PDA

View Full Version : Fire Nation vs The Na'vi (Fire vs Wood)



Randel
2010-02-23, 01:39 AM
The Setup:

Before the events of the series, the Fire Nation comes across an ancient temple on an island somewhere with ancient runes on it speaking of a World of Woods. The Fire Nation explorers excavate it and find a portal (possibly a stargate) that leads to Pandora.

The air of Pandora is initially unbreathable but Scientist Oxozi develops the Oxozi Maneuver which allows any firebender to breath the air of Pandora comfortably through abdominal breathing.

Then, when Prince Zuko disgraces the honor of the royal court by questioning a military operation that involved sacrificing Fire Nation soldiers in the war with the Earth Nation, instead of being sent to find the Avatar he is tasked with conquering the mysterious Wood Nation (aka, Pandora).

The Scientists who have been studying Pandora have developed a few things to help them out:

1. The Oxozi Maneuver - A Firebender can learn to breath comfortably in the Pandora atmosphere by tapping into their inner fire. Thus, after about three days of practice and preparation they are able go around comfortably in Pandora, even sleeping.

2. Flamzu - A mystical weed similar to Kudzu. In the Fire Nation it plagues farmlands by growing rapidly over the ground, producing hyper oxygenated air, and occasionally creating sparks with its flowers. Thus, it tends to choke other plants, set them on fire, and grow rapidly in the ashen remains.

However, on Pandora it grows quickly over scorched earth and produces enough oxygen that a full square mile of Flamzu has a comfortable oxygen rich part in the middle where non-firebenders and animals can breath.

Flamzu however can't set anything on fire in Pandora and tends to get chocked out by native plants and dug up by native animals. In general, any land that the Fire Nation burns to the ground, clear cuts, or otherwise destroys native flora can be quickly covered by Flamzu which makes it habitable for earth animals and non-firebenders.

3. Terra-farming - After the Flamzu covers an area, farmers can release BeaverBoars who eat up the Flamzu and then can plant other terrestrial plants in their place. With careful management then the surface of Pandora can be made habitable to humans. But only in the areas properly Terra-farmed.

4. Pandora Cuisine - While the plants and animals of Pandora are not particularly nourishing to humans, with proper preparation (and seasoning) they can be made non-toxic and at least edible. In general, food made from Pandoran plants and animals are half as nourishing as normal food and that only if properly prepared. Raw or improperly prepared food causes nasty cramps and indigestion. Uncle Iroh has (much to Zukos indignation) discovered a wide variety of Pandora plants that make half-decent tea.

5. Rich Resources - Pandora has a great deal of natural resources, particularly wood and minerals and potentially herbs that could be used for medicines.

6. The Generals Comet - Fire Nation astronomers have erected a telescope and found a distant comet which they calculate will arrive in about three years, it should have a power boosting effect similar to Souzins Comet that let that great Fire Lord destroy the Air Nation.

7. Slaves - Due to the inhospitable environment and the spoils of war, the Fire Nation can bring in slaves from the Water Nation or Earth Nation and force them to work for them since they can't survive in areas not covered by flamzu. They can also use native Na'vi as slaves but the reverse is true... oxygen rich areas are toxic to Na'vi and native Pandoran animals. There are no airbenders except for Aang and he's still frozen.


The Plan:

Zuko gets sent to Pandora with his uncle and about two hundred firebenders. Everyone is combat capable although there are plenty of scientists and others in the bunch. He has about a year to show some real progress (like getting ahold of some unobtanium or something).

After a year, he gets a review and if he didn't make enough progress then General Zhao (the guy who tried killing the Moon Spirit for fame) takes over the operation and adds a few hundred more firebenders to the bunch (along with some airships and regular ironclad ships). If Zuko did make progress then he gets the reinforcements himself.

If Zhao fails of doesn't show real progress (maybe taking over a nation-sized chunk of the planet or something) then he gets replaced with Princess Azula and she pretty much gets access to whatever the heck she wants up to ironclad airships, tanks, giant drill machines and such. If either Zuko or Zhao seem to be running things adaquatly then they keep their jobs.

Then, after a year of that, the Generals Comet is about to come and there is one last review. Fire Lord Ozai arrives and reviews the progress and if he's satisfied then whoever is in charge gets the comet named after them and they get to use its power to boost their firebenders for one big attack on Pandora. Otherwise, Ozai names the Comet after himself and does a practice run of his "Burn the Earth" plan he meant for the Earth Nation.


Though, to be fair, if Zuko or Zhao show that they can take out lots of Pandoras resources with what they have then they can ask for more troops to help take over the place faster.


In short, can the Fire Nation beat the Na'vi and potentially the wildlife of Pandora itself... or at least hold out for three years when the comet comes by and boosts their power level to the point where they can fly around and reduce the forest to a scorched wasteland.

Overall, they would have a literal "scorched earth" policy of grabbing whatever resources are valuable and burning the rest so that they can transform the planet into something inhabitable to humans.

This whole thing would take place before the events of either James Camerons Avatar movie, or Avatar The Last Airbender. Though I suppose Zhaos year would start around the time Fire Nation first gets blimps and Azulas year starts when they start getting giant drills and armored airships and stuff. The comet shows up on Pandora a good month or two before the comet shows up on the Fire Nations world so Fire Lord Ozai will be testing his moves out on Pandora before the big finale back home.

Fifty-Eyed Fred
2010-02-23, 02:15 AM
The Fire Nation have fire. It'll be just like the scene in Pocahontas Avatar where that large and somehow important tree got blown up by missiles.

chiasaur11
2010-02-23, 12:48 PM
Fire Benders got Iroh.

This ain't even a contest.

The J Pizzel
2010-02-23, 01:19 PM
Fire Benders got Iroh.

This ain't even a contest.

Seconded :smallbiggrin:

Cespenar
2010-02-23, 04:15 PM
But they also have Zuko, whose angst may dampen, if not completely block Iroh's awesomeness.

Zom B
2010-02-23, 04:17 PM
I haven't yet seen the movie Avatar, but something tells me that a large, well-disciplined, well-armed army complete with flame-shooting mages, firebombing aircraft, and hundreds of steam-driven monstrosities can easily take an army of tree-elves.

I mean, when have you ever heard of a primitive indigenous specie taking out a technologically superior armed force? Wait. Don't answer that (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_VI:_Return_of_the_Jedi).


Fire Benders got Iroh.

This ain't even a contest.

Even if his firebending can't touch them, he can just sing "Leaves from the Vine" until they all break down in tears.

I know I did.

Kurien
2010-02-23, 04:56 PM
The thing I see wrong with this setup is the part about the Flamzu weed. You see, the atmosphere on Pandora is not lethal to humans and Earth organisms because it is deficient in oxygen, it is lethal because it contains toxic compounds, likely trace amounts of hydrogen cyanide (According to wikipedia, HCN boils at 26oC. I can imagine that the average Pandoran temperature is greater than that.). So humans do not asphyxiate, they die of poisoning. I have seen the movie more than once, so I'm pretty sure of this.

So the whole issue of unbreathable air is not solved yet.

Plus, I can't see the Oxozi Technique to work even while sleeping. It is a learned, conscious action, is it not?

Still, if by some cheese normal humans can breathe the air, then I imagine that the fire nation would have some advantage.

I think it is a pretty even fight between Pandoran wildlife vs. Fire Nation animals.

What use could the Fire Nation have for unobtanium? The primary use the advanced humans of Jake Sully's 'verse had for the mineral was as a superconductor for electronics, if I remember correctly. The Fire Nation has not developed computers yet. I think they would view the floating rocks as a useless novelty.

Without the Comet, firebending is not that powerful. The initial force is mostly a probe or exploration expedition, right? I can imagine that the Na'vi could wipe out the initial firebender force (With some heavy casualties).

[hr]
Hmm, I think it comes down to how the firebenders go about "conquering Pandora". Since only firebenders who know the Oxozi technique can breathe there, no civilians would want to go there. Just what do they want with Pandora?

[hr]
What are the reactions of the firebenders upon meeting the Na'vi for the first time? They cannot initially communicate with language. How xenophobic are they? Would they deem the Na'vi little more than animals and exterminate them on sight? Or would they recognize them as a sentient, sapient species?

[hr]
The humans lack the neural whip of the Na'vi, so I think it will be impossible to tame Pandoran wildlife.

Haven
2010-02-23, 05:10 PM
As popular as it is for the assumption to be that the Na'vi automatically lose, I just don't see it. Even with all these advantages, maintaining an occupation on basically unknown territory is hard, not to mention when the environs are so inimical to life as you know it. Also, the Na'vi are about two-and-a-half times as tall as men, and much stronger proportionately, and they have the home field advantage (and a burning desire to use it). This means superior mobility and massively overwhelming numbers.

So yeah, I don't see the Fire Nation as having any sort of a chance here. (Though I hasten to add this is in no way an endorsement of James Cameron's Avatar. At all.)

hanzo66
2010-02-23, 07:11 PM
Assuming that they do manage to survive the atmosphere, the Fire Nation's chances are boosted from "Nonexistent" to "Survivable" at the least.

Chances are that the Na'Vi, if attacking the Fire Nation would rely mostly on Ambush tactics like hiding in trees and sniping with arrows. Nonetheless I'm not sure that Iroh would be willing to take down indigenous people, even if they're of different species. He might try to learn more of them, though the Na'Vi might also take offense at his use of local fauna as tea leaves. Otherwise Iroh on the offensive would be a heavy threat for the Na'Vi, both as a warrior and a strategist.

If they do a heavy Scorched Earth policy that amounts to Torching Down Everything then they could stand a good chance, though that would leave them with barren and ruined land.

Zhao would probably be more like Quaritch: More ruthless than Zuko/Iroh and more about just obliterating the Na'Vi. Scorching them wouldn't be out of the question. However the Na'Vi might outsmart him since he's not nearly as strategic as Iroh or Azula. Azula has both Zhao's ruthlessness and lack of scruples and most of Iroh's cunning.


If they manage to hold out until the comet arrives, they might do OK. However I'm hardly a military genius and I'm just making a few assumptions here and there.

Or they wait until Shepard and the Normandy gets there:
http://sites.google.com/a/virtualshackles.com/omg/1-1/mass_effect_avatar.jpg