Are the PCs supposed to be the focus? Yes. But that doesn't mean it should be [i] easy [/i]. The whole point is that the PCs are supposed to suffer and get better and become the A-Listers that the trainers and the founders are. Stories are about rising to the challenge and learning and getting stronger and better. And yes some of the PCs are experienced but the majority aren't. Volt, Sonja, Hot Rod, Gabriel and Strix are old hands but everyone else is a comparable novice to fighting villains. And yes the trainers shrug off hits, but they don't do it nearly as much as you say. There was a time when everyone but three people were down for what amounted to several minutes in-game. And like I said before, they're used to taking a beating besides the fact that the ones who take most of the damage were already durable in the first place. 

And to put it another way sometimes saving the day isn't fighting all the aliens and blowing them up. Sometimes saving the day is taking care of the doomsday device, protecting the President's daughter, or finding the cure for the zombie plague. There are times when firepower will be needed and the NPCs are there in the background to help. But there are times when you have to do things on the sly when everyone else is fighting. Less obvious roles, but still important ones. 

When you're training someone to be a Navy Seal or something like that, the people training you are going to be more experienced, skilled, and yes probably better in every way. But the trainees aren't useless because of that. They're trainees because they are going to become the uber-badasses that their teachers are. And furthermore, individually the trainers are pretty tough but their real strength comes from teamwork. The trainers are a formidable threat because they work together and support each other. And the trainees didn't do that nearly as much. Instead they trade barbs and rush head-on into situations most of the time. When Strix makes a plan, he manages to beat back the trainers almost every damn time and that's because he uses teamwork. The RP is a team effort. Every character, big or small, supports the general effort. Not all of them are supposed to be lone supermen. 

That's my thought process but I do see how the training mission was losing it's fun and I fully apologize for all the inconvenience and frustration it caused and I will keep this in mind while I GM. But I seriously don't want this to spiral downward again, so please keep this civil. And I thank you all for your thoughts and concerns. Like I said before the training mission won't be matched in difficulty for quite a while.