Star Wars: Mel'Anctha - 06

There were signs of the Council beginning to gather in the center corridor.  Dagmoro, Ium, and I stood outside of the ring of seats as they were slowly filled, one by one.  About half of the Council members were present and all of them were either eyeing Ium and I or whispering something about us.
Dagmoro leaned in toward the both of us, brushing his hand down his long white beard, perhaps in an attempt to disguise what he was telling us.  "As you might suspect, Shadows like the two of you have been considered a dead sect in the order for the better part of the decade.  Since the JedI Civil War, your numbers have been on the decline.  You've become shades of a violent past that they want to put behind them.  The Council members that decided to speak with you have been frowned upon by the others.  But, deep down, they do realize that you are the best option."
I nodded in acknowledgement, but my focus was elsewhere.  I had been surveying the Council members, many of which were new since the last time I'd seen them on Coruscant.  Many, I figured, had died in the sacking or went missing in action.  There were some familiars, though.  One, specifically, that I knew prior to my exile: Satele Shan.  Dagmoro must have seen me looking at her, because he began speaking of her.
"You know Satele Shan," he said.  "It was she who rediscovered Tython and insisted that the JedI move their base of operations here while the Republic tended to its wounds.  She has grown much since you knew her.  She is a member of the High Council, now."
"I take it her involvement with the Sith resurgence didn't end at moving the JedI to Tython," I said.  It was obvious that more than JedI looked to Shan for guidance nowadays.  
"I felt the same when I got here," said Ium from over my shoulder.  "She has Republic troopers guarding the temple.  My guess is she's not only a Council member but a General, to boot."
I snickered at the thought.  "… Meaning she's moving the pieces behind the scenes… and you and I, Ium:  We're the pieces.  A rebel leader looking to sabotage the Sith Empire.  Sounds like the makings of a resistance."
"A resistance that is not to be on record," interrupted Dagmoro.  "We must put up a front for the Empire.  As of now, they believe that only militia are capable of taking up arms against them, and they aren't afraid of militia.  A few civilian riots are to be expected.  The galaxy will see its share of them.  But they wouldn't expect us to risk doing the same.  We are JedI, remember?  Keepers of the peace.  Not revolutionaries.  …Or so they believe."
"…There is no emotion, there is peace…," I muttered.  Dagmoro managed to nod before I heard my name being called from the circle.
"Mel'Anctha Omorose," said Master Satele from her seat.  "Ium Somn.  Master Atrius.  Front and center, if you please.  This meeting is officially underway."
It was remarkable to me that Satele was a High Council member.  Last I'd known her, she was a Knight that was constantly hailed for her prowess in the teachings of the Force and for her legendary bloodline: she was the descendant of Bastila Shan, a JedI Knight who fought with the redeemed JedI, Revan.  The two ended the JedI Civil War and were proclaimed saviors of the known galaxy.  It certainly seemed that she was able to live up to her family name.
The three of us entered the circle of seats which had been filled when I wasn't looking.  Satele sat before us with a warm smile on her face as she presented Ium and I with an extending of her right hand in our direction.
"Fellow Councilors, I give you two JedI Shadows," she said.  The Council grew silent almost instantly.  It seemed Dagmoro was right about the reaction of the other members.  Satele, however, was not thwarted in the least.  "Nearly ten years ago, the Shadows had dwindled down to a handful of special operatives that rarely answered to us or any other authority.  Even when the Order declared that they no longer existed, several remained true to their creed and continued to fight for us, unseen.  These two, are the best of the last.  And the only ones that have not died or lost their minds."
The only two?  Had all Shadows, besides us, ceased to operate?  Could a sect that once had been thousands strong, truly be dropped off to a pair in a few centuries?  Even before I exiled myself on Langoria, there were dozens of us, maybe hundreds…
"Can they be trusted?," asked a male Zabrak from just behind us.  "More Shadows have been corrupted by the Dark Side than have died of natural causes or in battle.  This Mel'Anctha supposedly exiled herself; even she knew the threat she posed to the Republic and the Order.  The boy lived on Hutta after he cheated death in the Outer Rim… a haven for criminals and gangsters.  You do not simply walk away from such circumstances without scars."
"You want to speak of scars?," replied Satele.  "I have seen more than my fair share of the Dark Side.  I know how potentially trying their profession can be.  I have enough scars to last the lot of us the rest of our lives.  Look at them: whatever scars these two possess, have not consumed them.  They still have their hearts, their minds, and their virtues… as do we.  They would not have come, otherwise."
Little did she know that the reason I initially came was to see Ium.  But still, to hear what she really thought of us was not what I expected at all.  Very few accepted Shadows, as was evident.
"Perhaps we should inform them of what they've been missing.  They have both managed to avoid the latest catastrophes by being out of Republic space for the past decade.  It's doubtful they know what has happened," said a green Twi'lek female seated to the left of Satele.
"I know what happened," I said.  My voice rang through the corridor.  Either I spoke louder than I thought, or it had simply gotten that quiet as soon as I opened my mouth.  "…I felt it."  All eyes fell on me.  Even Ium's and Dagmoro's.
"What did you feel?," asked Satele with a curious curvature at the corner of her lips.
"… The Sith reemergence from darkspace," I replied.  "I felt their attacks on the Republic… mostly the one on Coruscant."
"And you did nothing?," boomed the voice of the Zabrak from behind me.  I looked over my shoulder at him, shooting him a defensive glare that made him uneasy in his seat.
"…Neither did you.  And you were here," I said coldly.
"She's right," said the Twi'lek.  "There's nothing she could have done.  JedI or not, she was exiled out of the Republic's reach and thus not a citizen.  Even we cannot be held accountable for the loss of Coruscant.  No one can."
"Then you, to some extent, know why we have called on you?," asked Satele.
"… You want a resistance," I replied.
"We do.  But not the type that one has in mind when they say the word.  War is changing, Mel'Anctha.  And we do not have the luxury of taking the Sith Empire head on.  That would mean countless Republic deaths.  You are masters of being unseen.  Professional spies, assassins… ghosts.  That's what we need.  And that's why you're here."
"There's only two of us, Satele.  Surely you don't believe that we can take down an Empire."
"Take it down?  Hardly.  But softening it up is a different story."
I couldn't believe I was going to ask this, but, "…How?  What did you have in mind?"