Eve's voice spoke through all the ship speakers again, "Internal Automatic Defence system now active All Personnel must have a valid identification chip on their person at all times to avoid destruction." and before Solomon could take another step, powerful dull gunshots echoed throughout the entirety of The Evergreen, followed by inhuman wails and screams of agony, almost drowned out by the ferocity of the defence system, seemingly from behind them somewhere.
A turret tried to lower itself from its ceiling cavity, but the bent metal prevented it a smooth exit, Solomon saw it break free and drop into it's firing position, as it pivoted to the group of six, Solomon quickly placed himself in front of them, spreading his arms wide, knowing, he had been identified by The Evergreen, but the others had not. The turret turned slightly in either direction to try and get a shot without hitting the identified officer. Solomon told them to slowly go backwards until they turned the corner, keeping out of the turrets sights by staying behind him. Solomon hoped that the turret in the corridor he was railroading the group into had received as much damage as the corridor had, and ceased to function. "Eve, can you please not shoot us?" asked Lyra as she held onto Solomon's waist and backed up, "Unfortunately, unidentified friendly speaker, I can tell the difference between hostile and friend, the auto cannons cannot, other than through an identification chip, of which my sensors to detect are not fully functional. I have no control over them, they have been deployed manually by Sergeant Richmond, and I have lost communication with the bridge, exactly thirteen point five seconds after the deployment of the Internal Auto Defence System."
The corridor they had previously walked down was in bad shape. The metal work walls and floor bent to obscure angles, and the ceiling vents almost all had fallen to the ground. Arnold stood at the back, his husband in front, he put his head cautiously around the corner, hoping he would still have a head after seeing what was around it. Nothing happened. He couldn't really make anything specific out in the darkness, so he brought out more of his body into the corridor so he could bring his light to bear and shine it down, he saw the gun. And the gun seemed to see him, spinning on it's slightly bent crane that held it to the ceiling mount, it had a clear shot. Arnold froze, not sure if he couldn't move because he was already dead, or was stuck in place by the fear of realisation of his death. The turret had his frozen form in its sights, but did not shoot.
"Maybe it's finally ID'd me?" he said shakily revealing more and more of himself to the turret, the muzzle followed his every move. Letting out a nervous laugh as he edged closer, his husband poked his head around the corner, the turret still did not fire. Fully entering the corridor, the weapon twitched between the two targets, pivoting on its slightly bent mounting. As Arnold stood closer to the turret, he could hear mechanical clicking away from above the defensive turret, getting closer, he could then make out the small digital screen just below the targetting lens, it read "Zero – Loading 99%." Arnold Blinked and then saw a bright light as the defence turret barked back into life, it had finished reloading and now cut down the two enemies that lay directly in its path. Sykra and Byryl were next around the corner, Byryl fell back, taking Sykra with him, sprayed with the hot wet blood spatter of Arnold and his husband as their bodies, shredded from the fast paced firepower from the defence turret, they cowered. Lyra turned to see the blood hit the wall, followed by sparks from shells hitting the wall after they shredded through the two bodies. Solomon held his ground, fearful of the panic that the action behind would surely cause, and was prepared for the turret in front of them to open fire, shredding all of them in to a hole punched mess. As the gunfire echo ceased to reverberate off the walls, One of the men's dying gurgle could be heard in his harsh breaths as he painfully passed in to death.
They were trapped. Like rats in a run. One gun in the corridor behind them, and one only a few meters in front of them around the corner, with the outstretched body of Solomon to protect them.
A figure crept between shadows, not making a sound as its feet pressed against the grated floor, or when it pressed its back against a corner to check down a corridor. The silent intruder moved with uncertainty in the terrain, but with the confidence of one of a life of ever adapting skills that have been honed and put to perfect effect. Turning one corner to find an auto defence turret, spinning to the source of the movement, and then searching. It saw nothing. The figure paid the defence weapon no attention more than identifying it, and moved on further into The Evergreen. A flash from a sparking power disruption glistened against the face of the intruder, the turret following the movement, slow and calculated, but seeing nothing to engage. But then, it sensed more movement, from where it first encountered the shadow. Six more figures skulked behind the lead intruder, the turret switching between them quickly, but still unable to lock onto a target and kill.
Further into the bent and broken Evergreen, one of the figures asked the lead intruder a question, keeping their voice as a whisper "How much further, Zhou?"