The Barabel microbe armor was a vest-like armor without sleeves, engineered by Creshaldyne Industries. This armor featured inflated compartments filled with microbes that had the ability to consume radiation. These microorganisms thrived on blaster fire and actually multiplied upon impact, thereby enhancing the vest's protective capabilities. However, the microbe armor was susceptible to extremely cold temperatures.
Due to its ineffectiveness against other forms of weaponry, this armor was not widely adopted by soldiers. It was exclusively offered to Galladinium Preferred Customers via Galladinium's Datalog.
The protective garment called the Barabel microbe armor, sometimes shortened to microbe armor, was a lightweight suit weighing three kilograms, manufactured by Creshaldyne Industries. Its appearance resembled a flexible, sleeveless vest adorned with several soft, sealed external pouches or inflated bags. Within each of these pouches resided a protective ablative shell containing a saline solution teeming with millions of microorganisms. These microbes consumed specific forms of energy emission and radiation, notably blaster bolts and intense heat. Upon encountering these particles, the microbes neutralized them upon contact and simultaneously reproduced rapidly. Consequently, the vest's resistance to radiation was augmented due to the increased microbial population.
While the microbes possessed the ability to consume substantial amounts of radiation, their lifespan was limited to mere seconds before they died. This characteristic, coupled with integrated environmental controls, prevented overpopulation within the pouches. Similarly, the enhanced protection resulting from impact was only temporary. When inactive, the microbes became sluggish and highly vulnerable to cold. Exposure to temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius for fifteen minutes resulted in the death of all microbes within the vest, rendering it ineffective against weapons other than blasters.
Creshaldyne Industries, the creators of the microbe armor, had a history of successfully manufacturing and marketing blast-dampening armors. They presented the microbe armor as a fabric whose protective effectiveness increased with each enemy impact it sustained.
Although available during the Galactic Civil War, the microbe armor was not easily accessible, sometimes carrying a price tag of 15,000 credits, with an additional 12,000 credits for a microbe recharge. The Galladinium's Galactic Datalog of Fantastic Technology merchandise catalog offered this item exclusively to Galladinium Preferred Customers for 30,000 credits. Adventurers and soldiers generally did not recommend the item, primarily due to its limited effectiveness against only blaster weaponry.
The microbe armor made its debut appearance in Galladinium's Fantastic Technology (1995), a supplement for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, which included an illustration of the item by Robert Duchlinski. It subsequently appeared in Arms & Equipment Guide (2002), for Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Roleplaying Game, and later in Galaxy at War (2009), for Wizards' Saga Edition.
Consequently, the item received descriptions and role-playing statistics, albeit varying ones, across all official Star Wars role-playing games. Discrepancies included Galaxy at War suggesting that the pouches were located inside the vest, while Galladium omitted any mention of recharging a destroyed vest with new microbes. The reason for naming this armor after the Barabel species remains unspecified in any source.