[Third Person]
They gathered in the strategy room of the Theed Palace. Queen Jamillia, Sio Bibble, and Captain Typho represented Naboo's leadership. A newly arrived General Anakin Skywalker, grim-faced and still processing the humiliation of Rick's "call," represented the Jedi army. And in the center, there were Kaelen, Padmé, Rick, and a Morty hiding behind a potted plant.
"We appreciate your return, Senator, Director," Queen Jamillia began formally. "But you must understand our position. We are a single planet. Palpatine controls the Senate and the Grand Army of the Republic. Dooku controls the Confederacy and its droid army. How can we hope to oppose them?"
"A logical question," Kaelen said. "Based on a traditional understanding of warfare. Fleets, armies, logistics. It's all very... quaint."
Rick let out a burp. "Fleets? Armies? How adorably primitive! They think their little war is the main event. It's not even the appetizer! Let me show you why."
He walked over to the large holoscreen in the room and plugged in a small device. "I'm hacking the HoloNet to show you a live feed from... let's see... the Battle of Bothawui. Pretty nasty stalemate. The Republic fleet's getting decimated."
The screen came to life, showing a chaotic space battle. Separatist cruisers decimating Republic ships. Explosions. Death. Anakin's face tightened at the carnage.
"Tragic, isn't it?" Rick said with a yawn. "A bunch of clones dying for nothing. Well, let's wrap this up."
He pulled out what looked like an old, worn TV remote from his lab coat. He pressed a single red button.
On the holoscreen, the battle stopped. Not abruptly. It simply... powered down. The engines of every Separatist ship went dark. Their lights flickered and died. Their laser cannons fell silent. The entire Confederate fleet, hundreds of ships, drifted, turned into silent, defenseless metal coffins. The Republic fleet, confused, stopped its attack and began to circle the dead hulks.
Naboo's strategy room fell into absolute silence. Captain Typho almost swallowed his own mustache.
"What... what have you done?" Queen Jamillia whispered.
"I flipped their master switch," Rick explained indifferently, putting away his remote. "Sent a null-energy resonance pulse specifically tuned to their ship reactors' frequency. I could do that to the entire Separatist fleet in under an hour, but then I'd get bored and go make a good sandwich. Their war is based on technology I consider... rudimentary."
Anakin stared at the screen, his face a mask of disbelief. He had lost hundreds of men in battles like that. And Rick had ended it with a single button, as if changing channels.
"That's brute force," Kaelen interjected, stepping closer to the screen. "Impressive, but noisy. Our real enemy isn't a droid army. It's a man. And to beat a genius, you need precision."
Kaelen plugged in his own datapad. The battle image was replaced by something far more impactful: a real-time view of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's private office on Coruscant. Palpatine himself was there, talking to Mas Amedda.
Sio Bibble let out a choked sound. "Impossible! That's the most secure location in the galaxy!"
"Security is an illusion," Kaelen said. "I've planted a 'quantum echo' virus in the Coruscant network. Not only can I see and hear everything that happens in the Senate Building, but I can... edit reality on a small scale."
To demonstrate, he manipulated his datapad. On the screen, they heard Palpatine's voice say: "...and that's why, Mas Amedda, I must confess, I've always thought your ridiculous hat makes you look like an overconfident mushroom."
Mas Amedda stopped dead, staring at Palpatine in utter confusion. Palpatine, oblivious to the manipulation, simply continued his speech, leaving his lieutenant completely bewildered.
"I can change his orders to the clones," Kaelen continued, turning off the feed. "I can empty his secret bank accounts in the Banking Clan. I can leak his personal search history to the HoloNet. Which, by the way, reveals a very strange fascination with Gungan musicals. His power is based on secrecy and control. And I just took both of those away."
Silence returned. The Queen, the Advisor, the Captain, and the Jedi General stared at Kaelen and Rick. Their understanding of warfare, of politics, of power itself, had been shattered in less than five minutes. The fear of their enemies was replaced by an absolute, reverent dread towards the two men (and the terrified teenager) who stood in their strategy room.
Anakin Skywalker, the Hero With No Fear, the Chosen One, realized in that moment that he was not a main player in this cosmic game. He was a piece on a board so vast and complex he could barely begin to comprehend it. And Kaelen and Rick weren't playing.
They were about to flip the board.
"As you can see," Kaelen said with a calm that made him even more terrifying. "Our problem isn't whether we can win. The question is what we want the galaxy to look like when we do."