Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders

The **Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders** named after the original Mandalorian Crusaders, were an order of Mandalorians sponsored by the then ruling Mand'alor following his own ascension to the position of supreme leader of the Mandalorian people. Taking residence on the planet Mandalore, this small group of enthusiasts calling themselves Neo-Crusaders adopted a rudimentary chain of command and division of labor, not found in the traditional culture. Many Mandalorians found these methods strange, but some took interest in the Neo-Crusaders. When the Mandalorians again began to raid nonaligned worlds, the Neo-Crusaders won their share of battles due to their discipline. Feeling an opportunity present itself, the Mand'alor and his closest assistants decided to encourage the movement. They refined the former cult's organizational strategies for use on a larger scale. The Mandalorians who tested the Republic in the early skirmishes found that they had a distinct advantage with Neo-Crusaders as their vanguard. By the time the wider Mandalorian Wars with the Republic finally broke out, Neo-Crusaders were present in every unit, boosting morale and spreading the new ideals and discipline.

Some considered the Neo-Crusaders to be a **New Order** in contrast to the Republic, which was seen as the Old Order. The wars against the Old Republic drove the Jedi Revan to round up other Jedi to join in and take up arms alongside the Republic against the invading Mandalorians. Revan and his comrade Malak led the Republic to victory after victory, and after years of conflict the Neo-Crusaders were finally defeated by Revan's forces at Malachor, a battle that almost wiped out the entire Mandalorian fleet. The Mand'alor was killed at the hands of Revan in the final battle, and Revan removed the survivors of their weapons, war droids, and ultimately, their honor. The Neo-Crusaders entered dark times, when they were no longer great warriors, but mere thugs. At the end of the Jedi Civil War, before he left for the Unknown Regions to find the great darkness to come, Revan tasked former Neo-Crusader Canderous Ordo with reuniting the scattered Mandalorian clans on. Canderous recovered the mask of the fallen Mand'alor and took on the mask and the title and his own.

## Members of the Crusaders

When the Mandalorians took control of Republic worlds during the wars, they immediately gave former Republic citizens two choices to either join the Mandalorians as warriors, or to sit quietly and work as manufacturers for the clans as de facto slaves. Many including a host of criminals from the prisons the Mandalorians emptied were sent with the recruiters to planetary staging centers. Shipped to training centers, the new recruits were taught by Neo-Crusaders to become the Neo-Crusaders. The Traditional Mandalorians were encouraged to adopt the system as well, although some were distressed by the changes. The Mandalorians of the past were voluntarily committed to the cause, but Neo-Crusaders increasingly included warriors of poor quality who joined to escape occupation or to simply gain their share in the pillaging.

### Mandalorian Knights

During the Mandalorian Wars, many Jedi were apart of the growing legions who defied the orders of the Jedi High Council, but one Jedi in particular who had been a member of the High Council pledged his support for Jedi intervention in the Mandalorian Wars. Unlike those who followed Revan, however, this Master believed that the Jedi were on the wrong side of the conflict, and so alongside a group of rogue Jedi Masters, the Master began covertly sabotaging the Republic war effort under the direction of the maverick ex-council member. Having come to believe that the Republic was corrupt beyond redemption, the ex-council member and his followers along with a small number of like-minded volunteers embraced the Mandalorian way of life by swearing their allegiance to the current Mand'alor, coming to call themselves the **Mandalorian Knights**.

### Neo-Crusader Field Marshall

**Neo-Crusader Field Marshal**, also known simply as **Marshal** was the third rank of the Neo-Crusader movement, and the highest apart from the Mand'alor. Wearing the golden suit of Neo-Crusader armor, they were easily recognized on the battlefield. Marshals commanded everything from entire sectors to a flank on the battlefield, depending on the position of another Marshal. They were expected to engage in battle just as any other warrior. In the early days of the Neo-Crusader movement, the position of Marshal was reserved for  advisors of the reigning Mand'alor. Many however refused to adopt the standardized look, and the status symbol of the Marshals quickly diminished in value. The Mand'alor began to issue the position to members of his vanguard and soon to those who wished to differentiate from the Rally Masters, rewarding the suit soon became his preferred solution to various problems.

### Neo-Crusader Rally Master

**Neo-Crusader Rally Master** was the middle rank of the Mandalorian Neo-Crusader movement during the Mandalorian Wars. Wearing a crimson colored variation of the Neo-Crusaders armor,, they were easily recognized as figures of authority by the Mandalorian ground forces, and generic Neo-Crusaders were expected to look for and listen to them. During the early days of the Neo-Crusader movement, the Rally Masters worked independently. The position was originally earned by impressing Field Marshals, making the position very valuable. Being the closest thing the Mandalorians ever came to officers, they functioned as drill sergeants, commanders and more importantly political officers, spreading the ideals of the Neo-Crusaders amongst the Mandalorian forces. Rally Masters also oversaw the training of new converts during the Mandalorian Wars, and in training centers where they indoctrinated these recruits to the Neo-Crusader way.

### Neo-Crusader Shock Troopers

**Neo-Crusader Shock Troopers** were a type of military unit utilized by the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders during the Mandalorian Wars. They had their own hierarchy, reporting ultimately to Cassus Fett, who saw that they had the best equipment available. As the population of Neo-Crusaders increased, the Mand'alor approved new armor packages for special purposes. Shock Troopers were one of the early "special varieties" of Neo-Crusaders, equipped with a unique type of Neo-Crusader armor which was more heavily standardized than most early Mandalorian sets of armor. Typically Neo-Crusaders won positions as shock troopers by impressing their commanding officers. They specialized in incursions where the nature of the battlefield was unknown, such as underground tunnels, spacecraft, and congested urban areas.