Earth
Civil War | Battle against the Shadows
| Battle at Coriana 6 
Battle at Proxima 3 | Battle for Earth | Sleeping in Light | Thirdspace | A Call to arms
The Minbari Warcruiser Valen'tha with the Gray Council onboard and a few support vessel were on their way to Z'Ha'Dum. They wanted to proof an old prophecy by Valen that the Shadows were awakening and regaining power to get back on the scene.
Dukhat, the leader of the Gray Council, wanted carry out investigations on a new race he heard about. The new race was called "Humans". The Gray Council opposed and so nothing happened. On their way to Z'Ha'Dum the fleet suddenly encountered a Human fleet that was on a deep patrol. The Minbari approached with open gunports to show their respect. Dukhat feared that the open gunports could lead to misunderstandings. He ordered to close the gunports but it was too late.
The sign of honor was misunderstood by the captain of the Earthforce vessel Prometheus. He ordered to open fire at the unprepared Minbari cruiser. The first salvo hit the Valen'tha and damaged the ship badly. The Minbari launched their fighters and returned fire. The human fleet suffered heavy damage during this first counterattack but the damaged vessels managed to flee into hyperspace before the Minbari could destroy them.
Dukhat was mortally hurt during this attack. They Gray Council was indecisive what to do next. Some members wanted to pursue the fleet and destroy them while other wanted to wait and discuss this incident. So the decision was to be made by Delenn who was a new member of the Gray Council at that time. Dukhat was mentor and a friend of Delenn. She was outraged by the human attack and decided to pursue the human fleet and to destroy all ships. Before Dukhat died he told her that she was a direct descendant of Valen.