Mandalorian Protectors (Spar)

The Mandalorian Protectors—or the Mando Cabure when translated in the Mandalorian language of Mando'a—were an organization of Mandalorian supercommandos founded during the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars by the ARC trooper turned "Mandalore the Resurrector," Spar. Created in the image of the True Mandalorians of years past, the Mandalorian Protectors were formed from two hundred members of the Mandalorian police, with an additional dozen troops comprised of former members of the Death Watch splinter group, and a thousand BL-series Battle Legionnaire droids. Entering the Clone Wars on the side of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Mandalorian Protectors fought against the Galactic Republic as a hard-hitting shock force, gaining a reputation among Confederacy commanders as an in-demand unit capable of defeating foes in a single day that their legions of battle droids could not conquer in a month. However, due to the machinations of the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, who secretly manipulated both sides of the war for his own gain, the Mandalorian Protectors were led into a trap on the planet Norval II, where their army of Battle Legionnaire droids were destroyed by Republic clone troopers, and all but three soldiers—Fenn Shysa, Tobbi Dala, and the broken Mand'alor Spar—were killed.

At the end of the Clone Wars, as the Republic transitioned into the Galactic Empire and turned its sights on the Mandalorian homeworld of Mandalore, Fenn Shysa took up the leadership of the Mandalorians and the title of Mandalore. With the new Empire moving to establish a foothold on the planet, Shysa and Tobbi Dala began to train a new incarnation of the Mandalorian Protectors as a covert force to combat the Imperial presence should it prove hostile; his worst fears were realized as the Empire began to enslave the Mandalorians and strip-mined their world for valuable beskar iron. The Mandalorian Protectors fought against the Imperial occupiers in a guerrilla war for years, before finally killing the leader of their operations in an attack on the Empire's base within the City of Bone. Their numbers dramatically increased with an influx of freed Mandalorian slaves, the Protectors moved against Imperial Grand Admiral Miltin Takel and forced him from Mandalorian space, truly freeing themselves from the Empire at last. The Mandalorian Protectors under Shysa went on to join forces with the Alliance of Free Planets as it transitioned into the New Republic, first against the extra-galactic Nagai species, then in conjunction with the Nagai against their more dangerous mutual foe, the Tof. Shysa also rallied the Protectors in aid of Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, to combat the forces of Lord Shadowspawn.

In 21 ABY, Fenn Shysa died on the planet Shogun, and leadership of both the Mandalorians and the Mandalorian Protectors fell to the bounty hunter and culturally estranged Mandalorian Boba Fett. The tradition of leading the Protectors in the defense of Mandalore and its people came to an end under Fett's leadership, instead becoming a mercenary fighting force. When the Yuuzhan Vong invaded from beyond the known galaxy, Fett pretended to ally the Mandalorians with the would-be conquerors in a deal to spare Mandalorian space from their aggression, while secretly ordering the Mandalorian Protectors to gather intelligence on the Vong to deliver to the New Republic. When the Yuuzhan Vong learned of the Mandalorians' deceit, they launched a devastating attack on Mandalore that killed one third of the world's meager population before the Protectors were able to repel the Vong. From that point, Fett led the Mandalorian Protectors in open warfare against the Yuuzhan Vong and in defense of the galaxy.

Text and facts from the “Mandalorian Protectors (Spar)” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.