20. Fortitude [BLoSC]

XR was pressed against the wall, his metal body rattling against the concrete.
It was a Tradeworld mission, a 0-8-15 Tradeworld mission. But why did it have to be a mission with the energy-vampire? Repressing a whimper the robot shut his optics closed. Buzz and Mira were… out searching for Nos-4-A2. They had split up so their chances of finding him were higher, and XR was teamed up with Booster, the Jo-Adian who was dealing with the energy-vampire right now.
The robot ranger was Booster's backup.
Well, supposed to be.
The two of them were best friends, the inseparable kind, but… Booster didn't want him as a backup, he'd shooed him away – and the reason was obvious. Nos-4-A2, the energy-vampire, was XR's self-proclaimed arch-enemy, always lusting for revenge and his power. Not the mighty might power kind of thing, but the energy he was running on, XR's very life-source. The robot had gladly taken the advice of fleeing to get Buzz and Mira, but it resulted in leaving Booster behind alone, fighting back the worst kind of nightmare XR ever had known. His wings wanted to jet, but his brainchip – the ranger programming – wouldn't let him leave. It was against regulations to fight without backup, and no one else knew that better than Booster. He'd learned these regulations by heart, literally. And yet, he chose to infringe upon these holy rules, just this once.

The robot gulped, sneaking along the cold and dirty wall carefully, his treads imitating walking feet and leaving awful clicking noises whenever they hit the ground. He could do that. He… he could do that. Booster was endangering himself so that XR could do that, so he had to be able to do that, he could do that. The robot flipped his wrist laser open just to be greeted by static. He was a useless pile of metal in the energy-vampire's presence… and then Nos-4-A2's all too familiar signature scream echoed within the alley XR had taken, bouncing back and forth against the walls, hitting the small bucket-shaped robot from every direction. His jetpack finally snapped awake as he turned around to face the sleek vampire approaching him with a victorious grin.
"Wh… wh… B-Booster?" the robot managed to stammer out a squeak as he was repelled like a hunted animal into the corner of the alleyway. Why did the alleyways in Tradeworld always tend to lead to a dead-end?
Another voice joined the scenario; it was Booster's voice that with an almost terrifying howl drowned out Nos-4-A2 laughter. The big red Jo-Adian slammed into Nos-4-A2, seized him and threw him out in the open again. XR shook his head wildly, the temporary red eyes of his trance turning back into a vivid yellow glow as he watched Booster get the upper hand and gain Nos-4-A2's full attention. He nodded to himself, Jetpack still out.
You can do this!
The robot set off, ready to blast away when a yelp made him freeze in midair.
"Booster?"
XR turned around, slowly approaching the open – due to the fight empty – street. Nos-4-A2 had somehow managed to get Booster in his grasp and was sucking the energy out of the ranger's suit. Flashes of memories zapped through XR's mind. Memories of Nos-4-A2's mind-control and his attempt to take over Star Command with the help of a zombie-suit army under his command, for he controlled anything robotic he ever bit – and space suits in fact did have some delicate electronics that powered the communicator or the wrist lasers, not to mention the standard space equipment like the heat-protection or the oxygen-tank… Oh, craters!
Right now Nos-4-A2 was even too busy with draining Booster's unusually big exemplar of a space-suit to notice XR peeking around the corner. Before the vampire could have had a chance to notice XR, the ranger disappeared out of Nos-4-A2's potential eyesight again. For the second time now, XR found himself close to that dreaded wall, shaking against it on the floor. The noise it caused was horrific and the wall didn't feel cold anymore, but icy in comparison to the robot's heated-up torso.

"XR!"
The robot snapped alive from his being-a-useless-backup-self-pity-depression at the voice of Booster. How did the big guy know XR was still there? He drove back to find Nos-4-A2 still working on Booster's suit, who had by now been forced to the ground.
"Get Buzz and Mira!"
XR just stared, the Jo-Adian's voice resounding in his head.
'Get Buzz and Mira!'
Buzz and Mira, his captain and the Tangean Princess, were out on Tradeworld, somewhere he couldn't make out with his communicator under Nos-4-A2's frequency. It would take the robot forever to locate them and by then it could have already been too late. XR turned around to assure himself that they really weren't going to jump into picture just now, like the usual everyday miracle, but when the sight of the empty alleyway didn't change, the robot-ranger's guns popped out of his back without a sound or a movement by their owner. Yet another time XR rolled out in the open. Booster was lying on the floor, eyes closed. The robot's eyes flickered for a moment until he noticed his friend twitching. The robotic ranger straightened himself and without warning gave a shot at the vampire. Without letting go of XR's best friend, Nos-4-A2 glanced up at him, a mischievous smirk growing on the cold metal surface that served as the monster's face.

"Hey!" XR called to nail down his anger, "Dark Master!" Now if this didn't force the vampire to drop Booster, XR would be out of ideas – not that he would have cared by now. The little ranger then activated his jetpack, an angry and challenging frown replacing the earlier fear in his face. Keeping an eye on the energy-vampire XR hastily dialled a distress-call, praying to the Sweet Mother of Venus to let it arrive, as he previously had built out the device responsible for the tracing-signal and left it behind in the alleyway. If everything would work out as planed – what was rarely the case, but hope died last – it would start to work as soon as XR had led Nos-4-A2 away from the place and call over Buzz and Mira ASAP. The robot-ranger sent a last glance to his team-member who was panting weakly and XR's eyes darkened to an amber tone, before they lit up and gazed back at the energy-vampire with furrowed eyebrows. Eyes full of anger and life. Nos-4-A2 was still hovering there with a smug grin as he waited for XR to make the next step. The vampire was a creature of the night after all – a hunter who needed to take his prey down after either a fight or a chase.

Out of a sudden the little ranger shot straight into Nos-4-A2, ramming him. Not expecting such a move the energy-vampire spun in midair as XR jumped down onto Booster, opening his helmet with a swift kick at the twitching space suit, before he took off a second time and only left a trail of fume for Nos-4-A2 to follow. After getting stable again, the energy-vampire had found XR's exhaust soon enough, spread out two big and impressive wings – loaded with the fresh energy of Booster's suit – and followed his favorite victim with a snarl, leaving the big ranger behind without further attention.