- "In recognition of your status as a Galladinium Preferred Customer, the following items are being offered to you exclusively through this special datalog edition. These items will not appear in our standard merchandise datalog available to the general public."
- ―Introduction to the section of Galladinium's Datalog including the microbe armor
The Barabel microbe armor was a sleeveless armor developed by Creshaldyne Industries. The suit had inflated pouches containing microbes that consumed radiation. These beings fed on blaster bolts, and in fact bred when receiving an impact—increasing the protection of the vest. However, microbe armor was vulnerable to extreme cold.
The use of this armor was not widespread among soldiers as it was useless against any other weapon. The item was offered to Galladinium Preferred Customers through Galladinium's Datalog.
Description[]
The Barabel microbe armor—sometimes known as microbe armor—developed by Creshaldyne Industries,[4] was a three-kilogram[2] light suit of protective covering.[5] It looked like a flexible[6] sleeveless vest[4] with several soft,[2] external, sealed pockets[7] or inflated bags.[1] Each of those contained a protective ablative shell[1] with a saline solution rich in[4] colonies of[3] microorganisms, counted in the millions.[4] Those microbes fed on[8] certain forms of energy emision[7] and radiation, including blaster bolts[4] and extreme heat.[6] When facing those particles, the microbes diffused it on contact[8] and at the same time they bred quickly. As the vest would then have a greater number of microbes, its resistance to radiation was also increased.[9]
The microbes could feed on great amounts of radiation, but their lifespan covered only seconds before they died.[1] This, along with several environmental built-in controls, prevented them from overcrowding their bags.[2] Again due to this, the increased protection after feeding on an impact was only temporary.[7] Whenever the microbes were not breeding, they were lethargic,[1] and were very susceptible to cold temperatures. All the microbes in a vest died after a fifteen-minute exposure to a temperature below 0 degrees Celsius,[8] and were useless as protection against weapons other than blasters.[3]
History[]
Creshaldyne Industries, the company that created the microbe armor, had successfully produced and marketed blast-dampening armors.[3] It offered the microbe armor as a cloth whose protective efficiency increased as it received enemy impacts.[1]
Available, albeit not readily, during the Galactic Civil War, the microbe armor was sometimes priced at 
15,000, and a recharge of new microbes was worth 12,000 more.[2] The merchandise catalog Galladinium's Galactic Datalog of Fantastic Technology offered this item only to Galladinium Preferred Customers, for 30,000.[1] The item was not recommended by adventurers and soldiers, mostly because it was only useful against blasters.[3]
Behind the scenes[]
The microbe armor first appeared in Galladinium's Fantastic Technology (1995), a supplement to West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, including an illustration of the item by Robert Duchlinski. It then appeared in Arms & Equipment Guide (2002), for Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Roleplaying Game, and then in Galaxy at War (2009), for Wizards' Saga Edition.
The item thus had descriptions and role-playing stats—albeit different ones—for all the official Star Wars role-playing games. The differences included Galaxy at War suggesting that the pockets were inside the vest; and Galladium not specifying at all that a destroyed vest could be recharged with new microbes. No source has specified why this armor was named after the Barabel species.
Sources[]
- Galladinium's Fantastic Technology (First mentioned)
- Arms & Equipment Guide
- The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- Galaxy at War
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Galladinium's Fantastic Technology
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Arms & Equipment Guide
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Galladinium's Fantastic Technology, Arms & Equipment Guide, The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology and Galaxy at War
- ↑ Arms & Equipment Guide; Galaxy at War
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Galaxy at War
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Arms & Equipment Guide, The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Galladinium's Fantastic Technology, Arms & Equipment Guide
- ↑ Galladinium's Fantastic Technology, Arms & Equipment Guide and The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology