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Galen Erso is a brilliant young scientist of the futures program in London Coruscant. The Futures Program picks the best and brightest high school minds across the world to study various scientific disciplines at its state of the art laboratories and research centers. Upon graduating with a PHD Galen is mentored by renowned physicist Hank Pym one of several wealthy donors to the Futures program. Pym was formerly (and secretly) the legendary Ant Man who worked for Shield to protect the United Republic from rogue governments, spies and pirates while furthering his research into the Quantum Realm. He is retired and spends his days using his wealth and connections to help bright young scientific minds succeed.
Galen a man from a lower class background is humbled to be sought out by a respected scientist. Galen's work on Crystallography research utilized a detailed reworking on the calculations used to analyze a quantum tunnel path. Unbeknownst to him it gives Hank Pym's daughter Hope confidence. Hope sees Galen's research as the key to saving their mother and Hank's wife Janet Van Dyne from being trapped in the Quantum Realm.
Orson Krennic a charismatic engineer and civilian officer in the United Republic military and government also sees great potential in Galen. Orson and Galen befriended each other when Orson a couple years ahead of him in the futures program helped him acclimate to the program. Though Krennic is intelligent and capable he's more into the administrative and business and project management aspects of the scientific field. He helps set up Galen with a mentorship from Pym and helps him gain work with Rand Enterprises who are seeking to development a revolutionary way to harness energy.
Hank and Krennic compete for influence over Galen's future. Hank does it to help Galen avoid the tragedies and disappointments that plagued his scientific career and to help Galen be a good husband and father (an area Hank feels he failed at out of guilt. Meanwhile Krennic seeks to use Galen's brilliant, creative and imaginative mind to build the most powerful weapon in Earth's history. He seeks to use Hope's partner and the former protege of Hank Darren Cross to accomplish this goal promising Darren a way to obtain the secret to the Pym Particle through Galen's research.
All of these ambitions, hopes and dreams occur during the chaotic violence of the Clone Wars. This adds pressure on Galen to not only figure out the best path to pursue his scientific dreams but to protect his wife Lyra and baby daughter Jyn. Ultimately a war of wills between Hank, Galen and Krennic emerges that will determine the fate of the planet during the war.