The Crusader Mark II armor represents a specific type of Mandalorian armor that the Black Sun designed for use by the Rebel Alliance during the period of the Galactic Civil War.
The Black Sun organization engineered two versions of Mandalorian Crusader armor, known as the Mark II and Mark III Crusader armors. While sharing similar technological aspects, their aesthetic designs differed. The Mark II variant bore a resemblance to the Neo-Crusader assault armor that was in use approximately four millennia earlier. The Crusader armors provided defense against both kinetic impacts and energy weapons, such as blasters. A standard, complete set of this armor included a helmet equipped with a built-in rangefinder, a chest plate, coverings for both the left and right biceps, bracers for each arm, gloves, a belt, leggings, and boots. These Crusader armors were manufactured in a diverse array of colors.
Following the events of the Battle of Yavin, key figures within the Black Sun criminal syndicate recognized a unique commercial opportunity arising from their successful partnership with the Death Watch. Black Sun, leveraging advancements in their armor production via Mandalorian technology located within the Death Watch Bunker on the Forest Moon of Endor, determined they could manufacture and distribute distinct types of combat armor to both the Galactic Empire and the Rebellion, ensuring each armor type had a noticeably different appearance. This strategy proved beneficial to Black Sun, leading to increased financial gains and operational freedom from both warring factions amidst the ongoing Galactic Civil War.
The Crusader armor line was first seen around 1 ABY, with the Mark II version being supplied to the Rebel Alliance. Its initial deployment occurred on Naboo's moon, Rori, during the Battle of Restuss. Several Alliance officers, including Captain Redding, and Rebel Elite Commandos donned this armor. Furthermore, the Rebellion distributed a number of Crusader MK II sets throughout the Battle of Restuss. Rebel spacers participating in the conflict received battle commendations, which they could exchange with Alliance commendation officers for items such as the MK II armor or various other armaments.
Later in the conflict, Rebel Prison Trooper units and Rebel Phalanx soldiers were also outfitted with Crusader Mark II armor.
The Crusader Mark II armor made its debut in Star Wars Galaxies, the 2003 video game which was a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. It was developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts, before the game was shut down on December 15, 2011. The Crusader armors were included in the game along with the "Battle of Restuss" PvP battlefield, which was introduced in the "Chapter 1.1" update released on June 27, 2006.
Within the Battle of Restuss storyline, players could earn commendation items for supporting their chosen faction during the battle. These commendations could be accumulated and exchanged with Commendation Officer non-player characters for various rewards, including this armor.