Valen (ship)

From The Great Machine

For other instances of the name "Valen", see Valen (disambiguation)

The Valen was a warship that was the newest in what was hoped to be a long line of Anla'shok vessels. With the difficulty of building White Star-class ships, the Valen relied more on contemporary technology, and thus was easier to construct. In the year 2264, the Valen came into the service of the Interstellar Alliance. It is named after Valen from Minbari history, and is the first ship to be built under the cooperation of the Minbari Federation and the Earth Alliance.

With its hybrid ion-gravimetric drive built using a combination of human and Minbari technology, the Valen was the fastest ship in the fleet. However, the Anla'shok crew thought of it only as an "ugly, flying brick." Its hard lines and flat surfaces were a signature of Earth construction style, a far cry from the smooth, curved surfaces of Minbari vessels.

The Valen, under the command of Tannier, was destroyed by "the Hand," a race of Firstones banished from our universe eons ago. As its design was unpopular with the Rangers, work on it was abandoned in favor of the Victory Class destroyer, which was built three years later.