"Rough day," Jon replied, locking eyes with Robert after he had taken a seat. He had chosen his words carefully, leaving Scout an opening to talk about the people who had died if he wished to.

Instantly sobering at the remark, Robert looked down before again meeting Power's eyes. "Yeah," he acknowledged softly. "In more ways than one."

"Want to talk about it?"

Shrugging, Scout toyed with the console before him. "What's to say? We were late, those settlers died. Dread's troops tried to trap us, we got away."

Nodding slowly at the abrupt summation, Jon pursed his lips. "We didn't cause those people to die," he stated. "Dread did that."

"But we didn't save them either," Robert countered.

"No, we didn't," Jon breathed, placing the headset on the console deliberately. He could not argue with that simple fact.

After a few minutes, Baker threw an uneasy glance at Power. "It just seems like this is happening more and more. We show up to abandoned camps or dead bodies."

"Sometimes… okay, more lately," Jon conceded seeing an objection to his reply erupt on Robert's face. "But that doesn't mean we stop trying. You know as well as the rest of us what it means if Dread wins. We can't give up."

"You're right. And I'm not saying we shouldn't try," Scout agreed. "All I'm saying is that it just seems like the good guys aren't getting many wins lately." Picking up the headset that Jon had just laid down, he added contemplatively, "Maybe we need to blow up an installation or something like that to cheer us all up."

Chuckling, Jon stood up. Squeezing Scout's shoulder on his way by, he said, "I'll see what I can do to make that happen for you."

Remembering the conversations and events of the day, Jon's own doubts began to spin in his head.

Was Dread really winning the war? Were they making any difference? Or were they simply giving the few remaining people left a false sense of hope that the infamous Captain Power and his team would show up and save them if Soaron or Blastarr found them?

As much as he tried to tell himself this wasn't the case, some small part of him still believed it.

Sighing, Jon sat up and flipped on the light. Sleep was going to be elusive for him this night. He might as well put the time to good use.

Getting up, he moved to the computer screen on his desk. "Mentor, show me the last set of reconnaissance reports from Cypher and the west coast resistance."

"Working," Mentor replied, bringing up the requested items on the screen.

Sitting down, Jon began to study the reports trying to figure out Dread's next move. He needed to do something to remind himself that Dread would not win this war despite the battles and lives that had been lost.

And besides, he needed to find something for Scout to blow up.

The End

Author note: Okay, not sure I like the ending but after ripping it apart three times, this is what I came up. Hopefully, not too bad.