D15-N3y, or Disney, as Roman called her, was a faster, slightly larger model of the X-Wing. It could fit up to four people and was now the fastest ship-type in the galaxy, ever since the Millenium Falcon went missing. Roman steered Disney almost lazily through the asteroid field. "F-2!" He called. A beep sounded through his headphones and Roman smirked. "Damn right, buddy."

F-2 was his co-pilot, a droid who took after his owners' ego. The two were hard to separate and F-2 would always be prepared to kick up the ship if Roman was... unavailable. By unavailable, that usually meant knocked out.

"We're nearly at Exegol!" Roman called to his friends. Logan nodded, scribbling notes about the space landscape. Patton gave a strained smile, face a little pale from Roman's' fancy spins and dives. He was used to it, of course, but it didn't make him feel any better.

F-2 beeped and all three men looked up. They'd entered the atmosphere of Exegol. The lightning was frequent, often far too close to Disney as Roman sailed her down to the ground. Roman licked his lips, landing her smoothly. "Alrighty, F-2, hold base, buddy. Pat, Logan and I are gonna scope this place out!"

Logan unbuckled himself from his seat, assisting Patton and the three turned to Roman who leapt from his seat, snatching up his blaster and a downloading chip.

"Why do you have a downloading chip?" Asked Logan.

"Because, calculator watch, the Sith would definitely have kept some secrets here and if we can bring back some facts, General Sanders will let us off for stealing the Wayfinder." Roman backed out of his ship, shrugging. "And you're supposed to be the smart one, here, Croftstar!" He teased.

Patton giggled, now recovered from the space-sickness. He hopped down to join Roman, staring around Exegol, mouth ajar. "Oh my god, Logan, get out here!" He gasped excitedly.

Logan sighed and reluctantly left the ship. Soon, his discomfort was forgotten in the darkly mystic land of Exegol. "This is so beautiful..." He murmured, eyes falling on black ruins. The jagged walls of the building still towered above the men, ominous in the constant flashes of light. 

The three exchanged a glance before they started walking inside.

.:*:.

"Guys! This is the security station!" Gasped Patton giddily. His two friends stopped arguing over a fallen statue, running over in curious excitement. "See all those panels! They're the screens."

"Move aside, I'll start this all up," Logan said, pushing past to kneel by the interactive desk. He cracked open a cupboard, brushing dust off the tangle of wires inside. Logan reached inside, pulling and cutting wires with efficient professionalism.

Roman moved next to him, wiping off the dirt from the screens just as one burst to life. The footage was shaky and it dated back twelve years ago. On the day Exegol fell. There were two boys, tiny and small as they stared into a room they couldn't see. One had an odd face, half of it coated in grainy scales and he was wearing swooping, black robes. The other looked average and unimportant from this distance.

The child in robes moved, trying to pull his friend with him. They had a conversation but nothing could be heard.

"Logie, the sound?" Asked Patton.

Logan shook his head. "Working on it."

"Quiet!" Snapped Roman.

The two boys bickered briefly before running to a fallen pillar. The robed one-handed something to the other. It was a lightsaber, the blade indigo, and Roman gasped as the scaled one lifted the pillar off a smaller child only with a wave of his arms. The child picked up the smaller boy, running with his friend down the corridor. They ran off-camera.

"Logan, change the camera, quick!" Gasped Roman, leaning forwards. The screen buzzed static and the boys were there again. The two older ones were sitting on top of a pillar and the smallest stood nervously to the side. The camera shook vigorously and, briefly, showed only black footage. Then they saw a giant slab falling down towards the boys.

Patton let out a strangled, fearful squeak and Roman whispered a silent prayer that they'd get out alive. Then the stone was held still, shivering slightly and the tiny child had his hand extended, as though holding it in place. The other boys rushed out from the shadow of the stone, scooping up the boy and running off-camera again. The slab crashed onto the ground, shattering.

Logan switched cameras, and the young trio was paused at the outside of the building.

"C'mon, little guys..." Murmured Patton, as though it was a movie. The children had another discussion before running out.

The next camera angle was closer to the trio and Roman saw them better. Both older boys were crying, although they hadn't seemed to notice. The average, unremarkable one had blue eyes that echoed Roman's' own, only paler. The boy in the robed ones' arms seemed unconscious, slumbering in the rain. He looked around six while the other two were probably eight or nine. The video showed the average, taller boy takes the youngest inside while the scaled one pulled off an Imperial insignia from the side of a soldier-carrier without even touching it.

Roman gaped. "He's a Sith Apprentice, he must be!" Declared the pilot. Patton nodded in soft agreement.

The ship rose with a waver before it slowly shot away from the ground. There was no more footage.

"It never said anything in the documents about children on Exegol..." Muttered Logan.

"They must've been kept a secret!" Patton exclaimed. "The little one could use the force! The scaly one had a lightsaber!"

Roman hummed thoughtfully, before stabbing the downloading chip into a small socket. A singular beep and the out-of-date technology succumbed to Roman's' modern chip. It started flashing as it began to slowly gather all information from what he'd just seen.

Logan stood up, dusting his hands off on his trousers. "Of course, there are always two Sith. The scaled child must've been Palpatine's' apprentice and he would've been trained later by Master Rey. Only, he'd have witnessed Palpatine's' death and would've panicked, causing him to run."

"Which stands to reason why he and his friends were crying!" Patton grinned, fitting it together slowly. "Logan, you're a genius!"

"I've got that downloaded," Roman said, unplugging his chip. "We've gotta get this to General Sanders."

.:*:.

When Disney landed on Hoth, it was swarmed instantly by soldiers. Roman got out with a grin, followed by a nervous Patton and an annoyed Logan. The three held their hands above their heads and were escorted inside as F-2 was pulled from his seat.

Thomas stood there, tapping his foot.

"Okay, so, I know it looks bad-" Roman began.

"Uh!" Cut of Thomas.

"I know-"

"Ahem."

"It looks bad-"

"Eh!"

"-But we've-"

"Mm!"

"General Sanders!" Snapped Logan, getting everyone's' attention. "Would you let Nova speak?"

Roman shot a small yet thankful glare at Logan. "Thank you, Croftstar. I know this looks bad but we came across something in Exegol-"

Thomas's' eyes widened. "You actually went to Exegol! Are you serious?! There's a reason no New Republican citizen is allowed there! It's dangerous!"

"If you'd just listen-!"

"You could've died, Nova! This proves your lack of ability to be a proper pilot!"

"Sir, if I could just finish-"

"What possessed you to do that?! If you died, Nova, we-!"

"WE FOUND EVIDENCE OF A YOUNG SITH APPRENTICE THAT LIVED AN EXEGOL BUT ESCAPED WITH TWO OTHER CHILDREN!" Roman bellowed, finally stopping the lecture.

Every New Republican member stared but Roman did not back down. His two friends moved to stand by his shoulder, silently supporting him. The pilot held out the downloading chip.

Thomas looked at it, then looked back at Roman. "I'm not sure whether to say: Come to my office; Bullshit, or bullshit, come to my office." The silence was ominous and Thomas snatched the downloading chip, looking it over.

"Bullshit, come to my office." He decided, before snapping his fingers and spinning to return to his quarters, followed by the rebellious trio.