Crusader armors were models of Mandalorian armor developed by the Black Sun during the Galactic Civil War for use by the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
An Imperial wearing Crusader Mark III 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.
Rebel troops wearing Crusader Mark II armors on Restuss.
Two different versions of this armor were created, the Mark II series for the Rebellion and the Mark III series for the Empire. Deliberately, the Black Sun development team made sure each armor appeared distinctly different, so that neither the Empire nor the Rebellion would know that they were being armored from the same source. This subterfuge allowed for both sides to unknowingly support the Black Sun and increase the group's freedom while the Galactic Civil War raged. Each armor series was priced equally, resulting in similar protective characteristics.
Crusader armors were introduced around 1 ABY and were first seen in action on Naboo's moon of Rori during the Battle of Restuss. The armors were worn by several Alliance and Imperial officers as well as elite troops such as Rebel Elite Commandos. In addition, factionally aligned spacer who received battlefield commendations were able to trade their awards for items such as this armor from respective Rebel and Imperial commendation officer.
The Crusader armors 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.