Chapter 3: Dune of Doom

"Alright, where do we go next?" was the first thing Falco asked once they were back on the Great Fox, the Arwings all in the hangars for maintenance.

"We just got back," Slippy pointed out, clearly not sharing the enthusiasm.

"Slippy's right. We can't just go straight from one fight to another. Even if this mission was a success there were still heavy damages sustained. We'll need to make sure our position is stable before we can launch another attack," Peppy said, while Fox was oddly silent.

"Settle down guys," Fox interrupted, he hopped out of his Arwing's cockpit and landed on his feet. "We took some beatings back there so first thing's first, repair and maintenance. Slippy, what's the deal on Grunder right now for some parts?" Fox asked. ROB 64 went to work flipping up the access panels of the Arwing's engines and internal weapon systems and begin repairs.

"Diagnostics suggest that engine components suffered 30% damage. Certain weapon systems might exhibit anomalies and affect other performances." ROB 64 stated to Fox as he worked on the Arwing. The robot had to remove several layers of circuit boards, wiring, and damaged, burned components from the engine.

"I want the Arwings in perfect condition ASAP," Fox ordered. "In the meantime let's get the next assignment details from General Pepper. We've got a war to win people," he said, his tone dead serious.

"R-right," Slippy nodded as he immediately went to assist ROB in the repairs.

"Now you're talking my language," Falco grinned, clearly excited about the next mission, while Peppy just looked at Fox worriedly but didn't object as they went to the Bridge.

Once they were at the Bridge, they quickly set a course for friendly territory, knowing they'd need to refuel before they could continue fighting. Even so, that didn't stop them from patching through to General Pepper.

When General Pepper appeared on screen, the old dog in red wiped his forehead, his mouth emitting a sigh of relief. "Star Fox, thank goodness you're still here. We narrowly won that battle by a margin but our fleet is heavily battered and damaged. We're under strength and need you to plug the gap in some sectors. Andross is moving too fast for us to stop in time." General Pepper stated, maintaining a cautious tone while briefing Fox and co.

"We'll do what we can," Fox nodded. "In the meantime where else do you need us to go?"

"For now we'll need to regroup our forces," Pepper frowned. "In the meantime, we need you to prevent Andross from gaining more footholds," he said. "There are a few areas we could use your assistance, but for now I'd like all of you to go to Titania. As you know Titania is a major source of raw materials for the Lylat system. Naturally Andross is making moves to secure the planet for his own ends. You must not allow him to succeed! Once you are ready, go to Titania and stop Andross's forces!"

"Got it general. Anything we need to keep an eye out for?" Fox eagerly asked, perking his ears up in response.

"Our ground forces to hold the mining facility on Titania is spread too thin as is. Reinforcements from the 405th Tank Division are coming but won't be there in time. You'll have to use the Landmaster to navigate the terrain. But be on the lookout for the Goras. Legend has it that the locals fear it as the Shai-Hulud, the Worm God of Titania." Said Pepper with an apprehensive tone while projecting the schematics of the Landmaster tank for Fox.

"Shai-Hulud? Where the heck did they get a name like that?" Falco asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"That's for the archeologists to figure out," Pepper sighed. "Either way, it seems that while the thing was supposed to be extinct, some probes spotted something that resembled it, and with Andross, I'd rather not take chances. Be careful out there, Star Fox. Pepper out," he said before the transmission ended.

"Well, we might as well check on the Landmaster, maybe you can let Falco do the flying this time, Fox," Slippy suggested with a merry ribbet before going to check for their Landmaster order. His computer monitor displayed showed him a Grunder Industries list of Landmaster models complete with seasonal colors. Slippy's long tongue rolled out of his mouth and became a red carpet on the computer console as he looked at the models. A long list of capabilities ranging from the fully stabilized gun, add-ons included subterranean scanners, automated secondary weapons, a full suite of surveillance packages mounted on its chassis. "Uh, Fox, which one do you want and which color?" Slippy asked looking at the dizzying array on display.

Fox frowned as he looked through the options. "Considering what we're going into…I'll take the one with Subterranean Scanners. Give me the standard colors," he said.

"Alright, I'll place the order," Slippy nodded as he did so and after a few moments. "Okay, they confirmed our order, and they'll meet us near Titania with the Landmaster," he said cheerfully.

"Good," Fox nodded. "Once the Arwings are repaired we'll make way for Titania immediately. How are the Great Fox's fuel levels?"

"Fuel levels are still green," ROB confirmed.

"Alright then, we'll set out for Titania as soon as we're ready. Falco, once we're there, you'll be on air support. Me and Slippy will be on the ground." Fox instructed, prompting Falco to scoff and huff arrogantly.

"Thought you never admitted it, Einstein." Falco said.

Fox sighed in mild annoyance at that, but opted not to rise to the bait. They had too much to worry about right now. "Just give us aerial support and we'll be fine," he said simply.

Falco gave a mock salute at that with an amused chuckle.

XXXX

The Great Fox soon made its way to Titania, ROB and Slippy working on the repairs for the Arwings with emphasis on Falco's Arwing for this mission. As they were approaching the planet, a ship on a similar route hailed them, the identification confirming it to be from Grunder. "Great Fox, this is Hermes from Grunder Industries. We're here with your Order No.012238765 of two Landmasters." Said the ship captain over the comms as his ship operated a crane system to pick up the Landmaster containers and gently offloaded them into the Great Fox's open and pressurized hangar. Once the containers were safely aboard and strapped down, Slippy noticed a digital signature was sent to him.

"Thanks for the delivery," Slippy nodded, giving his signature, and finalizing the transaction. "We'll be sure to put these to good use."

"I'm certain you will," the ship captain nodded before the ship turned around and made its way back to Corneria.

"Not that I'm doubting Grunder, but ROB, give the Landmasters a quick diagnostic," Fox ordered. The last thing he wanted was there to be some kind of fault on the hardware.

"Roger," ROB nodded and did just that. As ROB checked the two Landmaster tanks, their weapon systems appeared responsive and their internals were working well. The subterranean sensors provided Fox a high definition look under the sand. "Vehicles appear to be operational. Grunder has also provided a discount voucher for additional parts if you so desire." ROB stated, holding a pair of voucher cards that he found in the Landmaster's seat.

"Keep those safe. We might need them in the future," Slippy said.

"How's the situation on Titania, Peppy?" Fox asked as Peppy was working on the console.

"Looking worse than my first date by the minute Fox." Peppy replied grimly. The lagomorph then patched in the radio broadcasts from Titania, broadcasting the distressed radio frequency of the Cornerian military on the planet.

"This is Base Legoshi! We're surrounded but are still holding on. Andross' forces are pushing hard against us, we're down to our remaining stockpile of anti tank weaponry. Can anyone assist?" The Cornerian military on the planet called out for help in a frantic voice.

"This is Star Fox. We will send assistance immediately!" Fox said without hesitation and turned to his team. "Alright everyone, let's move!"

"Roger!" was the response as they went into action.

The Great Fox soon entered Titania's atmosphere and immediately the team scrambled. Falco was the first to get into his Arwing and launch as soon as possible while Fox and Slippy boarded their Landmasters. Peppy meanwhile stayed on the Great Fox to act as additional support and to assist in monitoring the situation. Titania's deserts were not a terrain one wanted to navigate without additional support. Once they got close, Fox and Slippy soon deployed as well, the Great Fox ascending once all of them had been deployed by staying within the planet's atmosphere.

Fox and Slippy cruised across the scorching hot sand dunes of Titania with the lashes of the wind whipping their Landmasters hull. Grains of sand in dust storms blew over their windshields as they raced across the desert terrain. "This is Harvester Labrador 2. We've detected an unidentified subterranean creature heading toward us! Request immediate assistance!" A broadcast by the Cornerian harvester caught Fox's comms. He could see something was surging across the sand in the distance and it was going straight for the harvester.

"Alright, we're on our way!" Fox said as the group made their way to the location. As they did, Fox and Slippy engaged their scanners and indeed, they confirmed that indeed there was something in the ground.

"Something's definitely here. It might be that Goras thing Peppy warned us about!" Slippy cautioned.

"If it is then we'll just blow it to pieces," Falco said simply. As he said that they soon could see the base in the distance…and it was in the middle of being attacked by Venomian forces.

Fox and Slippy soon noticed the Venomian forces racing across the desert, the simian tanks were making a beeline toward the lone harvester that was sucking up resources from the sands of Titania. The Venomians began to screen the harvester and open fire on the vehicle that looked like a monolithic vacuum machine. "We're taking fire! They're trying to get the Goras on us! Someone help!?" The harvester screamed over the radio as his vehicle shook and shuddered.

Star Fox didn't need any prompting as they immediately went into action. Falco gunned the engine as he zoomed forward, opening fire on the Venomian forces, disrupting their formation with aerial attacks.

The Venomian forces moved to try and counter him, but Fox and Slippy were one step ahead, quickly aiming their cannons and opening fire, the shots blasting into the enemy forces. The coordinated strikes proved effective in scrambling their formation, but that wasn't the only thing they accomplished.

The ground rumbled violently as sand was kicked up everywhere, something rising out of the ground. A monstrous wyrm-like alien with three heads rose from the ground, slithering and writhing in search of its next meal. The worm quickly wrapped its vines around some Venomian vehicles and pulled the Simians to their sandy doom. It lumbered its middle head forward, trying to reach the harvester before Fox and Slippy fired several rapid shots at it. "Hey ugly! Over here!" Fox called out over the Landmaster's speaker. He charged up a shot and fired at the Goras' middle head, hoping to attract it further. The bizarre wyrm creature began to dive head first at Fox's Landmaster, burrowing underground and slithering at rapid pace toward him. Fox quickly turned his Landmaster and drove away, zigzagging to keep it from having an easy bite of him.

"I got him, Fox!" Slippy said as he opened fire. Not quite accurate, but definitely drawing the attention of the Goras. The creature at first paid Slippy no mind, it continued its chase with Fox before Slippy landed a few shots on the creature. It shot a deadly glare at Slippy's Landmaster before one of its appendages rose up and fired fiery hot plasma shots at Slippy.

Over at Falco, he was strafing the Venomian forces left and right. The blue pheasant made a several gun runs, smashing Venom tanks on their top armor, pulverizing two waves of armor assault so far. The Cornerian dog soldiers in Base Legoshi were jubilantly cheering at the sight, begging for more as they now stood a chance against Andross' army. But as Falco fought off the tanks, swarms of Venom crafts began to dive down on him. "Fox! I can't hold down all of them at once! You got any better plans than just drawing big ugly creature away?"

Fox frowned, looking at the situation, and thought quickly. "I got one idea! Slippy, fall back first, I've got this guy!" he said, opening fire on the Goras, enraging it as it was once again firmly focused on him. The moment it was, he immediately turned and headed straight for the Venomian Forces, the Goras following him. "Falco, break off too, I've got the plan coming!"

Falco saw what Fox was doing and gasped. "What are you nuts?!" Falco shouted.

"Maybe I am, but I imagine the Venomians won't like fighting this big guy anymore than we do!" Fox smirked.

"That just might work. Alright, since we can't lure away forever, let's lure it to us." Falco soon launched his flairs, confusing Venomian crafts' weapon systems. The blue pheasant made a rapid turn around and charged up his plasma shot. He delivered a killing blow, blowing out several crafts with a single blast before seeing Fox luring the Shai-Hulud towards the Venomian ground forces.

"Sir! We have a lone enemy Landmaster heading towards us!" An ape observer alerted his officer in red before handing him a pair of binoculars to observe Fox's Landmaster. He saw Fox tore through the flank of their armor, swiveling his tank turret while hitting the brakes to drift on the sand, gunning down multiple tank platoons in rapid succession even some bipedal assault mechas.

"Shoot it down!" the leader of the Venomian Forces ordered, several ships going for Fox…right as the Goras emerged from the ground again in an attempt to get Fox, only for him to gun his Landmaster again, evading…and causing several of the Venomian ships to collide with the Goras. Unsurprisingly the Goras didn't take kindly to that, and now its attention was on the remaining Venomian forces. The Venomian commander gasped in shock as the Goras ravaged his forces, tanks crushed like toys before toddlers, their air force fell like flies. "Call the retreat immediately! Operation Oonga Booga has gone banana!" The commander shouted.

As the order filtered down to the ranks, the Venomian troops began to panic and hastily turned around and ran away as far as possible. The Cornerians waved their flags, celebrating the unlikely victory that had just graced them. But not long after, they soon realized the Goras was still alive and its gaze turned on them and Star Fox squadron. "Uh Fox, do you have any plan for this part?" Slippy sheepishly asked.

"I might. Slippy, can you bring up a map of the area?" Fox said, to which Slippy did as he was asked, Fox quickly scanning the map…and pointed to a particular spot. "We'll lure it here!" he ordered.

"Uh…Fox…that spot has a lot of natural gas," Slippy gulped. "One wrong move and we could blow that place sky high."

"Exactly what I'm hoping for," Fox said. "If that doesn't take out this thing, I don't know what will."

"Are you nuts!? If you're caught in the blast, you'll be a fox BBQ for Andross!" Falco protested. Helpless as he watched Fox drove into the natural gas field thick with the haze. The Goras lumbered along, firing its plasma and fireballs at him, each blast detonated a massive radius and deafening blast that rocked even Falco's Arwing. "I told you so!" Falco shouted over the comms. Meanwhile, Slippy was close behind, firing his Landmaster's shots at the Goras' leg, aiming to bring it down on the field.

"Just follow my lead!" Fox barked, firing on the Goras. The monster roared angrily as it tried to pin down its targets, but they were faster, and after several shots, the Goras felt its legs give way, causing it to crash into the area, natural gas sprouting out from the impact.

The moment it did, Fox and Slippy immediately gunned their Landmasters out of the area. "Falco, hit it with a Nova Bomb!" Fox ordered.

"Fine, but I take no responsibility if this goes wrong!" Falco growled, firing said bomb and well…the ensuing explosion was nothing short of massive. The fiery orange fireballs that followed one after another threw Fox's Landmaster flying across the desert dune of Titania. The impact cracked his cockpit's bubble as he looked back and saw the Goras' bony skull-like head flying in the air and crash landed in front of him. Out in orbit, Peppy and ROB saw the explosions rippling across the desert and atmosphere of the planet.

Slippy felt arrested by fear, he stood by watching and waiting for the chain explosion to come to an end. Once the explosions died down, leaving only chunks of bones and rotten flesh of Goras in its wake, Slippy dashed for Fox's broken Landmaster. The young amphibian pulled up next to Fox and dismounted his Landmaster to check on him. "Fox! Fox! Are you alright!? Say something!" He frantically called out.

He heard a bit of coughing as the Landmaster opened up, Fox pulling himself out of the damaged vehicle, using his hand to get the dust away from him. "Well…the plan worked, right?" he grinned a bit.

Slippy gave him a dry look, before knocking him upside the head. "It worked, but don't do something like that again!" the toad shouted in a rare moment of anger born of worry…though as it turned out, Fox was a bit more hurt than he looked, seeing as Fox gasped a bit and fell down with his tail tiled up in exhaustion, almost like a flag surrendering. "Ack! Fox! Falco, we need a pickup!"

"I heard ya. Great Fox inbound for pick up soon. At least Grunder's warranty is fresh."

XXXX

"Yes Mr. Chairman, Titania has been secured. I'm sure your company will find lucrative opportunities on the planet." General Pepper calmly spoke to his guest, a rottweiler CEO in black tuxedo over white shirt. His guest calmly sipped his tea and nodded with a satisfied smirk.

"I'm glad that you are able to produce results, General Pepper. Rest assured that Grunder will provide the Corneria Defense Force with the tools of automated warfare to defeat the mad scientist Andross." He spoke.

"Thank you very much. We're a little short of ace pilots. Yes we have Star Fox squadron, but they are mercenaries and can't be everywhere at the same time." General Pepper continued, he glanced to his side at the photograph of him giving a warm smile with a fox wearing a pair of shades. James McCloud. He knew he bore some responsibilities for orphaning Fox McCloud, had he not given James that mission, perhaps Fox and his father would still have another day, another month, another year with each other.

"Fear not, for Grunder has the solution." The rottweiler replied and activated a hologram projector, showing General Pepper an unmanned Arwing-like craft armed with twin blasters, macross missile pods and tactical laser beams built into the nose. "Behold, project Muninn, our unmanned aerial combat drone. The prototype is designed to take on three squadrons of Andross' best fleet and destroy them in one go. Imagine a full squadron of these." Said the rottweiler. But something in Pepper gave him pause, the name could not be a coincidence and there was also the question of where Grunder get data to train the drone's A.I on.

"That's…very impressive," Pepper said, keeping his features in check, but the nagging feeling wouldn't leave him. "I imagine you must have used quite an impressive system to train the A. I. Might I ask how you obtained such data?"

"That is a company secret I'm afraid. Wouldn't want it to get leaked. Especially to the Venomian forces somehow," the rottweiler said, trying to sound casual but it was clear he got more guarded at that.

"Ah, of course. Pardon me," Pepper said, though it was clear now that this…was something he'd want to look into…cautiously. Grunder was STILL an important asset after all.

With their meeting concluded, their contracts signed, the rottweiler CEO departed and left General Pepper's manor with the general in red waving him off. Once he was well away from sight, Pepper opened his eyes and glanced to his shoulder to his Lieutenant, disguised as a shrub. "You got it all on tape?" The general asked.

"Yes sir! All of it." He replied with a salute.

"Excellent, have military intelligence comb through it, Lt General Salt would want to know everything about Grunder." He stated, to which the lieutenant obeyed and went to work, leaving Pepper to his usual operations.

XXXX

Up on the Great Fox orbiting Titania, Fox was inside the sickbay being treated by Peppy and ROB with some bandages and ice packs on his wounds. Slippy soon came into the sickbay holding up a tablet to Fox showing a mass deposit had been made into the team's account. "Fox! Look at this! Grunder just made an additional bonus deposit to us!" Slippy handed Fox the tablet to read the details.

We at Grunder Industries thank your efforts for securing Titania. Our future investments on this planet will yield great growth and profits for the future of Corneria and the Lylat Systems at large. And for that efforts, we've deigned you are entitled to a cut of our profits and discounts for our weapon systems and all subsequent products.

"Well…looks like we just got some good support for this war," Fox smirked a bit…right before he winced as his injuries acted up.

"Well you're not going to be going anywhere till AFTER you heal up," Peppy frowned.

"Incoming transmission from General Pepper." ROB informed them before pressing a button on their control panels, bringing up General Pepper on their screen.

"Star Fox! Thank you for your efforts, we've secured the needed resources to fight back against Andross in the long run. Oooh my!" Pepper gasped in shock when he saw Fox's bandaged and wounded on the sickbay's bed. "Please tell me you didn't fracture anything critical!" He blurted out.

"Nope, just a few flesh wounds General. I'll be back on my feet soon enough," Fox said.

"Not TOO soon though," Peppy sighed. "Not to worry though, we'll still be on call anytime," he reassured Pepper.

"Good news and bad news, well, bad news first. Our forces are now regrouping at the Planet Katina. And they're under attack by Andross's fleet. We need your help to reinforce that garrison. If it's lost, we will lose our springboard for future operations into Andross' territories." General Pepper stated, causing them to gasp. But Fox had a subtle smirk on his face hearing the last portion. A chance to confront Andross, and the sooner it came the better.

"So what's the good news general?" Fox asked.

"The good news is we now have additional reinforcements, courtesy of Grunder Industries. They're debuting a new unmanned combat craft for field testing. This should help plug the gap in our manpower and service starfighters." Said General Pepper with a cautiously optimistic tone. Peppy's bunny ears picked up on this and quickly grabbed his magazine from one of the tray, handing to Fox, Falco and Slippy.

"I knew it this day was coming! They're replacing you Fox! They're replacing us all!" Peppy blurbed.

"Yeesh, relax for a minute," Falco snorted. "They only JUST made these things. No way they'll be replacing real pilots anytime soon, and as if they can just replace pilots like us," he smirked.

"Yeah, no way drones can just up and replace us out of nowhere," Fox agreed.

"That's what you say right now…" Peppy groaned.

"In any case, I suggest you hurry to Katina. Your old academy classmate, Bill Grey is holding out there and he reported the enemy mothership is coming." General Pepper added, causing Fox to suddenly freeze and had a horrid thought crossing his mind.

"We're on the way General. Tell Bill to hold tight." Fox determinedly stated.