{"sf1_id":1055899,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Indigo Fire: The Naga Gatekeeper","author":"Venturing Viper","words":4212,"posted_at":"2016-08-04T10:45:00.000Z","tags":["Anthropomorphic","Blue","Boss","Clean","Cobra","Fantasy","Fighting","Guns","Modern","Rocketlauncher","Shockblaster","Snake","Viper","cave","fire","firearms","indigo","naga","serpent"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1055899-indigo-fire-the-naga-gatekeeper","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/1055899","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=1055899\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"                For a while, I've\nhad a concept of a first person shooter where you play as an augmented snake\nthat had arms and legs. Sort of like an elite warrior based on agility and some\nstrength. It had taken quite a few wacky mission types, varying in different\nworld settings. The protagonist would be named Indigo, a blue, biologically enhanced viper. (I think that is the second blue snake character, aside from my avatar.)\n                The following is\na concept boss encounter. Wildly imagined in my perspective. I guess the character\nis some sort of elite mercenary sold off to whatever mission requires someone\nof unprecedented skill. More of an expendable person. [Ha ha, \"an expendable\", way\nto phrase it.] That would explain why each of the missions are so unrelated to each other.\n                Anyway, here it\ngoes.\nIndigo Fire: The Naga Gatekeeper\n                A\nbattalion of soldiers were sent to negotiate with a reclusive nation located in\na well-defended mountain range. There were only four entryways into the region,\neach guarded by a gate-keeper. It had been years since any of the gate keepers\nhad been challenged, and legends declared that no one had passed them for a\ntime even before then.                The\nsoldiers approached the southern gateway. A cave sat at the base of one of the\nforeshadowing mountains. No one knew much of what lurked inside, and every\nsingle one of them was quite sure that it was something that could kill them\nall.                They\nstopped about a good hundred feet from the entrance of the cave. The blue snake\nstanding by the side of the squad leader, who was a formidable looking lizard.                \"Alright\",\nsaid the commander, \"We've made it. We're at the gateway.\"                Indigo\nlooked at the commander. He could see the nervousness lurking in his face. That\nfear of the unknown was a nerve racking sensation. Indigo could feel it\nhimself. Just what were they all about to get into? He had ran blindly into\nsituations far too often, yet he still felt the adrenaline every time.                \"Indigo,\"\nthe armored commander turned, \"You're going to take point. We don't know much\nof what is hiding in those caves. But, from what information we could gather,\nthere is something guarding the passage. A guard, of sorts. From some ancient\nwritings, we discovered that one must challenge that guard and best them in\ncombat. But there is a catch.\" Indigo straightened up to listen. \"We can't kill\nthem.\" Indigo nods, seems like a reasonable rule. \"They can, however, kill us.\"\nIndigo gave a frown of disapproval. That wasn't very fair. \"Killing the\ngatekeeper will be taken as an act of war, something that will definitely not\nhelp in trying to negotiate a treaty. We need you to go in there and subdue the\ngatekeeper so that we can pass through safely.\"                Indigo\ntook a breath. So they all just needed to overpower this gatekeeper, and they\ncould all go through. Sounded easy enough.                \"We\nknow how you are when faced in a life-threatening situation, and we can't risk\nyou killing the gatekeeper. So I'll be needing you assault rifle.\" Indigo\nhanded over his weapon. \"You'll be armed with a modified dual-weapon.\" Indigo\nreceived a rather odd looking weapon, it was a little large for his liking, but\nbearable. \"Its primary fire is a shock blaster. It can fire rapid bursts of\nelectrolyzed pellets to stun enemies. Secondary is a concussion blast. You have\nfour electrolyte canisters charged and ready. From our scans of the cave, there\nare some natural hydrostatic vents you can use to recharge those canisters.\nYour concussion cannon is capable of three round burst fire, but it will take\nsome time to charge up each shot. Roughly five seconds, depending on how many\nshots are fired at a time.\"                Indigo\nglanced over the weapon, familiarizing himself with the weapon and getting a\ngood grip for it.                \"Now\ngo get 'em, tiger.\" The commander slapped him on the back, causing him to take\nhis first step. He took a few more steps before realizing that no one else was\nmaking a sound to follow him. He turned around and saw everyone staring at him.\nSome looked skeptical, others seemed hopeful, but one things was for sure, they\nall stood perfectly still.                \"Wait.\nAm I going in alone?\" Indigo asked.                The\ncommander stepped toward him and put a hand on his shoulder. \"Me and my men\nhave talked it over. We need as many of us as we can to get through that pass.\nIf we all go in at once, the odds of at least half of us dying are pretty much\nguaranteed. The way we see it. If you don't make it out alive, then no one\nwill. Not without killing her.\"                \"So,\nI'm not going to have any back-up?\"                \"Yep.\nWe will monitor your vitality signal and await your report, that is, if you do\nsomehow manage to beat her.\"                \"It's\na she?\"                \"That\nis what we gathered from our records. Now, go get her.\"          The\ncommander shoved him again, forcing Indigo to accept his mission. Indigo walked\nonward to the gloomy cavern. He was disappointed at having to go in alone, but,\nwhat else was new? Almost every mission had him going in alone at some point,\nbut those were perfectly good reasons like being undercover. This, however, was\njust plain stupid. Him going alone against some unknown threat in the middle of\na mysterious cavern. For all he knew, the creature was going to pounce on him\nthe darkness and the suicide mission would come to an end.                He\ntook one more glance at the squadron behind him. Cowards. Well, then again,\nperhaps they all would die if they followed him into the cave. Maybe the\ncommander was right. Everyone else was incompetent compared to him. Or was that\njust their way of boosting his ego to better his chances?                He\ntook another deep breath. Here goes nothing.              He\nwalked through the long, winding cave. It was unusually wide, as if a river had\nbeen used to carve it out and then redirected after the path had been\ncompleted. Maybe even the size was to accommodate the abnormally large guard.\nWhatever the case was, Indigo felt that it would make it a bit easier to see\nthe gatekeeper.                As\nhe progressed, he found blue lamps that lit the cave. They looked like they\nwould be used in some sort of ritual, or maybe even a decoration of some sort. He\ncame to an area where the cave split in three directions- left, right, and\nforward. The two side paths seemed to arc forward, eventually merging again at\nsome point. Indigo pressed onto the forward\npath, readying his weapon. He kept his eyes about him, trying to find some hint\nof what he was about to face.The cave arced downward into a sort\nof ramp. He crouched through it, eager to see what lay behind that rocky\nceiling. He came to another intersection. This time, the forward path led to a\nmore expansive cavern.\"I sssmell an intruder...\" a hissy\nvoice echoed through the caves.Indigo shuffled quietly to the wall.\"I know you're in here. There is no\nhiding in this placcce...\" the gatekeeper taunted.Indigo observed the chamber. Raised\nplateaus adorned the four corners of the caverns. Waterfalls seeped out of the\nwalls and into shallow channels. Blue, electric torches hung symmetrically\nacross the room.This was no ordinary cave system. It\nwas an arena.\"Hmm... I sense only one odor in hear.\nAre you alone? Poor thing. It was not wise for you to enter this place. You're\nmine now.\"Indigo could hear the voice more\nclearly, he determined the direction of the gatekeeper and aimed his rifle\ntowards a raised hole. Looked like there were more than four ways to enter this\nroom.He saw a head emerge from the\nentryway. Then a body. Then a tail. It was giant snake. No, it was a naga, and\nquite intimidating naga. She had the hood of a cobra, and the face of a viper.\nHe had expected a monster to be lurking in the caves. A dragon perhaps, but\nthis was still somewhere along those lines.She eased down to the center of the\nroom, making a show of intimidating the lone warrior. She was covered in a\nshiny metal armor. On her back were three rather large weapons lined up and\nready to use. She was much more modernly armed than he expected. All she needed\nwas some fire breath, and Indigo would have ran for cover. Yet, despite all the\nintimidating features, she seemed reasonable, not too reasonable, but\nreasonable enough to not to attack him immediately.\"Ohhh, you are alone. And quite\nsmaller than I expected. Tell me, are you lost?\" she asked, pulling her hand to\nher chin in a feminine manner, playfully pondering his motives.\"No, I'm not lost. Just looking\naround.\" He replied, trying not to look frightened.\"So you seek passage? Well, you seem\nvery mislead. One cannot pass through this way, unless they are deemed worthy\nby the way's keeper. And, you see, I am she.\"\"I kind of figured that out just\nnow.\"\"So it seems. But did you know that\nyou have to best me in battle? Surely, you haven't come to challenge me all on\nyour lonesome, and with that sorry excuse for a weapon. That would be... quite a\nfoolish decision.\"\"Well...\" Indigo scratched his head in\nembarrassment, \"That is kind of why I'm here.\"\"I guess you didn't expect to find a\ntwo ton naga guarding the way did you? Tell you what. If you start running now,\nI'll give you a ten second head start.\"Indigo readied himself, quickly\nplanning on what he was going to do once the gloves were off.\"You might want to make that three,\"\nhe stated.He immediately strafed to her right\nand fired a concussion blast. The force of the blast knocked her head just\nenough to make her angry. The little stunt he'd just pulled would not go\nunpunished. \"You little..!\" she exclaimed as she pulled out the gatling gun\nthat was strapped to her back. As Indigo bolted up a ledge, she began to fire.Indigo saw the weapon fire trailing\ntoward him. It was quite a ways off, but the naga did not care. With a weapon\nlike that, there was no need to really aim. She just needed to point it roughly\nin the desired direction, and she was sure to hit something.The barrage of bullets sunk into the\nwall, emitting sparks with every single impact. The place was specifically\ndesigned to take all sorts of punishment, despite being ornately decorated for\nan arena. Indigo could not let her aim reach him. He fired a stream of shock\npellets at her arm, causing her to lose grip on and cease fire.\"Aaaaagh!\" she hissed from the\nstinging pain. That little insect was going to die.Indigo hasted to make use of the\nopening he made, charging up to her like any other pawn he'd faced. She\nattempted to knock him away with her tail, but he rolled over her sweeping\nstrike. He then clambered up her back and buried the blaster in a gap of her\nplating.He pulled the trigger and sent a\npainful drill of electricity in her back. The naga hissed out in fury. The\nplate of armor came loose from the electrical fire. Indigo peeled it off and\nexposed soft spot. The naga grabbed him and threw him across the room. He still\nheld on to his weapon, knowing not to lose it during battle.He landed at the foot of the\nparallel ledge. The naga switched weapons, opting for a more precise rail gun.\nIndigo got up and saw her already aiming the lancer at him. Without hesitation,\nhe climbed up the ledge. A powerful stream of concentrated energy fired at the\narea he stood only a moment ago. \"Hold still you little worm!\" the\nnaga shrieked.\"Why don't you try aiming, you\nstupid snake!\" shouts Indigo as he retreats into the surrounding corridors.The naga moved to cut him off. She\nrounded a main entry way and readied her shot. Indigo slid into view, the naga\npulled the trigger. The slug sailed clean over the ducking snake. She missed. Indigo fired another concussion blast at her\nface, causing her helmet to smack painfully against her nose. She instinctively\ncovered her face and grimaced. That weapon was terribly annoying for her to put\nup with. Why didn't he have a regular weapon like any other warrior?Before she could recover, another\nabrupt wave smashed into her hand, jerking her head back again. \"Gahhh! Stop\ndoing that!\" she hissed. She moved to search for her target, but he vanished. It\ntook her a moment to realize that the blue snake was once again on her back. She\nturned her head and saw his tail wiggling in the air behind her, \"Don't you\ndare... AAAAAAAAAGH!!!\"Indigo fired his shock blaster\nbetween the shoulder plates. She fell on her stomach. The invasive sting only\ninfuriated her. She mustered all her rage from the irritating shocks and pushed\nherself back up. She rammed against the side of the cave, throwing her attacker\noff. She blindly swiped her tail and knocked the rude reptile into the center\narena once more. Lucky her.Indigo tumbled once more into the\ncenter room. The sudden impact of metal plates shook his vision for a moment.\nHe wasted no time in getting back up. He readied his weapon and looked toward\nthe direction of his enemy. Once the blurry image came into focus, Indigo's jaw\ndropped.\"Let's see you dodge this you\nirritating eel!\" she hissed, bearing on her shoulder a salvo rocket launcher.\nShe pulled the trigger and six rockets flared forward in a flurry of smoke and\nfire. Indigo leaped out of the way. The rockets flew a few by and exploded,\nsending several waves of heat and dust into the room.The gatekeeper readied a second\nsalvo. Knowing just where that blue freak was in the smoke.\"DIE!\" She then fired another salvo into the room.\nThe rockets crashed near the left ledge, sending another cloud of dust and\ndebris into the air, replacing the fading smoke of the last barrage.She switched back to her gatling gun\nand readied for him to leap out of the smoke. Just in case he managed to\nsurvive the explosions, which he probably did, despite her being pretty\nthorough with making sure he was dead. The dust fell back to the ground rather\nswiftly, the moisture in the air must have been the cause of that.He was nowhere to be found. She\nmoved toward the center of the arena, trying to find where the little parasite\nhad gone. This was her arena, and no matter which way he came from, she was\nprepared to gun him down.She sensed a faint pattering of feet\ncome from behind. She swerved her weapon in the direction of the noise and\nimmediately began spewing shots at the corridor. Indigo leaped over the stream,\nhe didn't expect her to react so quickly and had almost been caught in the\nstream of bullets. He aimed his weapon on the rising gatling gun and fired a\nconcussion blast. The naga's primary weapon was forced downward, causing her to\nlean forward from the cumbersome weight.Indigo placed his foot on the base\nof the gatlign gun and kicked at her head. Her head jerked back. He spun\nforward over her and yanked the helmet off of her head. He kicked her neck and\nfell to the floor.She brought her weapon around to end\nhim, but a simultaneous fire from his dual-weapon shocked her hand, and caused\nher to drop her gatling gun. She hissed in frustration. She\ndidn't need that cumbersome weapon to deal with her opponent. She would crush\nhis skull with her own hands.Indigo made an effort to climb on to\nher back, but she quickly seized him by the neck and held him up. He fidgeted a\nbit with her oversized palm. He couldn't breathe with her monstrous grip\nsealing his airways. \"I have you now you little piece of-\" Indigo fired the blaster at her\nhead, her helmet was no longer there. It was an easy target.\"AAAAAAAGH!\" she immediately let go\nof him and shielded her face. The burst of electricity surged through her head,\nburning her nose, numbing her mouth, ringing her eardrums, and stinging her\neyes. \"AAAAAAGH! EEEERNH! EEEEERNH!\" the\nsudden shock to her bare face made all her senses buzz in excruciating pain.\nShe let go of her face, eyes scrunched tightly trying to avoid the sting of\nopening them. She lashed around with her hands, blindly trying to find that\nwretched snake. \"Curse you, you filthy trash! I'll rip you in half. I'll tear\nout your heart! I'll kill you! As soon as I get my hands on you, you will know-\"Indigo was already climbing her back\nwhile she yelled her threats. He found that shoulder plates were gone, but\nthere was still a layer of weaved material, guarding her skin. He clawed into\nit and tore an opening. He then fixed his weapon upon the neck of his opponent\nand let it rip.The oversized tayser fired directly\nto her spine, sending unrestrained pulses of electricity throughout her body.\nHer neck jolted up. Her eyes shook in their sockets. Her tongue flicked\nuncontrollably.  Her arms splayed out in\na wiggly manner. And her long, slender body spasmed from her chest, all the way\nto the tip of her tail.  \"GuuuUUUuuuUUUuuuUUUuuuh!\" was all\nthat could come out her mouth as she fell face-first to the floor. The gun\ncontinued to fire for a good fifteen seconds. A weakening numbness overtook her\nbody. It electrified her until she could barely feel the pain anymore, but she\nstill had some fight left in her. She was not going to let him win.Indigo stopped his fire. His second\ncanister was depleted. He needed to reload. \"Are you finished yet?\" he asked,\nsincerely wondering if she was going to give up.\"No, I will not surrender. Not to\nsome low-life, skinny little worm!\" She brought her arms to bear herself up,\nignoring the trauma her shaky limbs were experiencing. Before she could reach\nthe point to retaliate, she felt another electric bolt sear into her neck.\n\"AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUU!\" she squealed as she fell back to the floor. That was the\nmost lady-like thing to come out of her mouth throughout this whole ordeal.\"Give up already! I beat you fair\nand square. If you keep trying to fight, I'm going to keep shocking you until\nyour nerves fry. And I'm sure you don't want to live the rest of your life like\na vegetable.The naga considered his words. As\nmuch as it broke her callous heart to admit, there was no use in fighting\nanymore. She had indeed been bested by as single snake. She had been disarmed\nand humiliated. He muscles ached. Her nerves hurt. This was all a horrible dream. How\ncould such a little twerp like this beat her into submission? This was her\narena. She had all the advantages. She had the bigger size. She had the better\nweaponry. She had the newest armor. And she had the experience in fighting in\nthis cave. She should not have lost. Perhaps, he was the better warrior.\nPerhaps he was worthy to pass through. Or maybe he was just lucky. That had\nto be it, he must be blessed with some guardian angel to help him out of every\nsituation. Ah, who was she kidding? She wasn't superstitious. He said it\nhimself. He beat her fair and square. Well, maybe not fair, the odds were\nunfavorable toward him, but he still beat her.\"Ok,\" she said in a cracked voice,\n\"I give up. You win. You are worthy to pass through this place. You may enter\nthe forbidden kingdom.\"Indigo could feel her heartbreak.\nShe had never been beaten before. That must have taken her a lot of will just\nto admit. He could feel her body suddenly go limp. It still shook here and\nthere from the shocks she received. But other than that, she was completely\nshattered in both mind and spirit.\"I am so humiliated,\" she said, \"I'm\nnot worthy to be a gatekeeper.\" She began to cry.Indigo couldn't just stand on her like\nsome heartless monster and watch her sob. He slid off of her and put a hand on\nher bare shoulders. \"Hey, don't say that. You fought valiantly. I haven't been\nthrown around like that for a while. You are a great warrior. You know. The\nmoment I first saw you, I thought I was as good as dead. You nearly tore me to\nshreds several times! In fact, I shouldn't have won. You gave me a head start!\"The naga thumped her head on the\nfloor. Of course! She gave him the inch he needed to trample all over her!\nWell, maybe not trample, but just enough of a chance so that he could win. She\nunderestimated him. It was such a simple mistake that cost her the fight. It\nwas a lesson she needed to learn. Actually, it was a reminder of what she had\nbeen taught. This stranger must have been sent from above to put her in her\nplace. She was a gatekeeper. She needed to be alert and wary of danger. Not\narrogant and proud. It is by such people that kingdoms fall, and she must be better\nthan that if she were to keep the enemy from breaching her wall.She smiled at that thought. She then\nshifter her eyes to see the soul of her opponent. He meant every word. He was\nbetter than her in more ways than one. She picked herself up once more, nearly\nfailing in her attempt. The adrenaline was gone and she felt the strain of her\nbattle.Indigo backed away as he suddenly\nfelt quite small in comparison to her.\"No hard feelings right?\" he asked.\"Oh, I'm still upset at you for\ntaking that head start.\"\"I see. Well, I have some- friends\nthat need to pass through here. I was wondering if they could come with me.\"\"What?\"\"Well, the reason they sent me in\nhere was to get them access. They want to discuss a treaty with their nation\nand yours.\"\"You mean they sent you in here\nalone?! The cowards! I will not be granting them entry if they are willing to\nsend one person all alone to die by my hand! They are not worthy.\"\"Oh please, you're in no condition\nto fight, and they mean no harm to anyone.\"\"I can't allow strangers to enter\nwithout them challenging me.\"\"I challenged you on their behalf!\nYou must let them in, or I'm not going.\"The naga paused. That was such a\nridiculous threat, it would be less trouble for her if he simply walked away.\nOr did he mean that he wasn't going to leave from belittling her until she\nagreed? She did not want to argue anymore. She was exhausted.\"Ok, fine. They can pass. But if\nthey have weapons, they must leave them behind. I will not let them enter with\nweapons of any kind. You know. I have a very\nkeen sense of smell, and I can tell if someone is trying to smuggle an\narmament. Even if it's just a pocket knife.\"\"Thank you, ma'am.\" Indigo smiles,\nhe switches to his radio transmitter \"Commander. Come in commander!\"\"Yes, Indigo. What is it? Don't tell\nme you turned chicken.\"\"I've managed to get your access to\nthe pass granted. You are free to enter in, under the condition that you leave\nall weapons behind, including knives and sharp objects. The people are very\nstrict in regards to safety and they will not take lightly to anyone sneaking\nin with so much as a pocket knife. I'll say again for clarification. You are\nnot to bring any weapons of any kind.\"\"Well, hot tamales. You really beat\nthe gatekeeper?\"The naga grimaced at the remark. Indigo\nsmirked, \"Well, it was a close one. I think she let me win, actually. I'll see\nyou shortly.\"Indigo looked up at the naga and\nfound her smirking. The naga couldn't help it. Even this little viper held her\nhonor high, in spite of being defeated by him. Indigo spoke, \"You should probably\nmake yourself presentable. You don't want to look like some mistress who took a\nbeating from her husband.\"She chuckled at the thought. She\nlooked herself over. Chunks of her armor were missing and a few dark spots\nshowed where exactly she had been tased. She really looked like she has been\nbeaten by a lover. In a way, she kind of felt like that was indeed the case. She picked up her helmet and placed\nit on her head. She then went to retrieve the armor that had fallen off during\nthe fight. She came back, fully outfitted and just as intimidating as she first\nappeared.\"How's this?\" she asked Indigo as\nhis back was turned.He turned around casually, but then\njumped backward at the sight of her. She looked ready for a rematch. The rocket\nlauncher was mounted on her shoulder and pointed directly at him.\"*gulp* That's more like it...\""}