The new Mandalore secretly served masters of his own, however. His infamy grew, and when he called, the Mandalorians rallied to their new master. 'Mandalore! Mandalore!' the ancient title of the ultimate warrior king was thrust upon the young gladiator. The whispers of Imperial agents became cheers in the arena. Rigging arena fights is not unheard of but Imperial agents brazenly sabotaged the entire system and drugged their champion's competition. This young gladiator had always fared well in the arena, but with his new Imperial allies, his rise was accelerated to unprecedented levels. The Imperial agents singled out a proud young gladiator to be their pawn. Imperial agents used this to their advantage, infiltrating the most prominent gladiatorial arenas in the galaxy as managers, as sponsors, and even in some cases as gladiators themselves. Mandalorian mercenaries and bounty hunters often fought as gladiators for money and glory - a mark of honor in Mandalorian culture. Imperial diplomats made repeated attempts to recruit the galaxy's most infamous bounty hunters but were turned down every time. Some signed on with the Empire but most remained independent.
Scattered around the galaxy, Mandalorian mercenaries and bounty hunters faced the same choice as the Hutts. Although the Hutt cartels resented the Sith Emperor for not including them in his pre-war conspiracy, Imperial intelligence somehow blocked the Republic's efforts to win the Hutts' support.
