“That's the nuts and bolts, ladies and gentlemen. We've got two days until the Aureks return and we jump off. I highly encourage you to spend the intervening time drilling your troops on their assignments. I don't care if you have to engrave the topography onto their skulls, just make sure they know the plan. Dismissed!”

—Captain Laera Reyolé addresses the officers of the 3rd Marine Battalion^[src]

The 3rd Marine Battalion, later affectionately known as Saber Battalion was among the most highly-decorated units within the Galactic Republic's armed forces, earning individual and unit citations for bravery and valor throughout the era of the Old Sith Wars. First formed as an independent unit during the reorganization of the Republic Marines in the years following the Great Sith War, the battalion's four companies were deployed numerous times throughout the Mandalorian Wars. The 3rd Marines saw their most intense action during the war's last battles, where they helped to liberate Onderon, and served as one of the spearheads of Revan's assault to retake Dxun and chase the Mandalorians out of Republic space. Having taken heavy losses as a result of the vicious fighting there and in the Mandalorian victory at Jaga's Cluster, the battalion was sent back to Coruscant to replenish and retrain.

At the very start of the Jedi Civil War, the Third Battalion was placed under the command of the recently-deceased Captain Laera Reyolé, who had trained for a year with the Jedi Order, and assigned to the Centurion-class battlecruiser Stalwart Defender, the flagship of Rear Admiral Kedlis Hetton's task force. As Darth Revan and Darth Malak's Sith forces advanced on the inner worlds of the Republic, Captain Reyolé, a skilled leader and veteran tactician who had been decorated numerous times during the Mandalorian conflict, formed a plan whose intent was to blunt the offensive by attacking the flanks of the Sith plane of advance. Her plan, and the skill of the Marines under her command, were tested and ultimately vindicated in the resulting battle at Iridonia. The victory there ultimately led to the Republic's triumph at the battle for Rodia, from which they would embark on a successful counteroffensive that culminated at the Battle of Lannik.

AppearancesEdit

• Tales from the Corps, Vol. 1
• Star Wars: Death and Life (Indirect mention only)
• A Marine Went to Jedi Camp (First mentioned)
• Star Wars: Saber Battalion (First appearance)
• The Last Full Measure