Thirteen years later, a defecting Imperial pilot known as Bodhi Rook smuggles a holographic message from Galen for the Rebel Alliance to Gerrera on the planet Jedha. His wife is killed when she shoots and injures Krennic but his daughter, Jyn, escapes and is taken into safety by Saw Gerrera. He has come to forcibly recruit Galen to continue work on the unfinished Death Star, a space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Galen Erso, a former Imperial Research Scientist, and his family are in hiding on the planet Lah'mu, until they are found by Orson Krennic, Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military.
Following the foundation of the Galactic Empire, a wayward band of Rebel fighters comes together to carry out a desperate mission: to steal the plans for the Death Star before it can be used to enforce the Emperor's rule.