The existence of the Freedom Warriors goes back almost as much as the existence of the Jedi. Like the Jedi the ancient history of the Freedom Warriors is shrouded in legend. There are three popular tales explaining the founding of the Freedom Warriors. The first states that the Freedom Warriors predate the jedi by several millennium, and that they existed serving the common good long before the republic ever came to be. This theory states that the jedi were an off shoot of the Freedom Warriors (and not vice versa). The second theory states that the Freedom Warriors were once a group of corrupt and deadly mercenaries who grew so powerful that they actually tried carving an Empire out of the Republic. In a crucial battle against the Republic army the Jedi intervened. The legend states that the commander of the Freedom Warriors was so impressed with the courage, valor, and mercy that the jedi displayed that he surrendered the battle and pledged his loyalty to the Jedi. The third tale says that the Freedom Warriors were founded by an anti-Jedi group who believed that the "high and mighty Jedi" did not adequately care about the common people. So they essentially took matters into their own hands. As tales of their heroics grew their numbers grew and they became more organized. Eventually overtime the Freedom Warriors became aligned with the Jedi because they served the same purpose. The third theory is most likely because their are several legends and folk tales of the Jedi clashing with the Freedom Warriors long ago. Originally the Freedom Warriors were like the Jedi being almost completely autonomous from the government. However when a feud between the planets of Esseles and Ralitir became a full scale war, the Freedom Warriors deployed themselves as peace keepers by blocking armies from attacking one another. Due to a mis-communication a platoon of freedom warriors ended up fighting Republic regulars also deployed for peace keeping. The Freedom Warriors practically destroyed the Republic soldiers before the mishap was realized. The commanding officers were executed for treason and the Freedom Warriors became a special forces unit of the Republic army. Over the course of several decades the Freedom Warriors became on loan, so to speak, to the Jedi. After the last Great Sith War the army was reorganized and the Freedom Warriors were officially disbanded. However, the Freedom Warriors did not disband. They stayed together operating through the Jedi, to keep from evoking the wrath of the Republic government. The title of a Freedom Warrior is almost hereditary, very few "outsiders" join the ranks. The major exception to this are the non-force sensitive children of Jedi are almost always welcomed into the ranks.
Organization
There are currently only about four companies of Freedom Warriors (approx.. 650 individuals). These soldiers are divided into three categories: the infantry, the calvary, and Intel. Normally, no more than two squads are present on one planet (the two exceptions being Coruscaunt which has two squads of infantry, a squad of calvary, and about twenty Intel operatives, and Ossus which has two squads of both infantry and calvary). While several squads are stationed on individual planets for fast deployment to surrounding systems, the majority of the Freedom Warriors are “in the field”. This means that individuals are serving in the Republic military, local law enforcement, and even mercenary units. These individuals serve the ideals of the Freedom Warriors in those respective roles while waiting to be called up on a freedom warrior mission. Several other Freedom Warriors have independent operative status. Many of these are calvary members who own their own ship or vehicle. Other independent operatives are constantly going out on missions with Jedi to provide extra fire or manpower. Needless to say the Freedom Warriors is a very discreet and professional organization.
The Intel branch is organized slightly different. It is almost like an unique group. No one person knows exactly how many people are members of the Intel branch. Even the most optimistic guess states no more than fifty beings are working for Intel. The Intel branch is a very clandestine group that is planted all throughout the galaxy. Each Intel operative reports to one other person and only knows of those that report to them (if any). Orders are also passed down through the same way. Whenever the Freedom Warriors have to partake in some type of ignoble action it is the Intel branch who does it.
Once a year regardless of branch, each Company gets together for a week for some very strenuous training. As could be expected the Freedom Warriors are the greatest warriors in the galaxy second to the Jedi.
