A meeting to remember [Raiden]

It was that time of the year again. He had resented this moment since he first saw the official invitation lying on his desk, and that sentiment had only grown as the time before the event grew shorter. The yearly meeting of officers, generals and everyone else that was important within the government would be held in City Hall, which meant Raiden had had to travel all the way from the labor camp, through the wastelands and into Rosehall. Sure, a special vehicle was arranged to pick him up, but that didn't mean the journey any less tedious. It just made it safer.
One needed only one single look at his eyes to see that the head guard of the camp was in a very bad mood that day. His face stood grim and if eyes could spell out words, Raidens eyes would spell out "murder" or maybe "you're dead". The prospect of the meeting, that without doubt would be longer than planned, did nothing to lighten his mood. Raiden felt uncomfortable here, in these spotless halls where power was not demonstrated through action but rather through words and underhand games. Nevertheless, his faithful sword hung at his side, even though he knew using it would not be tolerated.
His eyes quickly took in the rather large hall in front of the meeting room. People where slowly dribbling inside, with only an hour to go before the meeting would start. The marble floor glistered in the light the chandeliers shone down, competed only by sunlight that entered the hall in long streaks through the stained glass windows. Tapestries hung down from the high ceiling, depicting various bits of nature from times long gone. Everything, from the door handles to the arched ceiling, was decorated with patterns of roses and thorns, no doubt symbolizing the city of Rosehall itself.
Some of the faces around here he knew, remembered them from the last meeting or from the camp. Most he didn't. He did recognize the uniforms though. Guards and officers were easy to spot, government officials a bit less easy but it was still doable, and the rest... The rest was an unorganized mess of colors and different styles. It was as if every single person had gone all out and had dressed in the most fancy thing they could find. Raiden himself just preferred his normal clothing. Dark, wide pants, matching shoes, and a black yukata that he closed with his weapon belt. Just over his heart he had pinned the small golden emblem that depicted his rank, and that was about it. No big and fancy details for him, he wanted to be able to move about freely and without having to think about accessories. Which made him stand out here.
Raiden sighed and wished he was back home at the camp. Dealing with freaks was easier than dealing with this formal shit.
He also saw people holding drinks, and seeing that made his mouth water. That had to be high quality stuff, something they didn't have in the camp. Raiden looked around some more, and spotted a guard that wasn't really doing anything or so it seemed. That was his cue to walk up to the guy.
"Go fetch me what they are having," he commanded, gesturing in the general direction of some of the people with drinks.

If there was one thing Raiden wasn't used to, it was guards not immediately doing as he asked. Or commanded. Because Raiden did not ask. Never. But this man...
"I'm a guard, sir, not a servant," the answer had been. It was something that made Raiden frown. "But you can get drinks over there, at the bar. It's right on the other side of the room." Although he understood why this guard did not move from his position, he did not get why this guard thought defiling a direct order from his superior was a good idea. Back in the camp, someone would be punished for this kind of behavior. He took a step closer, until he stood just inside the comfort zone of the guard.
"The emblem above my heart, do you know what that means?" he asked, talking in an almost mocking tone. His hand almost automatically shifted to a position a bit closer to his sword, while his eyes almost drilled themselves into the guard's eyes. Intimidation usually worked, especially when he was taller than the other person.

The guards face quickly drained of color as he looked at the emblem. He must have realized the big mistake he had made. Pff. Pathetic. Raiden couldn't help but slightly lift the corners of his mouth into a grin that meant nothing but trouble. He wasn't someone to give people second chances, but here, in the middle of this group of important and influential people, he decided to just wait and see where this would go. After all, he could always request this guard be transferred to the camp. And in there, no one would be able to refrain him from doing whatever he wanted.
"My sincere apologies sir, my mistake. If you would be so kind as to follow me, I'll show you to the bar," the guard said, no doubt in an attempt to save his ass. The beginning was alright, but then he made a second mistake. And that ticked Raiden off. The fact that he had missed the emblem, alright, he could understand that. The thing was rather small, after all. But the actions of the guard, they just showed he wasn't listening well enough. So when the man started walking towards the bar, Raiden stood still where he was, following him with his eyes.
"That was not what I asked you to do, guard." His voice was raised enough for at least part of the room to hear him, and the amount of disdain he put into the last word made a few people look at the guard in pity. Raiden had quite the reputation, and the people who knew him, knew that guard would be made aware of that in a very unpleasant way. 

He didn't say anything and just looked at the guard, wondering how much his commanding officer would struggle to keep the guy if Raiden requested transferal. It was surely tempting, even if it was only to learn this guard how to follow order to the dot. The learning curve for that somehow became amazing in his presence, he had found out. He'd need to think about this some more, probably, so for now the man just observed the guard. Raiden looked at how he walked, how he kept his shoulders, his head. He looked for weakness. However, there was none he could see, aside from the unprotected back. 
To be honest, if the guard had annoyed him even more than he already had, there probably would be a sword sticking out of there already, despite what room they were in, despite the audience. Raiden just didn't care about that. What were they going to do, stop him? Most people here knew better. Then again, doing something like that with so many witnesses would surely lead to a demotion and he didn't really want to give up his position just yet. The guard captain still had things to do, freaks to torture. 
A little bit later the guard returned with the drink. At least the guy knew how to address people who were higher in rank than him, that was something. Raiden accepted the drink and took a small sip. This stuff was way better than whatever they could get in the camp, where simple beers were the standard. This was very tasty. It made the corners of his mouth lift up ever so slightly, almost back to a neutral flat line. 
"Do you need anything else?" the guard asked, and Raiden decided that he did, sadly enough, not know how to address a superior. He almost let out a sigh and moved his attention from his drink to the guard. 
"Your name, and that of you commanding officer," was all he answered, looking him straight into the eye. He was still doubting if he should ask for a transferal or not, mainly because there were already a lot of guards at the camp, almost too many to keep an eye on. Still, if he asked the name now he could always request it if wanted.

It took a moment before he received an answer. Niodin Evans... Commanding officer: Godfrey Whitner... Raiden let the names go around his mind for a bit, trying to remember whether he had heard of them before. The former he hadn't, obviously, the latter, however... That name he knew. It was not a friend of his, but also not an enemy. To be completely honest, he barely knew the guy. On the other hand, that was more or less because of being in the camp most of the time.
The guard captain looked at the guard in front of him in a calculating manner. For now, he would not do anything to the man. The moment one of the camp guards got incapacitated or otherwise unable to resume their duty, however, he would request the transferal.
"Anything else, sir?" the guard asked, suddenly having refound the correct way to speak to superiors. That was progress.
"That will be all. For now. I will be watching you, mister... Evans. Dismissed." Raiden all but spit out the name, the added "mister" not even meant politely. With that, he turned and went to find another place to stand, somewhere with a clear line of sight on this specific guard.

His eyes went over the crowd a few times, assessing who was there and who would try to steer negotiations in which direction. There had been a small summary of the main points of this meeting with the invitation he had gotten, so those that wanted to spark up discussions had had all the time to prepare. He didn't like that. He knew though that they did reserve some time for talking about the policies about freaks and rebels, so at least that was kinda nice. If only he could skip the rest, though.
Raiden was still musing over the meeting to come when there where suddenly gunshots somewhere outside. And loud screams. And more noise. The Asian man let out a sigh. Of course. This meetup traditionally wasn't complete without someone trying to stop it. Violently. This, however, was ahead of schedule and was possibly more organised than usual. Without him noticing his hand had already gone to his blade, ready to pull it out whenever. He wouldn't have to, if the guards here did what they were supposed to do, but he wasn't entirely convinced of their competence just yet. 
It did seem like they were handling things though, prompting people to go into the extra secure meeting room. Logical choice, so Raiden did as was asked. At a slow, calm pace he started walking towards the doorway, keeping a little bit of distance between the people in front of him and himself. 
The shouting and sounds of fighting had in the meanwhile grown closer to the entrance of the room. Raiden could almost distinguish the specific sounds of bodies dropping to the floor, be it quite muffled. It made him stop dead in his tracks, then turn around with drawn weapon. Maybe, just maybe, he kinda wanted to skewer some freaks that day. And if it were indeed freaks out there, if they were defeating the guards, they just gave him a good reason to do so. A small grin appeared on his face, some bloodthirst appeared in his eyes. This would be fun.