Comlink booster pack

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A comlink booster pack was a piece of technology worn on the backsides of most B1-series battle droids. It varied in design and usage for various battle droids, with differences between B1 droid sub-models, the droids' military position and affiliation, as well as specific groups of droids.

Description[]

Manufacture and design[]

B1-series battle droids with rust-brown plating at the Geonosis primary droid foundry's assembly lines were each installed with a comlink booster pack.^[6] The booster pack was a piece of technology that most B1-series droids wore on the back of their torso.^[7]

Design differences[]

The shape and appearance of the pack differed between those worn by B1-series droids produced for the Trade Federation Droid Army and B1 droids manufactured for the Separatist Droid Army.^[1]^[5] Two antennae of differing length extended from a Trade Federation droid's booster pack when the battle droid was activated by a central computer,^[1] whereas some Separatist droid's pack featured only one antenna.^[3] However, Separatist B1-series battle droids present at the First Battle of Geonosis, which were manufactured by the natives of Geonosis, had two antennae of differing length.^[4]

The booster pack was fit over twin railings on the backs of Separatist battle droids,^[5] and Federation droids' packs featured numerical markings identifying the droid wearing it.^[7] Whilst a battle droid without the pack holstered their standard E-5 blaster rifle on one of two railings installed on the back of their torso,^[5] a Federation battle droid equipped with the booster pack placed their blaster rifle aside the pack,^[1] with booster pack–equipped Separatist droids of the Agamar garrison—who remained on the planet Agamar during the Galactic Civil War after crash-landing on the world during the Clone Wars—instead storing their blaster rifles at the back of the pack.^[5]

Usage[]

The antenna was not extended for Separatist battle droids aboard the bridge of a Munificent-class star frigate participating at the Battle of Quell.^[8] Some droids stationed aboard the bridges of the Confederacy Munificent-class frigates commanded by Cad Bane at the Battle of Devaron lacked the booster pack entirely.^[9]

Of the OOM-series battle droid line, only some OOM command battle droids wore a booster pack.^[1] Some Separatist OOM command battle droids, such as 224, had a yellow, circular marking on their booster pack, although it lacked the numerical markings that identified the droid's designation.^[3] OOM-9, the Trade Federation field commander of the Battle of Naboo against the native Gungan population, lacked a comlink booster pack, although the OOM command battle droid had the pack's two antennae installed on the back of his torso.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

"[…] I really wanted to give the droids jetpacks because I thought, you know, they'd be really cool flying around. That idea didn't quite work for George, so the jetpack just became your regular utility backpack."

―Doug Chiang^[10]

Comlink booster packs evolved from Doug Chiang's concept of B1-series battle droids wearing jetpacks while working for the 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace,^[10] in which the booster packs first appeared.^[1]