The Alteration

The end of Triple Threat

His greatest plan had always been to crash his helicopter into... almost anything.

He did it once, shocking both Ellie and Henry, but they got away with a few scratches because he was controlling the crash, as much as you can control a helicopter making contact with a brick wall.

This... was different.

There was a very good reason why he had been staying back, waiting for Ellie or Henry signaling that it was safe or that they needed a quick and risky pickup. Several minutes of radio silence after a very apparent gunfight and chase lead him to his decision to call back up in right now, Rupert was sitting on hot coals since they left, but he would not wait for them to arrive. It was most likely not safe to fly into the small Toppat-bases' airspace, and most likely turned into definitely very quickly after he came close to the decrepit looking building.

He had to bail out of the chopper, putting him where he was now, lying on the roof, covering his head from any shrapnel that might reach his position. The scent of smoldering fabric caused him to roll onto his back before getting up to inspect the damages and take inventory.

Helicopter, burning pile of metal several storeys beneath him.

Clothes, a bit singed but other than that no big damages.

Headset, only static and several dents.

Handgun, still in its place.

Overall wellbeing, not dead, good enough for now. Tomorrow his body would be covered in black and blue bruises, but he didn't seem to have broken any bones or hit his head too hard.

Ducking behind the entrance to the roof he tried to contact his teammates again. With his own headset now damaged it was even less likely to catch something, but he had to find out where they were.

"Come on... Henry? Ellie? Come in. I really need to find you guys. Chopper kinda blew up on me..." he peeked around the corner while pressing one hand against his headset in hopes of hearing something out of the static and crackling. The Toppats would check the roof at some point...

"... ar...s"

"Henry?"

The ex-thiefs' voice was slightly raspy from lack of use, usually Ellie was the one doing the talking during their missions and the most they got out of Henry was approving hums or sounds of disagreement. That, combined with the static, made it even harder for Charles to understand what his friend was saying.

"I'm here, buddy. On the roof. Where are you guys? Is Ellies' earpiece busted?"

There was loud crackling, maybe a heavy sigh on Henrys' side. "...o... ...s a trap..."

"Well that's not a surprise... You guys okay?"

It was silent again. Charles grew more and more worried with every passing second "Henry? Are you still there?"

"...lie is dead... ...ad, Char..."

The young pilot felt his blood run cold. Ellie? Dead? Those words simply didn't make sense in the same sentence. Ellie was like a tank, almost unstoppable, the biggest threat out of all of them. She couldn't just die...

His back hit the rough, overgrown wall behind him, sliding down, vines ripping and leaves rustling until he was sitting on the ground, blankly staring at the ground. He could still hear Henry, but his brain didn't even try anymore to piece together what was said. Another one of his friends gone just like that? Taken down by the Toppats.

Death wasn't something unfamiliar to Charles, he was in the military after all, but he was never so close to it. And it hadn't hit people that were so close to him personally.