Valkyrie

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Valkyrie
Race	Colonial
Type	Military
FTL	Yes
Propulsion
Crew
Capacity
CO	Commander William Adama (Last Known)
XO	Colonel Saul Tigh (Last Known)
Role	carrier / battleship hybrid
Weapons	20 small dual mounted turrets, 33 heavy dual turrets capable of firing missiles, Unknown number of point defense guns, at least 6 ship-to-ship missiles silos.[1][2][3]
Armaments	{{{arm}}}
Status	Destroyed over Caprica
Other Images	More images...
Dimensions
Length	{{{length}}}
Width	{{{width}}}
Height	{{{height}}}
Weight	{{{weight}}}
Wingspan	{{{wingspan}}}
Other	{{{otherdi}}}

Valkyrie was a Colonial battlestar of an unnamed class, belonging to Battlestar Group 41. The ship was commanded by William Adama several years before the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.

History

First Cylon War

Approximately ten years into the first Cylon War, Valkyrie was involved in a battle with Cylons near Canceron Prime, in which it went missing and was presumed destroyed. In truth, the ship had become part of a secret Colonial "ghost fleet" hiding in Cylon-held space. Valkyrie later participated in the successful Ghost Fleet Offensive campaign against Cylon forces (Blood and Chrome).

Inter-War Period

Approximately six years^[4] before the Cylon attack, Valkyrie had been ordered by Admiral Peter Corman to deploy a stealth recon ship over the Armistice Line to test Cylon resolve and gather intelligence on Cylon activities. During the mission, an unidentified DRADIS contact (presumed to have been a spacecraft) entered the area of the stealth ship piloted by Lieutenant Daniel Novacek and damaged the Stealthstar's engines before jumping away.

Two further (presumed Cylon) contacts were detected on an intercept course with the stealth ship. Rather than attempt a rescue of the disabled craft, Commander Adama ordered the stealth ship to be destroyed to prevent its discovery and capture.

In the days and years following the incident at the Armistice Line, and in particular after the Cylon attack on the Colonies, Adama came to believe that his actions had provoked the Cylon assault, having "proved" to them that humanity was aggressive and not to be trusted (TRS: "Hero").

Return of the Cylons

During the Cylon assault on the Twelve Colonies, Valkyrie is one of several battlestars of the same class that attempt to engage the Cylons over Caprica, only to be disabled by the CNP's backdoors. It is destroyed shortly after. (TRS: "The Plan")^[5]

Notes

• The ship's hull number cannot be seen. It is thus not known if it is identical to its battlestar group.
• The Valkyrie CIC insignia adorned David Eick's production office wall in the Vancouver Film Studios where Battlestar Galactica was produced.^[6]
• In mythology, a Valkyrie is a minor female deity who chose the most heroic fallen warriors to ascend to Valhalla where they would await Ragnarok. Valkyrie is the third (second onscreen) instance of Norse mythology being used, the first being Ragnar Station, which is a reference to Ragnarok, the Norse "twilight of the gods" (Miniseries).
  • Interestingly, the story of Ragnarok parallels with the career of William Adama, the one-time commander of Valkyrie. Adama, considered a fallen hero by the admiralty, is transferred from the advanced Valkyrie to command the aging Galactica about a year before the Cylon attack. Later, with the fall of the Colonies, he finds himself in the Battle of Ragnar Anchorage, the last battle within Colonial space.

Related Imagery

Closeup of a Valkyrie type battlestar.	Valkyrie firing a ship-to-ship missile.	Valkyrie among it sister ships above Caprica.	Valkyrie under attack.
Valkyrie after being disabled by the Cylons.	One of the ship's flight pods.	The ship's batteries.	The CIC.
Full view of CIC.	Valkyrie insignia.	Valkyrie armpatch.

References