By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

The C-21 Dragon Assault Ship is a four-rotor VTOL, heavy transport craft and heavy gunship used by the RDA for full-scale military operations against the Na'vi, or as support during small incursions into otherwise hostile territory teeming with vicious megafauna and flora. It is the RDA's most powerful non-nuclear weapon on Pandora. The RDA only had one operational Dragon at the time of the film, though there was actually a second Dragon airframe on Pandora, but most of the main components hadn't arrived from Earth. Quaritch co-ordinated the RDA's assaults on the Hometree and the Tree of Souls from the Dragon Gunship.

The Dragon is much larger, slower, and less maneuverable than an Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson or a Scorpion Gunship. However, with its myriad arsenal of heavy machine guns, dozens upon dozens of rocket and missile pods, and possible complement of door-gunners, it can function as an excellent lead gunship when mainline Scorpion Gunships are not around or available. To prevent potentially catastrophic friendly-fire incidents resulting from careless use of such firepower, all but the door-guns are constrained by friendly fire IFF (Identification Friend-or-Foe) avoidance codes for safety. Otherwise, it acts mainly as a military air transport, utilizing its ability to land numerous AMP Suits, infantry, and other military vehicles across Pandora. In essence, the Dragon is the military workhorse of the RDA.

The Dragon Assault Ship has the ability to deploy many infantry units and AMP suits at once, a variety of medium automatic guns, ATG and ATA missiles, door-guns, incendiary rockets, gas canister launchers, grenade launchers, plus dual and quad gatling gun systems. All gun and missile systems are constrained by friendly fire avoidance codes (IFF Lockout). The missiles and guns mounted on huge stub pylons are in a symmetrical set.

Before Pandora was first discovered, the Dragon was, and still is being used in massed offensives against environmental terrorists and other insurgents on Earth to predictably devastating effect. It was usually used in only the most brutal combat zones, where it leveled major enemy installations with ease before deploying its troop and vehicles onto the ground to proceed with the ground advance in earnest. This earned the Dragon's formidable reputation for being able to inflict 100% enemy casualties in any zone it was deployed to.
Later modifications were made which replaced the standard forward missile launchers with remotely manned gun-turrets around various points of the ship, allowing it to defend itself from any close-range targets. Additional modifications include the hardening of the ship's electronic systems, to further protect it from both fierce electromagnetic storms on Pandora, and the constant electronic warfare attacks from terrorists on Earth.
Its standard propulsion system has also been modified, granting it much more forward velocity. The Dragon's original system relied solely on its four rotors for speed, which made it very maneuverable, but unsurprisingly slow. However, jet thrusters have now been added alongside its original four rotors to allow for much higher velocities while moving forward, while maintaining its impressive maneuverability.

With maximum payload, the Dragon is said to be able to destroy an area the size of Manhattan in six seconds.

Above info taken from this site:
Dragon Assault Ship - James Cameron's Avatar Wiki - Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana

Well, this is it. This is my final Halo 3 Forge map. Before Halo Reach, I would like this to be my memorial to Halo 3's Forge, showing that it's not all that difficult and clunky to use, as Bungie said in their "Forge World" vidoc. So, without further ado, I present my remake. Straight from the movie Avatar, comes the RDA C-21 Dragon gunship.

This here is my early concept art. I haz drawing skillz!

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

I used this video clip for further reference.
YouTube- AVATAR DRAGON

By far, this is the most difficult map I've built, taking many hours to complete. The hardest section to build was the dual cockpits, because of the lack of small pieces. But I did my best. Another problem is the fact that I ran out of budget, and OLN objects, so nothing about the map can be changed. And most of all, there was that damn glitch that makes all small objects light up like flares, which pissed me off throughout construction.. The map includes most of the weapon set of the Dragon, an interior, a very detailed exterior, and a limited armory. So, now I present, the screenshots.

The Dragon and its awesome firepower.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

Another overview.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

Frontal view.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

Side view.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

Rear view.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

One of the Dragon's side armament sections.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

One of the two heavy rocket pods.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

The dual cockpits. Note the turrets mounted on the chin.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

The Dragon's frontal firepower.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

And just for you, we took a captive Na'vi warrior so we could demonstrate our firepower.

Screenshot 1:

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

Screenshot 2:

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

And now, the interior. The mancannon launches you into the Amp Suit deployment bay.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

Looking from the rear, down the length of the Dragon.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

The control room. Note the turret entry in the top left corner.

By hlgamberclad at 2010-07-25

Download link:
Bungie.net : Halo 3 File Details

And so, that's it. Thank you for viewing my final map. I'll see you all in the Forge of Halo Reach!

EDIT: No, I won't see you. I quit Halo Reach months ago. In my opinion, it's extremely subpar, the only game I own that I dislike.

Thanks to the eight people that made these screenshots possible, and anyone who gave me feedback in my previews!