The Crusader Mark II armor was a model of Mandalorian armor developed by the Black Sun for use by the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War.
The Crusader armors Mark II and Mark III were the two versions of the Mandalorian Crusader armors developed by the Black Sun. They shared similar technical characteristics but different appearances. The Mark II model resembled Neo-Crusader assault armor developed about 4000 years prior. Crusader armors offered protection against kinetic damage as well as from energy-based weapons like blasters. A typical complete armor set comprised a helmet with an integrated rangefinder, a chest plate, left & right biceps, left & right bracers, gloves, a belt, leggings and boots. Crusader armors came in a wide variety of colors.
A Rebel wearing Crusader Mark II armor during the Battle of Restuss.
After the Battle of Yavin, the members of the criminal organization Black Sun realized that thanks to their fruitful collaboration with the Death Watch, a unique business opportunity presented itself. Due to advances in their armor forges working on Mandalorian technology within the Death Watch Bunker on the Forest Moon of Endor, the Black Sun realized it could create and distribute different types of battle armor to both the Galactic Empire and the Rebellion by ensuring each armor type appeared distinctly different. This positively impacted Black Sun through increased credit flow and freedom from both factions due to the raging Galactic Civil War.
Rebel troops wearing Crusader Mark II armors on Restuss.
Crusader armors were introduced around 1 ABY and the Mark II model was distributed to the Rebel Alliance. It was first seen in action on Naboo's moon of Rori during the Battle of Restuss. The armor was worn by several Alliance officers such as Captain Redding, and Rebel Elite Commandos. In addition, a number of Crusader MK II series was distributed by the Rebellion during all along the Battle of Restuss. Rebel spacers who took part in the battle were awarded with battle commendations, which could then be traded to Alliance commendation officers in exchange for items such as the MK II armor or various other weaponry.
Later, Rebel Prison Trooper and Rebel Phalanx soldiers were equipped with Crusader Mark II armors.
The Crusader Mark II armor appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts, prior to its closure on December 15, 2011. Crusader armors were added to the game along with the "Battle of Restuss" PvP battlefield, introduced in the "Chapter 1.1" released on June 27, 2006.
As part of the Battle of Restuss story arc, players might receive commendation items for assisting their chosen faction during the battle, which could be stacked and traded for various items such as this armor, from Commendation Officer non-player characters.