Well, Hello again all, I hope today finds you well, my day sucks, in the past twenty four hours my area has been buried under almost a foot of snow. Nobody was ready for it, we thought it was done for the year. Oh well, I love the snow to much to really complain. Anyway, before I head to bed and look forwa5rd to my big exciting day off plowing my driveway, I thought I might stop by and upload another chapter of Dead Planet for you, enjoy. Again, big thanks to Cpt. Fox for betaing, as he helped me get through a sticky part with this chapter.

Star Fox: The Dead Planet Chapter 5: A Week of Change

Kursed was meditating in her room, her legs pulled up in a cross in front of her when the knock echoed through her room. She frowned at the interruption, but unfolded her legs and stood up, heading for the door. She palmed the switch to unlock and open it, as much as she wished she could leave it locked, and looked out to find Fox gazing down the hallway. When the door slid open though he quickly turned his gaze to her face, and she saw something...deep, in his eyes.

"We need to talk."

Kursed scoffed and brushed past him, heading for the elevator, while inside her mind she felt fear spark at his words. Had he figured out who she was? She was halfway down the hallway when she heard him sigh.

He called out to her as she hit the button to open the elevator doors. "Kursed, I mean it, this is important."

She glanced over her shoulder as she stepped into the elevator and pressed a button, as the doors closed she called out in return. "Then you better follow me."

Fox watched the doors close before he let out a huff of anger. He walked over the the panel and watched as the elevator stopped on deck 3. He shook his head as he pressed the button to summon the elevator, and took the time for its doors to open thinking unpleasant thoughts about Kursed, which he hoped she could hear.

He kept up this line of thinking until the doors slid closed and the elevator started to rise to level 3. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself for the conversation up ahead. No matter what, he was going to get this talk done with Kursed before the night was over.

He walked down the hallway and into the open doorway of the rec room, wondering if he guessed right. He had.

Kursed was standing in the middle of the training ring, her hands still wrapped in boxers tape from the sparring match they had before Katt had called them down. Fox took a moment to take in todays outfit. She had gone for as much black as possible, starting with the loose black cargo jeans she had on, her matching t-shirt was loose and her purple hair was secured by a black hair band, her black boots were already off to the side of the mat.

Fox meanwhile was dressed in the counter colors of loose blue jeans and a white shirt tucked in and held up with a brown belt. He had put on his white tennis shoes, but as he walked towards the ring, he caught the heel of each shoe with his foot and kicked out of them, leaving them where they landed as he walked to the edge of the ring.

He stared at Kursed for a long moment before she popped her neck and spoke. "You wanted to talk?" she dropped into her fighting stance "Lets talk."

Fox frowned "I meant an actual talk, with words, not fists."

Kursed shook her head. "Too bad, that's the deal, if you want to whine to me some more, it'll be while we fight."

Fox glanced away before moving to where the roll of boxers tape was sitting on the ground, he grabbed it and quickly wrapped both of his paws, stepping into the ring and throwing the tape towards the sandbags. "Fine, first to pin for five seconds wins." He had barely raised his fists into a high guard before Kursed launched into an attack, bringing up her left leg in a punishing kick aimed at his head.

As Fox ducked the attack he spoke up. "How much training do you have in your powers?"

Kursed responded as she backed away from Fox, making sure to stay out of range of his fists, and away from the edge of the ring. "Enough."

Fox frowned as he took a quick hop forward and threw a quick right jab that she blocked before side stepping his left swing. "I need to know Kursed."

Kursed tried to sweep his legs as she responded "My past is my business McCloud, and nobody needs to know it."

Fox leaped over her kick and landed with a growl. "Normally I would leave it at that, but I need to know what you'll contribute to the mission." Fox paused as he ducked another high kick, he opened his mouth to start again but closed it.

"And..." Kursed drawled out as she threw a quick left and got her arm locked into a grip.

Fox shook his head as Kursed brought her leg up and wrapped it around his, moving her body around and torquing his arm so that he had to let go of his grip on her. "I saw that pause McCloud, there was something else. Spill."

Fox sighed inwardly "Fine. There is also a personal reason I want to know."

Kursed grinned slightly "That's better, a talk is a two way street McCloud, you want to know about my training, I need to know why you care."

Fox stepped away from Kursed, "Fine, in your training, do you know of any type of mental bond?"

Kursed's next move was enough of an answer, her right hook went wide and Fox shammed her with his left as he landed a hard blow on her shoulder with his own right. Fox noted that reaction to ask about later as she answered. "Every child on Cerinia knows about the Bond. According to legends, it forms when two Cerinians meet their soul mate."

Fox nodded as he ducked another fist "And it can only happen with Cerinians?"

Kursed managed to shrug as she danced away from his fists, for once using her speed to try and keep an edge in their fight. "I wouldn't know, I never had a bond form with anybody out here in Lylat."

Fox moved forward a few steps trying to keep her in range. "Nobody else ever mentioned anything like it?"

Kursed scoffed "Cerinia wasn't exactly a tourist trap when it was still around McCloud. Nobody I know of ever had something like that happen."

Fox nodded "So lets say a Bond did form between a Cerinian and a Non-Cerinian, what happens with a normal bond?"

Kursed paused and ducked under one of his fists. "Well, from what I was told, those who had the Bond could sometimes pick up on what their partner was thinking, even if they currently weren't looking in their mind. Also, always knowing where their partner was." Kursed lashed out with another high kick "Of course that's with two Cerinians."

Fox rolled away from the kick and stood up near the edge of the mat, relaxing his pose. Kursed stayed back, she had fallen for similar tricks too much in the past week to be fooled so easily. Fox glanced down at the ground, before he raised his gaze to Kursed, grabbing her eyes with his, and Kursed knew, this was the question that he had wanted to ask all along. "What happened with one of the partners of the Bond died?"

Kursed relaxed her own pose as she realized what Fox was asking, she thought about lying, but knew that there was too high of a chance that he would pick up on it. "Not many want to talk about something like that McCloud." she paused "All I know is what I've seen, partners falling to the street, holding their heads in pain. Everybody just knew what had happened, and they mourned."

Fox folded his arms and took a step closer "But not you right?"

Kursed narrowed her eyes "Don't pretend to know me McCloud."

Fox took another step closer "What happened after words? Could the surviving partners form a Bond with somebody else?"

Kursed shook her head, answering without thinking about the reasons Fox would ask that question. "No, once a Bond is formed, it stays with that one person forever."

Fox frowned and turned away from her. "Then how do you explain a Bond between us?"

It was Kursed's turn to frown. "I can't, since there isn't a Bond between us."

"Liar."

Kursed took a step forward "Excuse me?!"

Fox turned around "You've known about a Bond between us for almost a week, I can feel it, you knew." Fox paused "And your scared by it, scared because there's something your hiding from me, something you don't want me to know."

Kursed moved at that moment, sweeping his legs and taking him down, she fell down on top of him pinning him to the mat. She snarled in his face. "Just say it McCloud, say whats on your mind!"

Fox growled as he shifted his weight and managed to roll them both over so that he was on top and had her pinned. He lowered his face close to hers "Who are you really?" he whispered in a desperate voice, a voice full of pain and long buried suffering.

Kursed struggled against his hold, but she quickly realized that he had her well and truly pinned, and there was almost nothing she could do that would allow her escape in the few seconds remaining to her. "You think I'm her...don't you?" she asked, trying to remain cold and aloof in her voice, but letting some of what she was feeling inside break through. Thinking quickly, and acting on desperation and a longing desire to feel his lips against hers once more, she reached her head up and brushed her mouth against his, feeling his body loosen up and watching as his eyes flew wide with shock and surprise.

In that moment she brought her knee up striking him in between the legs. As he groaned in pain she rolled them over again and held the pin. When she reached a count of five inside her head she stood up and walked away from him. "That's five, you lose McCloud." she said as she leaned up against the pool table.

Fox laid where he was breathing heavily, after a moment he spoke. "You didn't answer my question."

Kursed scoffed, while inside she was relieved that he didn't ask about the kiss. "Are you really so obsessed over this Krystal chick that you think any Cerinian is her? Got a news flash for ya, we're going to planet full of people that are going to look like her, so I suggest you get over it." she paused "Why do you care anyway?"

Fox growled and turned away from Kursed, walking over to the sandbags. He huffed out in anger once before he spoke up. "Because I fucked up! That's why!"

Kursed was silent for a moment, surprised at the sudden language. "How did you fuck up? The Great Fox McCloud never fucks up."

Fox was silent for a moment. "I fucked up, and I drove away the one thing I loved in this system."

Kursed blinked, "Geez, you're really torn up about this." she turned her head and scoffed "What a baby. I can't believe I need to guide you on Cerinia." A thought came to Kursed at that moment. "Lets try an experiment, since you seem convinced I'm Krystal, act like it."

Fox turned to face her. "What?"

Kursed shrugged "I need you to get over all of this shit, I don't need to have to go back to that hare and tell him you died on Cerinia because you weren't paying attention." Kursed pushed off the table and took a step towards the ring. "So, pretend I'm Krystal, pretend that you got a chance to make it up to her, what would you say?"

Fox was silent for a long moment, staring at the ground by his feet, eventually when he spoke it was in a soft voice. "I would apologize."

Kursed sighed as she took a step back and leaned against the pool table again. "To my face McCloud, not the floor."

Fox raised his head and spoke in a louder voice, some how managing inside his head to go along with Kursed's idea. He took a moment to imagine Kursed as Krystal, with her turquoise eyes, blue hair, and white tattoos. If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost see Krystal leaning against the pool table, frowning at him, instead of Kursed. "I want to apologize. I'm sorry for trying to protect you, I should have known better, but after we got married. The thought of losing you, it just...I couldn't handle it anymore. I wanted to protect you so I would never lose you, and in doing so, I cost you your life." he paused. "I'm sorry. I would give anything to undo that mistake."

Kursed was silent for a long moment, then she broke the image that Fox had built in his head. "Well, that was pathetic, but I'm not her, so maybe she would have gone for it." Kursed walked towards the sandbags. "I suggest you get this thought through your head McCloud. I'm not Krystal, and you missed your chance a long time ago."

Fox walked towards the doorway, as he reached it he put a hand out to steady himself before he glanced at Kursed over his shoulder. She was back to hitting the punching bag and had already dismissed him. He sighed softly. "Why did you kiss me?" he asked quietly.

Kursed's movements paused for a moment.

Fox turned back to the hallway "In the fight just now, why did you kiss me?"

Kursed didn't say anything for a full minute, she just kept punching the bag, after a while Fox just scoffed and moved through the door "You know what, I don't care, I'm sick of tip toeing around you Kursed. Do whatever you want, just leave me the hell out of it." as he said the last he slammed his palm against the switch for the rec room door and it slid shut behind him. Fox glanced at the door once before he stormed down the hallway.

Inside the rec room, Kursed paused in her punches to run a paw underneath one of her eyes and wipe away the tear that sat there. After a while she dropped her stance and just stood there with fists clenched. "I kissed you, because I miss you." Kursed sighed and punched the bag again. "You weren't the only one to make a mistake that day Fox." she glanced over her shoulder at the closed door. "It just took me eight years to realize it" she sighed once more and her shoulders shook with a silent sob as she dropped to her knees. "What have I done?"

-Three Days Later: Hanger Bay-

Fox hadn't seen Kursed since their last little talk, he had been avoiding the rec room all together, and Kursed had taken to staying locked away inside Krystal's room, only coming out to get something to eat after they had all finished with their own food. She was still civil with Falco and Katt when she bumped into them, calling them by their last name, but both her and Fox did what ever they could to make sure their paths didn't cross.

"And I'm okay with that." Fox thought darkly to himself as he sat on the wing of his Arwing, a panel open in front of him leading to one of his G-Diffuser engines. Laid out next to him was a schematic for the engine and Fox was just replacing the last part he had taken out and locking it down with its bolts.

"I'm done trying to figure out Kursed. I just want this mission over and done with." Fox sighed as he reached in with his wrench and started tightening the bolts, making sure they were all secure. "After this is done, I can go back to being a G-Zero Racer, and forget about Kursed entirely."

"Can I really?"

Fox paused as he questioned himself.

"It was hard enough quitting after Krystal left, if I hadn't been drunk most of the time, I would probably have stayed flying. But I'm over that now, can I really just give it up again and go back to being a G-Zero Racer?" Fox paused and looked around the hanger. He couldn't lie to himself, ever since they had left Corneria, something had clicked inside of him, something just felt right. "I am over Krystal right?"

Fox turned back to his open engine hatch. He spoke the next words aloud to himself "I am, if anything, this business with Kursed proves that I can't let Krystal rule my life anymore." Fox sighed and clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white through his fur as he pressed in on his palms. "I can't pretend that Kursed doesn't affect me. But I can't let my obsession with Krystal run my life."

Fox sat that way for a moment, before he sighed, turning back to his thoughts, "Who am I kidding? I'll never be over Krystal. I still refer to that room as Krystal's." Fox blinked once as he felt his mind draw him into the past once more.

-Great Fox II: Hanger Bay, Nine and a Half years ago-

Fox played with the small bow tie hanging from his neck once more, next to him Falco sighed and pushed him gently with his elbow. "Knock it off Fox, everybody is already staring up here, no reason for them to know how nervous you are."

Fox glanced at his friend before turning his gaze out towards the small group sitting in chairs in front of him, taking in the everybody that Falco had pointed out. This included Peppy Hare, Lucy Hare, Bill Gray, Beltino Toad, and Dash Bowman. Behind the row of chairs a large amount of space had been cleared out, standing, or sitting in this space was, Garunda Te, The old King and Queen Earth Walker, the Queen Cloudrunner, and Tricky, the New King Earth Walker and his wife the new Queen Earth Walker.

Fox turned his head to the right to take in Falco, looking smug in his tux and the smaller form of Slippy Toad, also in a tux. He saw Slippy brush away a piece of lint and it had Fox turning his gaze down to his own tux to check again and make sure that it was spotless. He turned his gaze to the left and took in Katt Monroe, wearing a pink dress that was all frills and ran down to just below her knees, exposing her matching pink shoes that she was wearing, next to her stood Amanda Toad, She was wearing a traditional white dress that ran to the floor, and he watched as she kept glancing towards Slippy.

He raised his gaze to the Arwings that were hanging from their docks above him, somebody had taken to hanging a bunch of white streamers from the ship, and Fox grinned slightly at the abundance of white that was everywhere in the hanger. This included the white stand where General Pepper stood, a black book in his hand. He was wearing his red uniform and cap, but they seemed bright and more official that what he normally wore.

The only other red item in the hanger was the red strip of carpet that ran down in front of Fox and in between his friends towards the shuttle that sat near the hanger doors. As if his thoughts had started the whole process, the shuttles door dropped down and Fox felt his eyes go wide.

He saw her foot first, she was wearing white heels and her wedding dress was longer on one side then the other, leaving her left leg exposed, allowing everybody there to see the white tattoo that sat on her thigh. The dress was just as frilly as Katt's but for some reason, looked better, maybe it was because Krystal was wearing it. In her hands she held a bouquet of blue flowers wrapped in white string and she took the steps down from the shuttle with her eyes closed. She opened them as her foot touched down on the red carpet and her eyes locked onto Fox's like a laser. Fox took in her face, she was smiling slightly, and he could see the wet fur around her eyes, 'Tears of Joy' he thought to himself. She had pulled her hair back into a pony tail, but instead of using normal hair bands to wrap it, it was lined with her white beads and wrapped with her silver buckles, her tail was twitching nervously behind her as music started drifting through the hanger.

She glanced down at the ground with a grin before she started walking down the pathway in front of her, past the Dinosaurs of Sauria, and past the row of her friends, who were all standing now. She walked up to the white stand where General Pepper was and turned to face Fox.

Fox hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her, he took a step forward and held out a hand which she took.

"Ready?" he asked her softly.

She glanced at Pepper, he grinned and nodded at her before turning her gaze to Fox. "Yes."

General Pepper launched into a prepared speech about them, but Fox wasn't listening anymore, he was just staring at her, after all this time, he couldn't believe that it was finally happening.

He was getting married.

He jumped slightly as he realized Falco was holding out a pair of rings next to him. He grinned at his friend as he took them, he took Krystal's ring and gently took her hand. As he slid it over her finger he spoke up. "Krystal, will you accept this ring? Will you agree to be my wife and mate forever? Never to lose our bonds until death do us part?"

Krystal looked at the ring on her finger for a moment before she raised her gaze to his. "I do." she took his ring out his open palm and slid it over his finger. "Fox McCloud, will you accept my ring? Will you agree to be my husband and mate forever? Never to lose our bonds until death do us part?"

Fox didn't even blink for a moment, inside he was reeling, she had said yes, this blue goddess in front of him had agreed. He blinked and smiled at her. "I do." he said softly.

General Pepper's smiled grew even wider "By the power vested in me by the Cornerian government, I now pronounce you, Husband and Wife."

Fox leaned forward and watched as she closed her eyes, their lips touched and Fox felt a shock go through his body.

This was right.

Fox blinked as ROB's voice echoed out of speakers in the ceiling of the hanger.

"Fox, Scanners had detected ships exiting warp, early scans shows a frigate and four fighters. Fighters have moved on a intercept course with us and have powered up their weapons."

Fox frowned at this wrinkle in what was supposed to be a quiet trip, although he was glad that ROB had pulled him out of his thoughts. "Thanks for the heads up ROB. Have you alerted Falco as well?"

"Falco's Intercom is registering as non functional. I am unable to get in contact with him by secondary means."

Fox shook his head as he thought about what would cause Falco to shut off his intercom and gauntlet. "Alright ROB, how far out are the ships?"

"Less then eight minutes."

Fox cursed softly under his breath. "I don't suppose you can reach Katt?"

"Negative."

Fox cursed again. "Alright, page Krystal's room and patch it through into my Arwing."

"Patching."

Fox slammed the hatch closed and slid along the wing and jumping into his Arwings cockpit as Kursed's voice came out of the speakers.

"Yes?"

Fox didn't waste anytime "Can you fly an Arwing?"

There was a pause "I've dabbled, why?"

Fox tapped the button that would seal the engine hatch closed and started priming his systems. "We have inbound fighters and I can't raise Falco or Katt. I need help and you're the only other person on the ship."

"What about my ship?"

"If this turns into a fight, I want to be out before they reach us." Fox called up a radar display that was patched into the Great Fox. "We have less then five minutes to get out there, and I don't think your ship can be ready in that time."

There was silence for a long moment, Fox was counting the seconds as he waited. "Kursed!"

"Fine, I'll be there."

Fox nodded as he finished starting up his systems. He pinged the bridge. "ROB, begin the launching procedures for the Arwings.

"Affirmative."

Fox tapped his paws across his control board and smiled softly as he felt the small vibration of the system starting up and heard the hum of the G-Diffuser engines. He leaned out of his cockpit as he heard the ding of the elevator doors and watched Kursed run towards Falco's Arwing. She was dressed in her black combat suit and had her hair pulled back into her pony tail. She hit the dock that ran along the side of the Arwing as it started to raise, she launched herself up and grabbed the wing, pulling herself up and taking two running steps across the wing to make the small jump to the cockpit. As she landed in the seat she glanced at him once briefly before she turned her attention to the controls and Falco's Arwing rumbled to life.

Fox turned back to his own controls and lowered his canopy as it closed he couldn't help but mutter. "Dabble my butt, that takes practice."

As his canopy closed and the Arwing sealed itself for space, his HUD kicked to life, showing Kursed's linked ship, displaying her shield bar and hull status. He pinged the bridge again. "ROB, Status?"

"Ships are sixty seconds out, detailed scans have been completed. The Frigate is of Venom origin, and the Fighters bear similarities to Venom Interceptors but do not match any know design. Suspect that the fighters are further along than mark IV, which is the latest version data that I have access to"

Fox frowned "What the hell are Venom fighters doing all the way out here?"

"The better question is: Are they friendly?"

Fox turned his gaze to his HUD where Kursed's head popped up. "I doubt it, but lets go find out." Fox turned his attention back to ROB "ROB, launch."

Fox reached out and took his control sticks in hand, as the launching hook dropped down from the roof and attached itself to the Arwing, lifting it up slightly and sending a small charge across the hull. A few seconds later the hook shot forward, throwing Fox back into his seat as it let go and flung the Arwing out into the cold black of space. Fox deftly spun his ship in a barrel roll to discharge the build up of energy and extend his wings. He double checked the power systems of his lasers before glancing down at his radar to make sure Kursed was behind him.

As they flew out towards the ships Kursed brought her ship along side his and Fox glanced out at her once before opening a hailing comm. "This is Captain Fox McCloud of Star Fox, please identify yourself and explain why you approached my ship with powered weapons.

A venom lizard appeared on Fox's HUD. "Star Fox eh? The Commander is not going to be pleased with that." he paused for a moment, rubbing his scaly chin with a claw hand. "My name is Captain Backlaw of the Venom Frigate in front of you. I have standing orders to blast anybody who gets in my way, but I would rather not deck it out with Star Fox right now. So, I'm going to leave my first and second here to play with you while I continue with my mission. Dust em boys, then meet up with us at the base later."

Before Fox could demand any other answers, the lizard cut the comm link and red lights started lancing out towards Kursed and Fox. Fox dodged the lasers as he watched the frigate flash into a warp, as well as two of the fighters. Fox growled softly as he brought his fighter around behind one of the Interceptors and thumbed the trigger for his lasers, sending the beams dancing out across his enemy's shield. After a few moments of having no apparnt effect he frowned.

"McCloud, Six high."

Fox reacted, barrel-rolling out of the way as red lasers flashed through where he had just been. He thumbed his thruster controls, slowing the Arwing down and allowing the other interceptor to fly by him, being chased by Kursed, who was pouring fire into her own enemy.

"Kursed, switch to Charges, their shields are to strong for a single laser to take out."

Fox flicked his power back up as the interceptor he had been attacking chased after Kursed, tracing fire around her. Fox swapped to the charge mode and watched on his HUD as the small square rotated around his enemy before it beeped and turned red. Fox pushed down on his trigger, holding it for a few seconds, the green bolt of energy built up along the tip of his nose before blasting out to strike the interceptors shield. The fighter spun to the side his shield glowing, but still up.

"Well, that looked effective, I'm using a smart bomb on this guy."

Fox pulled away to chase down his own target, charging another blast as he lined up the lock. "Do it."

He lost track of Kursed as her target flew away from him, Fox let loose with another charge bolt but this time his enemy spun into a barrel roll of his own and deflected the energy ball. Fox felt his eyes widen, an Arwing was the only ship that could do something like that. Fox swapped back to normal shots and let his lasers lance out at his enemy, trying to make sure his shields couldn't recover. Space briefly lit up from behind him and he heard Kursed shout out in celebration.

"Smart Bombs work, but it takes a while for the lock to happen."

Fox nodded to himself "That's great, but I was working on my Arwing before this and I don't have any Smart Bombs loaded."

"...Great..."

Fox focused on following his enemy, thinking about what to do to bring down his shields. He grinned as an idea came to him. "Hey, Kursed, boost up and fly directly above me, charge your lasers and after my blast gets released, fire yours."

"Okay."

Fox waited for Kursed to take position before he swapped back to charge mode and watched for the lock. As if his target knew what Fox had planned, he started trying to shake Fox, spinning and boosting away, even trying to break and have them fly over. The computer beeped with its lock and Fox pressed his trigger. Right after his charged ball of energy left he saw Kursed's ball of energy fly down from above him heading for the target.

The Interceptor rolled and deflected Fox's energy blast, but Kursed's struck and washed over his shield, collapsing it. Fox grinned as he swapped back to normal lasers and started stitching bolts across the Interceptors hull. It wasn't long before there was a flash of light from the engines and the rear end of the fighter exploded. Fox pulled away and found Kursed flying along side of her. He turned his fighter back towards the Great Fox. As he did so he heard Kursed call out a warning. He tried to barrel roll and deflect whatever was coming but he was too late.

The crippled ship had managed to turn and lock onto Fox, letting out two dark red blasts of energy that ate right through his shield and into the hull of his Arwing. Fox cursed loudly as the energy sheered off his right wing and ate through one of the G-Diffusers on his left wing. The engine ruptured and exploded, damaging his craft further. Fox looked around at all the red status lights that were flashing on his HUD.

"Kursed, I've lost control, one engine is down. Do you copy?"

There was nothing but static for a moment. "-loud-rea-okay-ox-re-ok-" Fox sighed as his comm dissolved into static. Fox pressed a few buttons, sealing off his cockpit from the rest of the Arwing. He sighed once at the loss of the craft before hitting a button and ejecting the cockpit out into space. His panels still flashing red. It was about this time that he noticed the pain in his left shoulder. He glanced over to it and gasped as he registered the small piece of metal sticking out of it. He glanced further behind him and winced at the pain it caused He saw where it had come from, a small panel in the back had shattered when the G-Diffuser exploded, and Fox was glad that the back up seals for the cockpit covered the hole.

He turned his gaze back to space as he saw Kursed's Arwing fly in front of him, coming to a stop, a moment later he felt a small jerk as the magnetic cable installed on all the Arwings connected with his canopy. She turned the fighter around and flew towards the Great Fox. After what felt like too short of a trip for Fox's liking he saw the hanger of the Great Fox swallow Kursed's fighter and a moment later he cried out in pain as the ships gravity grasped his canopy and brought it crashing to the ground. He blacked out after that.

When he woke up again, it was too a dull throb in his shoulder and the sight of a blue furred arm as it moved across his chest. He groaned and started to move his head. He stopped when the blue furred hand grabbed his chin and held it still.

"Don't move, I don't want to miss a stitch."

Fox raised an eyebrow "Okay, since all I can feel is a dull throb I'm guessing you numbed my arm?"

Kursed hadn't looked at him, keeping her gaze locked on his shoulder where she was deftly running the needle and thread through his skin and muscle. She still didn't look at him as she started talking. "You're lucky, another half an inch lower and it would have gone through your shoulder blade, and then you would have had to stay on the ship to heal while the rest of us explored Cerinia."

Fox smiled "That's me, Mr. Lucky."

Kursed didn't say anything, although she did take a moment to glance at him. Fox noted the blank look she gave him before she turned her gaze back to his arm, a few seconds later she leaned her head down and Fox heard her snap the thread with her teeth. She leaned back from him and stood up. "There, you're good to go."

Fox glanced down at his shoulder and saw that she had ripped the sleeve of his t-shirt off and cleaned the edges of the red wound that ran through the top of his shoulder. The fur around it was still slightly clotted with blood but otherwise it looked just like he had gotten it from a hospital. He gently slid his legs off the table and tried to sit up. He blinked as his head swooned and he found himself laying back down again it. Kursed standing over him, an arm on his good shoulder. Fox stared at her and noticed that she still had a blank look in her eyes, like she was trying not to take in anything.

Before he could ask her what was wrong, Falco stormed into the room, followed shortly by Katt. He walked over to Kursed and grabbed her shoulder spinning her around. "What the hell did you do to Fox?!" he demanded of her.

Kursed frowned and anger lit her eyes as she shoved Falco in the chest, sending him stumbling back. "Not a damn thing Lombardi. Except doing your job"

Falco frowned and took a step forward, "Now listen here-" he cut off as he watched Fox move on the bed.

Fox swung his legs over and attempted to sit up again, this time succeeding and blinking at the rush of blood leaving his head. "She saved my life Falco."

Falco stopped and looked at Fox, who continued speaking. "She actually answered my call when the hostile fighters showed up..." he trailed off and looked at Kursed who was silent for a moment. "Two hours." she said softly.

Fox nodded his thanks "Two hours ago, when you were busy with Katt." Both Katt and Falco blushed. "We came across a patrol of some sort, they attacked us and if Kursed hadn't been there, I would have died." Fox glanced at his arm. "Plus she stitched me up, so I think shes earned a break."

Falco glanced over at Kursed before scoffing, he turned his gaze back to Fox. "Alright, want to fill me in on everything?"

Fox shook his head "Later, right now I need to take a nap. You and Katt go get something to eat, I'll be up in a minute."

Falco held his gaze for a moment before he turned and laid an arm across Katt's shoulders and leading her out the door, Kursed following them with her gaze, the door slid closed and Fox waited a moment to speak up. "Thank you."

Kursed turned to face him. "What?"

Fox looked down at the ground. "Thank you, for saving my life, and for stitching me up. I know I don't exactly deserve it after what happened a few days ago but-"

He stopped speaking as Kursed spoke. "McCloud, shut up, I did it as part of the job, nothing more." she paused like she was going to say something else, instead she walked towards the door and left as it slid open.

Fox frowned slightly as he watched her go, knowing that thanks to that fight he was back to square one with her. He shook his head gently as he stood up and headed for his room. A good night of sleep was what he needed now. His goal set in mind he left the med bay, and headed for the elevator, hoping that the next few days would pass without event.

There ya go, enjoyed? I hope so, anyway, some news for you all.

First off, in case none of you saw my edit, thanks for all the reviews last week, that just made my day. And as a thank you to all my readers, I'm uploading the Deleted chapter 3 to my Facebook account for you all to read if you so want. So you can see how it almost went ha ha.

The link to my Facebook account is on my profile just fyi. I know Facebook isn't the best way to share for people like us, but I didn't want to upload another thing here, and I figure that for now, it would be the best way.

Oh, and if you're enjoying Dead Planet, may I suggest that you check out my other Star Fox story, The ReArmed Conflict, the beginning is a little bumpy, but it really picks up quickly. Anyway, I think that about covers it, So, on to the guest reviews:

4RT: Hope you're enjoying the update. Yes, I had the fight scene be a little bit darker on the first run through, but I restructured it into the bet just to have Kursed be nicer, I enjoyed it way to much.

Fpastrello: I like to keep people guessing, means I'm doing my job. Also, no worries about the length, just reviewing helps.

LaaraWolf: Glad you're enjoying, and I update as fast as I can.

EDIT -02-02-13: The next chapter is sitting at 9 pages and right now I'm just deciding on where I want to cut it off. There is quite a bit written and I havn't even gotten to the point I originally planned on stopping at.

Well, I think that's everything,if you're still enjoying the story, please drop me a review, thank you.

Peace,

- Emile