The game does not belong to me, or anything in it. It belongs to SEGA, so please don't sue me, since I have no money.
3. The Dome.
Max arrives to another area of the forest, after using the teleportation device. Max quickly noticed that it was darker and it was raining.
"What the? How come is raining here? The day was perfect until I arrived here," says Max surprised, he looks up and noticed that the sky was filled with dark clouds, "I wonder if the explosion has anything to do with the weather here?", thinks as Max explore the area.
The area that he arrived was on a small hill, with a ramp-like road in front of him. There was a door close to the top of the ramp and another one going down the ramp with a circular area on the right side of the ramp-like road.
"Well, no point in standing here doing nothing, better keep going and..huh?", thinks Max as he notice another recording device close by, "Another one, did she come this far? Better listen to it and hear what I have to expect of this area", as Max says that to himself, he plays the recording. "Be careful with those Rag Rappy (1), they might play dead after defeating them", says the girl.
"Okay, now am dealing with cowards, something like that must be very weak" says Max with an bored tone. After saying that he heard some kind of chirping sound, Max looks down, and noticed a little group of 4 yellow colored birds that are no bigger that 4 feet tall. "Those are the Rappies? They look more like giant chickens" amuses himself thinking that and decides to approach the Rappies. Max jumps down in front of the Rappies and turns to them. "They don't look dangerous", thinks Max and decides to approach them. Max notice that the Rappies are just sitting there, looking at him, not very surprised that he simply jump right in front of them out of nowhere, as far as Max was thinking. He approach one of them and tries to touch the Rappy with a finger, thinking that maybe he's inoffensive. Max got his answer rather quickly, as soon as his finger was close to the Rappy, it bites his finger with his beak.
"GAAHHHHH, HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, LET GO YOU FAT ASS CHICKEN!", yells in pain and anger. Max punches the Rappy with an uppercut, sending him flying a few yards away from him. "Now you're a flying chicken", says with a mocking tone. As soon as he frees his finger, he finds out that is still in it's rightful place, in his hand. Unfortunately, Max noticed that the other 3 Rappies cornered him to the wall. He turns around and gets his pistol out, pointing at the approaching Rappies, "and you guys will be roasted chickens instead", says Max with a grin on his face. Max opened fire to the Rappies, hitting all 3 of them in the head and putting them down. Finishing the fight rather quickly, Max puts his pistol away and inspects the Rappies to find any signs of life in them. Max remembers hearing in the message left about the Rappies playing dead after been defeated, so he believes that to avoid any surprise attack, he should check for any sign and finished them off if he finds any.
"No signs of life, huh? Well, if there's none, then there's no reason to stay here, better continue now that the door is open" says Max and continue to the next area, but as soon as he leaves the area, the "dead" Rappies get on their feet and start running away and into the bushes. Max heard the the noise and turned around just in time to see them fleeing away.
"What the hell? They were still alive? They might not be good at fighting, but they are good in playing dead" laughs Max as he finished saying that and decides to simply continue.
The next area wasn't that big and there was nothing special in it. As Max starts to walk inside, he noticed on his left an input device surrounded by water, making it look like some kind of well.
"Maybe I can use it to find some clues as to what happened to Pioneer 1, I wonder if it still works?" says Max in his head. As soon as Max started walking towards the machine, a group of 5 Boomas appeared in the area with the purpose of shredding him to pieces. "I also wonder when are you guys going to learn to leave me alone when am busy" says with a sigh.
They seem to ignore his comment, since they simply start walking towards him. Max decides to bring the fight to them and to end it quickly. Max pulls his saber and slash the first Booma in half, cutting him from his midsection. Another Booma attacks from the right, while another one attacks from the left. Max rolls backwards to avoid getting his head cut off. After recovering, he charge off again and launches a long horizontal slash, cutting both Boomas in half. Another Booma attacks from the front, but Max blocks it easily and attacks with a 2-slash combination, cutting him in pieces. The last Booma tried to attack from behind, but Max was too quick for him and he turned around with a horizontal slash. After finishing the last one, Max puts his saber away and the doors open.
Max would have normally left, but he wanted to check the input device. As Max got close, he noticed that getting to the device will be a little troublesome, because he noticed that he needed a bridge to cross. Great, now he has to find a way to activate the bridge. As soon as he finished that though, Max starts checking the area for something that will help him, and as easy as he found the device, he found the a small reactor on the left of the bridge.
"Maybe is malfunctioning, better see if I can fix it or something," say Max in his head, while fixing the malfunctioning reactor very easily, which activated the bridge. "Wow, even a seven-year old could have fixed this. Oh well, let's check the device for clues," says to himself.
Max crosses the bridge and tries to access the device, but it's not responding. "Dammit, and here I though I would find something about this place," says Max with frustration and decides to leave and proceed to the next area.
The next area wasn't that especial in Max's opinion, but it was longer than the previous areas, so he will give it credit for it. Near the entrance, Max finds another message device and listens to it, "there was supposed to be an explosion, but I can still see the dome of Pioneer 1. Is it possible that there was another cause for the disappearance of the people of Pioneer 1? Guess the only way to find out will be to continue," says the girl.
"She makes a point. If the explosion was so big, how come it's still in one piece? How come the forest is still in one piece with such an explosion? Better keep moving to find those answers," says Max in his head. After hearing the message, Max keeps walking and a group of 3 Boomas appear in front of him.
"You guys never seem to learn. No matter, the result will be the same," says Max with confidence in his voice. Max pulls his saber and decides to make it quick again using quick slashes, ending it rather quickly, in Max's opinion. Unfortunately, it wasn't over yet. After killing the Boomas, Wolf jump out of the bushes. "Well, that's a good change of pace, at least they are trying to make it more challenging," says Max amused in his head. Just like the Boomas, the Wolves posed no challenge to Max and are defeated just as easily. The gate opens, Max puts his saber away and proceeds to the next area.
The next area is not so special either, is smaller than the last one and is kind of circular. Close by, there was another one of those messages, and as always Max listens to it, "maybe the explosion wasn't meant to destroy Pioneer 1, maybe it was meant to change the creatures of this forest to attack the Dome, but if that was the case, they would have defended themselves and called for assistance if necessary. Hard to believe that turned all the animals, especially the Hilderbears since they are suppose to be docile creatures. This is starting to get more suspicious," says the girl's voice.
"That is a good point she made. Now she mentioned a new creature, wonder if it's going to be another weak enemy," and as soon as Max finished saying that, one of them appears in the middle of the area.
The Hilderbear was a big one, almost 13 feet tall with massive arms. The hands, feet and ears were pinkish red, while the rest of the body was black with sea blue patches. The eyes were yellow and the ears were long. As soon as he noticed Max he spits a fireball, which Max sidestepped.
"Okay, that thing is a giant, can probably crush me with his bare hands, and it spits fireballs. Challenging, but I think is going overboard," says Max as he pulls his saber out and ready himself for the fight.
The Hilderbear spits another fireball, but Max sidestepped again and decides to counterattack by charging to him. Max slash the Hilderbear chest, but is not enough to bring him down. The Hilderbear attacks with his right hand by punching Max to his left side, making him take a step back. He tries again with his left, but Max blocked just in time and decides to attack the left leg. Max injures the creatures leg making the Hilderbear fall to his other knee, and quickly stabs him in the back, piercing the creature easily. The Hilderbear cries in pain and quickly falls face down.
"Whoa, that was a little tougher than I though it would, better use some monomate and heal myself," says Max as he puts his saber away and uses a monomate. "Hey, now that I take a better look, am pretty close to the dome, is there a way to get up there?" as Max ask himself, he spots a teleportation device.
"Guess that's my way to the dome," Max then entered to the device. Max was transported to an open area, which looked like a small star port. Probably for expedition ships to land, but it looked as if it has been abandoned for years. The dome itself did not looked any better, especially with the awful weather. The place looked fit for a haunted place with the dull colors of the ones white dome and the walls all cracked.
"Whoa, this place is too creepy, and too quiet. Better move carefully and-" as Max was planning in his head, 2 Monest start to descend from the sky, "cut to pieces some oversized bugs. Never a dull moment, huh?" as Max finish that though, the Mothmant start to come out of their nests.
Max quickly pulls his saber out and charge quickly to the Monests, trying to avoid having to fight an endless battle. The Mohtmant try to stop Max, but they weren't quick enough. Max reached the Monest and cuts in half with a horizontal slash. Then, jumps to the air and falls with a vertical slash, cutting it in half also. The Mothmant decide to attack while Max was distracted, which was a big mistake. Max did not forgot about the Mothmant and attacks with a surprise attack, which hit all four of them. After finishing the battle, Max puts his saber away and proceeds to the opened door.
"Well, I must be getting close to the entrance of the dome, I wonder if there will be any clues inside? Guess the only way to find out, is to get inside," Max thinks as he starts to proceed to the next area of the dome.
The next area had a small corridor and at the end of it, on the left side, there was a door. Unfortunately, it was destroyed beyond repair. At the very end of the area, there was an inactive teleportation device, but it was different than the others. It was rectangular, and bigger than the others, big enough to hold a group. The right side of the teleportation device, there was no wall, and it have a view of the forest. Although, not high enough to see all of it.
"Another area with enemies, now what am I going to deal with now?" As soon as Max finished saying that, two Hilderbear jumped to the dome. "Wonder if I should have asked, 'how bad can it be?,' to make this more easier?" Max did not have time to ponder this, as one of them starts spitting fire to him. Max dodge the attack and pulls his saber out. Max runs to the Hilderbears, and the Hilderbear rise it's fists and strikes the ground. Max slide between the legs of the Hilderbear, while slashing it's left leg, leaving the Hilderbear on it's knee. The other Hilderbear tries to spit fire to Max, but Max dodge the attack and it strikes the back of it's friend.
"Thanks for the help, grass for brains," says Max in a mocking tone. Taking the opportunity, Max finishes the wounded Hilderbear by stabbing it in the back. The Hilderbear must have been able to understand what Max said, since the Hilderbear gave a roar and started to charge at Max.
"Whoa ho, I think I hit a nerve right there," says Max surprised as he starts avoiding the enraged Hilderbear's attacks. The attacks were ferocious, but they leave a lot of openings to attack. Max continue to avoid, waiting for an opening to finish him off. The moment arrived when the Hilderbear throws a right punch, Max sidestep, and cut the arm off. The Hilderbear cried in pain and attempts to attack with the other arm. Just as easily, Max avoids it, closes in, and attacks the chest with an upward slash. Then, spins around, and launches an horizontal attack to the midsection of the Hilderbear. The Hilderbear falls after that, and the teleportation device activates.
"That was challenging, but I guess lady luck was in love with me for the moment," says Max with confidence in his voice, while putting his saber away. "Well, let's use the teleportation device and see where it leads. It may even lead me inside of the dome," says Max with a reassuring voice, and enters into the device, ready to face anything and hoping that he find anyone or anything that can tell him what happened in Pioneer 1.
Next chapter: What does Max find inside of the dome?