POWERSUITS: The actual exoskeletonic armor and weapons systems worn by each featured soldier. In an uncharged state, the Powersuits can be worn underneath regular clothes. In this state they resemble cloth with various patterns of circuitry tracings attached. There are seven Powersuits in existence. At present, two are not in use. The suits are biologically attuned to one person: the first person wearing the suit upon initial activation. Anyone else attempting to use a Powersuit, besides its owner, would be killed upon activation. While each Powersuit has a specialized weapons system, some general characteristics are common to all the suits. The Powersuit enhances strength to an unknown, but super-human level and serves as body armor for protection against blasters and being digitized. Each suit has communications gear, a blaster, and special optical systems tactically augmenting the wearer's natural sight in various ways as needed. The optic enhancement can range from simple photochromatic reaction to light intensity to actually magnifying an image in size or calculating an objects distance, or providing a targeting gunsight. A Powersuit's charge can last for a week or so if used sparingly and switched off as necessary. In battle conditions, it can be depleted very fast depending on the size of the force being fought. The Powersuits are normally recharged at Powerbase or aboard the Jumpship, but can be recharged under emergency conditions by a sufficiently powerful source of electricity. Emergency recharges are very dangerous. In the field, Powersuits can be activated and deactivated by the wearer alternatively touching the Phoenix rising medallion/indicia worn on the chest. It has not been revealed if the voice command, "Power On!" is absolutely required to activate the suit. Each Powersuit has a voice synthesized warning system that advises the wearer of low power levels and/or critical suit malfunctions, problems etc.
POWER BASE: This is the headquarters of the Captain Power team. Its exact location is secret but it is somewhere in the Southwest American desert. It was built under the direction of the late Dr. Stuart Gordon Power at the beginning of the Metal Wars to serve as a constant front in the war against Dread's biodread empire. It houses living quarters for the team, and also various communications and military tracking systems. The main Powersuit activation/charging station is also located at Powerbase. The Jumpship is housed in a hanger within Powerbase when not in use. The extent of the Powerbase facilities have not been fully revealed, but are certainly more substantial than the superficial view seen so far. Powerbase does house a super computer known as Mentor (see MENTOR) that assists the Power Team in multitudinous ways. No external view of Powerbase has been seen. It is theorized that it is either entirely subterranean or its above ground features are disguised by a holographic imaging system which projects an illusion that blends in with the environment around it, rendering it essentially invisible to prying eyes. Powerbase is equipped with a radio and radar jamming system preventing unwanted internal or external scans or radio transmissions from giving away the base's location.
THE JUMPSHIP: The Jumpship was also built under the direction Dr. Power and his government liaison, Major Matthew Masterson. The Jumpship is not a spaceship Per Se. It is used by the Power Team as their main source of transportation in the same manner a plane is used today. It has full defensive shielding and weaponry. The Jumpship is linked to Mentor and has remote access to all the facilities of Powerbase. The Jumpship can travel great distances in a short time by using what are called transit gates. Dr. Power built six transit gates in the East, West, South, North, and Midwest parts of what was the United States. There is also a transit gate just outside of Powerbase. A transit gate allows teleportation between any one of the other transit gates. Enter one and exit from any of the others. It is not known if the transit gates generate a field of hyperspace for the Jumpship to travel through, or if the ship is somehow converted to energy, projected, and reassembled into original form on the other end as if using a transporter beam. The Jumpship has a holographic imaging system that can alter its outward appearance while parked on the ground so as to avoid casual detection.
SKYBIKES: One or two man flying machines flown by members of the Power Team when needs dictate. They are flown while seated astride as when riding a bicycle, hence the name. They are equipped with standard energy blaster weapons and communications gear. They are easily damaged and generally for short range use. Skybikes are inherently dangerous to the operator for the same reason a motorcycle is dangerous - exposure.
VOLCANIA: This is Lord Dread's base station and center of operations. It is located near where Detroit used to be. It resembles a black mountain of metal and is powered by a volcanic vent of magma flow, hence the name, Volcania. The vast power of an empire of machines is controlled from this point. OverMind is housed here. The complexity of features and functions of Volcania have not been fully revealed. However, Volcania is linked worldwide to uncounted other facilities and computers. This allows Dread to literally run the entire planet from this base. Vast and mysterious, we may never see beyond Dread's Throne/Control room. It is certain that mechanical wonders undreamed of, exist within Volcania's walls.
DIGITIZATION: The technology of the 22nd century enables a human being to be converted to energy and stored in an exact digital format within the memory banks of a computer. A human being can be stored indefinitely as a set of numbers and re-integrated to human form. The process is used by Dread to store humans without killing them outright. To Dread, he is `immortalizing' beings of fragile flesh and blood. The process is excruciatingly painful during digitization and re-integration. Digitization is a traumatic mental experience and can easily result in varying levels of acute insanity upon re-integration. Most digitized human beings are stored within the malevolent OverMind computer. Each of the two biodreads has a digitizer mounted on their respective left arms. Most captured humans meet their digital fate at the hands of a biodread.
BIOMECH (a.k.a. TROOPER): A generic term describing a mechanical soldier. A biomech has limited intelligence and no sentient thought. For instance, most biomechs have programmed rudimentary fighting skills built-in. Biomechs have the ability to speak. There are biomechs of varying complexity, the more complex, the higher the "rank" of a particular biomech soldier. Biomech soldiers of varying capabilities are broken into ranks of First, Second, and Third Phalanx, with the remaining 80% or so being standard troopers. Groups of biomechs are normally under the direction of a larger computer for sophisticated operations and maneuvers. At times biomechs are under direct supervision of human soldiers in the Dread Army. Each biomech has strobing orange light indicators on its chest and back. These chest lights serve the purpose of coordinating movements between large numbers of machines. Each chest light strobes at a specific rate individual to each biomech or piece of equipment. The biomechs communicate with each other using these rapid binary pulses for varying purposes. The pulses can indicate something as simple as an IFF signal, (Identify Friend or Foe) to choreographing a large, complex troop movement or deployment of weapons. Some weapons systems and heavy machinery are also equipped with binary strobes to link them with biomech troops. This system of intercommunication and coordination is limited. Too complex a set of tasks can confuse large numbers of biomechs, as can the random, unpredictable attack of a combat proficient human soldier. The hive-mentality biomechs are ultimately controlled by OverMind.
BIODREAD: A complex "living machine" capable of high levels of destructive force. Biodreads are very large and robotic in appearance. There are only two biodreads in existence, Soaron and Blastarr. (see individual CHARACTER entries) A biodread has cognitive ability and independent thought capability. Created using a synthetic type of DNA encoding and large quantities of energy, a biodread has the ability to regenerate or grow back damaged parts. A biodread is composed of living silvery metal. (On TV these are the computer generated characters). Each biodread is equipped with specialized powers and weaponry and has the ability to digitize humans.
ORGANICS: The term used by the machine forces when referring to humans. The resistance members are obviously organics. However, many human beings follow Dread too. Dread has, in effect, won. To a lot of people, it makes a lot of sense to go with a winner. Dread's military forces are partially composed of humans, called Overunits and Underunits. Dread's human troops are culled from the ranks of the Dread Youth, where they are trained to believe that they will fight for a time, and after serving, be digitized and then restored in the first wave of immortal humans in metalloid bodies.
PROJECT NEW ORDER: (CLASSIFIED) This is the name of Dread's plan to systematically replace the consciousness of all human beings with mechanical simulcra. Project New Order is the main focus of Dread's activities to date. Dread genuinely believes that he's trying to give the gift of immortality to a resistant, bellicose humanity. Four phases to Project New Order have been named: Charon, Styx, Icarus, and Prometheus.
WEAPONRY: The Power Team uses a few ancillary weapons and tools along with those that are part of their Powersuits. One such item is called a crysblade. A crysblade looks like a glowing spade shaped dagger. Crysblades are made of a crystalline substance which when energized is a formidable weapon, but is just as useful in uncharged form as a super knife that cuts with laser power and precision. Another weapon used is called a starbit. A starbit is made from the same crystalline substance as a crysblade, except shaped in the form of a Chinese shuriken, commonly called a throwing star. A starbit is thrown at an opponent, just as a throwing star would be. Starbits are iridescent purple in color and store a considerable amount of energy which is discharged upon impact. The starbit combines the cutting force of a crysblade with the energy force of a blaster to become an effective weapon. An unnamed cutting and electronic lock pick tool has also been seen. The tool is a flashlight sized silver cylinder with electrodes at one end. The device seems able to cut thin metal and open electronic door locking mechanisms. This device may have other uses not yet revealed.