And once I posted the above I follow the (other) error from this post on forum to find my answer.
The answer is:
{{ $image := "" }}
{{ $path := path.Join .Page.File.Dir .Destination }}
{{ $image = resources.Get $path }}
{{ $image := $image.Resize "480x webp" }}
<img src="{{ $image.RelPermalink }}" />
Sometimes you need to say it loud (write) to find your answer.
Now I will just need to conditionally combine all 3 together into one