Anla'Shok
From The Babylon Project
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- "We are Rangers."
- "We walk in the dark places no others will enter."
- "We stand on the bridge, and no one may pass."
- "We live for the One, we die for the One"
- – The Ranger Oath
The Anla'Shok are an elite fighting force, originally founded by Valen during the First Shadow War. In Valen's words, they were to be "a military group dedicated to nothing less than preserving the future and all life. Even our enemy's life, if possible." The word "Anla'Shok", is loosely translated into English as Rangers.
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[edit] History
[edit] Founding
The Anla'Shok were founded on Minbar by Valen during the First Shadow War, shortly after the formation of the Grey Council. As the council was formed to unify the Minbari government, the Anla'Shok were formed to unify the Minbari military. Until that point each of the military clans had its own fighting force and they would constantly argue over tactics, strategy and leadership causing as much harm to the war effort as the technological superiority of the enemy. Tensions even escalated to the point where fighting broke out between some of the clans.
When Valen formed the Rangers, he ensured it was made up of warriors from all the clans of the Warrior Caste and all were trained in the customs and tradition drawn from all clans, but made into a new form, unique to the Anla'Shok. Most importantly of all, each Anla'shok would no longer swear allegiance to fight for their clan but to the Entil'Zha and fight only on his behalf.
For the next several years, Valen personally led the Anla'Shok and all of the allied worlds against the Shadows until their defeat. In the process, the Rangers became the most efficient and deadly fighting force the galaxy has ever seen. However Valen saw the danger in this and knew that once their enemy was defeated, the Anla'Shok could grow dissatisfied and restless and in the event that the wrong person might become Entil'Zha, the Rangers could turn into a force for conquest and power.
[edit] Valen's Legacy
- "Entil'Zha veni!"
- "In Valen's name!"
- – Ranger battle cry
With the end of the Shadow War, Valen, not wanting the Minbari Warriors to lose the unifying symbol that the Anla'Shok had become and revert to their old ways of disharmony and infighting, re-tasked the Rangers with a new mission; to become sentries and watchers, looking for the signs and collecting information quietly on Minbar, from returning travellers and friendly sources on other worlds, watching and waiting for the day when the Shadows would return. With that Valen left the Rangers and Minbar with his family, never to be seen again and for the next thousand years, the Rangers did as Valen instructed and kept the tradition of the Rangers alive.
Over the centuries, their numbers, resources and influence would dwindle until they were little more than a few old men, dealing in whispers and rumours. When the time that Valen said the Shadows would begin moving again was upon them, the Grey Council had become complacent after a millennia of peace and stability and few of it's members truly believed in the prophecies of Valen, some even going so far as mocking the Anla'Shok and secretly considered them to be an obsolete embarrassment and were carried only out of a sense of tradition and their debt to Valen.
[edit] The Second Shadow War
[edit] The Third Age and Beyond
The Anla'Shok became the peace-keeping force of the Interstellar Alliance after its formation. One million years after the ISA's foundation, the Anla'Shok were still active.
[edit] Leadership, Ranks and Titles
"Anla'Shok" and later the English equivalent "Ranger" are also used as a simple honorific to refer to anyone who has completed Ranger training.
[edit] Entil'Zha
Title originally held by Valen when he formed the Anla'Shok. The exact meaning is unknown, but believed to have been derived from Vorlon.[1] Subsequent leaders of the Anla'Shok after Valen took on the title of Anla'Shok Na, this was to honour the memory of Valen. This tradition continued for 900 years until Jenimer requested that Jeffrey Sinclair take on the title and reunite Entil'Zha with Anla'shok Na.
- Persons known to have held this position: -
- (Circa 1260 - Circa 1360) Valen
- (Circa 1360 - 2259) UNOCCUPIED
- (2259 - 2260) Jeffrey Sinclair
- (2260 - 2279) Delenn
- (2279 - 2281) John Sheridan
[edit] Anla'Shok Na
The title given to the current leader of the Anla'shok in the time after Valen, until the title "Entil'Zha" was reintroduced for Jeffery Sinclair, as a fulfilment of Valen's prophecy. Literally means "Ranger One". [1]
- Persons known to have held this position: -
- (Circa 1260 - Circa 1360) Valen [2]
- (Circa 1360 - unknown) Unknown [1]
- (unknown - 2246) Lenonn [3]
- (2247 - 2259) Turval [1]
- (2259 - 2260) Jeffrey Sinclair [4], [5]
- (2260 - 2279) Delenn [6]
- (2279 - 2281) John Sheridan [7]
- (2281 - 2345) Susan Ivanova [7]
[edit] Sech
Essentially means "teacher" or "Sensei".
- Example: Sech Turval
[edit] Shok-na
The Anla'Shok equivalent of a Captain.
- Example: Shok-na David Martel
[edit] Shok-nali
The Anla'Shok equivalent of a First officer.
- Example: Shok-nali Dulann
[edit] Anla'shok/Ranger
"Anla'Shok" and later the English equivalent "Ranger" are also used as a simple, interchangeable honorific to refer to anyone who has completed Ranger training.
- Persons known to have held this position: -
[edit] Membership
The Anla'Shok were originally a purely Minbari organization, with it's members made up of only those born into or called to the Warrior Caste. When Jeffrey Sinclair became the new Entil'Zha in 2259, he did so on the condition that along with allowing humans to join that members from all three Minbari castes also be allowed to join. A condition that many Warriors refused to accept, causing many long serving Rangers to resign under orders from their military clans. Over time this was eventually overcome and Minbari Warriors would again join the ranks of the Rangers and following the founding of the Interstellar Alliance, membership became open to all Alliance Members and within a year there were Ranger trainees from Abbai, Drazi, Yolu, and even Pak'ma. Unlike the early Human recruits, it took some years before the new alien recruits were fully assimilated into the Anla'shok and it wasn't until 2265 that Anla'shok Tirk and Anla'shok Na'Feel - each the first recruits from Zhabar and Narn respectively - were given a shipboard assignment and then only at the insistence of Shok-na Martel.[8]
