As the damaged aircraft plummeted toward the ocean, Rosabelle manually overrode controls, engaged the rotors, and skimmed the waves until she could level out. With Ark helicopters closing and firing warning shots, she focused on keeping distance, aware they needed James alive and that she was vulnerable to a sniper if they drew near. She anchored herself with Klaus’s cradle promise that completing her mission would free her and Clara, and monitored the failing power as the motor neared collapse.

Rosabelle ordered James to hold the accelerator and throttle while she crawled over him to the passenger side and hammered commands into the interface. After a jolt signaled success, she grabbed a tool kit from the glove compartment, dismantled part of the fuselage, and accessed the battery storage. The blades gained strength and the chopper climbed, giving them breathing room and relative quiet as the hull stopped clipping the water.

James demanded to know what she had done, noting that the pursuing choppers had fallen back and the flight deck had gone dark. Rosabelle explained she had run a simulation, rerouted power, and exploited similarities in civilian and military aircraft software to trick the system into treating their chopper as military grade. This unlocked stealth mode, while she shifted power from a large, damaged main battery to an intact secondary pack to keep them airborne. She set an autopilot course toward The New Republic’s coastline, estimating a thirty-minute flight if their speed held.

Rosabelle, unsettled by James’s silent scrutiny, prepared the emergency kit and proposed using the time to address his wounds. She observed that his healing handled what she believed were DEW (laser) injuries to his legs but identified a bullet lodged in his left triceps. James acknowledged the bullet and queried the term “DEW,” prompting Rosabelle’s clarification. His sardonic response—contrasting her having killed him with now tending his injuries—sharpened the tension.

James then pressed hard, asking how she knew to reroute the power, unlock stealth, find specific equipment, and operate the aircraft with such fluency. He concluded she was not merely a killer but a highly trained operative, demanding she explain her mission and threatening to throw her into the ocean if she lied. Rosabelle recognised she had exposed her capabilities through proximity and admitted to herself that she had underestimated him, leaving the confrontation unresolved as the chopper continued toward shore.