Stand and Fight: 89%
“Yeah, I got a plan,” Kestrel said, sliding bullets out of her bandolier and into outstretched feathers. She popped open the cylinder on her revolver and quickly replaced the spent casings with fresh lead. Snapping the piece closed, she twirled it around her wingtip and pulled a second revolver out from a side holster. “We make ‘em come and take what’s ours.”
Tumbleweed grinned and emptied his revolvers, his maroon magic reloading them in a second. “With all this sneakin’ and actin’ you’d been makin’ us do, I was afraid we was gonna book it.”
“We ain’t gonna gain nothin’ ‘cept holes in the ground if we make a break for it here,” Kestrel said. “We got the ground, we got the guns, I say we rip ‘em apart and make a name for ourselves!”
“They’re gonna remember not to fuck with us!” Roughshod bellowed, propping his shotgun up on a rock and pulling out his sidearm. He slotted it into his mouth and nodded toward Tumbleweed. “Give the word, Boss.”
“Keep your heads low and your eyes high,” Tumbleweed said, readying himself as the opposing gang approached. “Snapshot, you’re our best gun, so you take care of their high fliers! The rest of you, cut them down before they get close! Get your firin’ lanes ready, and send these bastards back to their mothers!”
Kestrel nodded and readied her revolvers. She didn’t have a repeater with her which would have helped at range, but she could put lead downrange twice as fast with two guns. She found a cracked boulder and crouched behind it, then looked to her left, where Silver had taken her own repeater into her wings and readied a shot. Her eyes flicked toward Kestrel, and Kestrel gave her a reassuring nod. Silvie was young and inexperienced, but she was tougher than she appeared. It seemed like Lady Luck was always on her side, and she’d pull Silver through the coming fight just fine.
Gunshots rang out down the road, and Kestrel sighted down her first target: a broad-shouldered, burly earth pony. He was the easiest to hit at range, and she definitely did not want to let any earth ponies charge their position. Those hooves could crush her skull in a single kick if they got the chance.
“Shoot!” Tumbleweed bellowed, standing up from behind cover like a general rallying his troops. “Teach ‘em a lesson they ain’t ever gonna forget!”
Kestrel takes the first shots at the charging ponies: Fail
Her revolver thundered three times, but her wings were still shaky from her desperate flight, and the bullets went wide. The rest of the gang began to open fire as well, and gun smoke drifted across the hill top. She saw one of the opposing gang go down, a shotgun clattering into the dust, but his companions paid him no mind. Their sights were set on the hill, and four more pegasi took off from their group. Two flew straight up and toward the hill, while the other two began to circle off toward the right, trying to get a flanking position on the Gang.
Snapshot attempts to shoot the two pegasi approaching from the front: Fail
Snapshot’s weapons cracked off in response, but the two pegasi rushing them from the front managed to spin away from the pair of bullets. Snapshot’s brow furrowed, and his magic pulled the hammers back on both his weapons. “Dumb luck…” the stallion muttered, his words nearly lost among the cacophony on the hilltop.
The approaching pegasi attempt to shoot back at the Gang: Fail
But Snapshot’s bullets had thrown off their approach, and they fired wildly with their revolvers as they tried to get back on target. A few bullets cracked on the stones by Kestrel’s head, and she ducked back behind cover just to be safe. The other ponies were getting closer, and the Gang had hardly put a dent in their numbers.
“Volley!” Tumbleweed shouted, readying his weapons. “Scour their ranks!”
The Gang attempts to volley fire: Success
How many go down? 2
The Gang took a moment’s pause to ready their weapons, and at the crack of Tumbleweed’s revolvers, ripped a line of fire into the charging outlaws. Kestrel saw two go down, blood pouring from their wounds, and the advance faltered. She quickly tried to count their numbers as they tried to regroup and advance again. There were twelve of them now, and they were rapidly baring down on their position.
The opposing gang returns fire: Fail
Several of the other ponies stopped and tried to shoot back, forcing Kestrel and Silvie to duck low as bullets hurtled in their direction. But thankfully their cover held, and both mares were able to poke back around and return fire into the gang. Kestrel knew they only had a few more shots before the ponies reached their positions, and then things would get messy.
The flanking pegasi fire on the Gang: Success
Tumbleweed and Roughshod are Grazed and suffer a -1 to actions until treated.
A pair of reports split the gunfight to the right, and Kestrel glanced over to see the flanking pair of pegasi strafing their exposed side. Tumbleweed and Roughshod cried out and fell back from their positions, blood dripping from Tumbleweed’s cheek and Roughshod’s shoulder. Their shadows darted across the hilltop as they placed themselves between the sun and the Gang, negating the cover they’d secured for the charge.
Snapshot attempts to shoot the flanking pegasi: Success
Kestrel could see the frustration on the Gang’s best gun’s face as he lined up the shots on the two pegasi. It wasn’t like him to miss, and Kestrel knew he was blaming himself that the Boss and Roughshod had even been shot in the first place. The next two bullets, however, were perfectly placed, and both hooded pegasi fell to the ground with holes drilled clean through their skulls.
“Keep up the pressure!” Tumbleweed shouted, his magic dabbing at the wound on his cheek. Though it was just a grazing shot, it had startled and dazed him enough that he was slow on the draw. Roughshod too seemed slower than usual as he limped back to his shotgun and readied it, already aiming for the first pony to put their hoof on the foot of the hill.
And then they were upon them. The opposing gang began to ascend the hill, rushing straight for the Gang’s firing positions while the two remaining pegasi fired down from above. Roughshod’s shotgun boomed, opening up the ribcage of another earth pony before he could jump on him. Tumbleweed fired back, warding off a pair of ponies pressing his position, and to the left, Silvie screamed as a massive earth pony lowered his shoulder and attempted to bowl her over.
Silver Wings shoots at the pony charging her position: Success
Thankfully, her repeater cracked, and a bullet went clean through the earth pony’s skull. Kestrel let out a relieved breath and snapped her attention back to her immediate front. Two ponies charged her as well, and she quickly brought both wings to bear and fired both revolvers near-simultaneously.
Kestrel attempts to shoot both assailants: Success
Her wings shook as the revolvers threw them back, and she dropped both of the charging ponies before they could get to her position. One fell immediately as she shot through her neck, while the other fell to the ground and convulsed as her bullet entered his ribcage, likely perforating his heart.
Has the stubborn resistance of the Gang convinced the survivors to retreat? Yes
With their assault breaking and splintering around them, the survivors at the bottom of the hill faltered, hesitated, and ultimately turned tail and began to flee back the way they came. Even the pegasi circling above suddenly pulled out, flying as quickly as they could to escape a few parting shots from the Gang. All in all, out of the fifteen ponies that had tried to force the Gang’s position, only six survived to tell the tale. But even then, a parting shot from Silvie dropped one on the road, leaving only five to flee for cover.
“That’s right!” Tumbleweed shouted, emerging from cover and holstering his revolvers. “Run back to your camp, you gutless roaches! Stay outta our way next time, and maybe we won’t have to wipe you out once and for all!”
“They’re getting away!” Roughshod growled, ready to bolt down the hill. “Don’t let a single one of ‘em live! I say we skin ‘em!”
“Let them go, they’ve had enough!” Silvie protested, standing up on shaky limbs. “If we try to chase them, we might be the ones getting shot!”
Tumbleweed sneered after the fleeing gang, but he turned back to his crew before settling on a decision. Snapshot remained impassive, though Kestrel knew the fidgety stallion never really voiced his input on decisions like this. Instead, she knew Tumbleweed was waiting for her input before coming to a decision.
1. Chase them down. We let ‘em live, they might come back and haunt us later. Better to clean up any loose ends and leave ‘em for the buzzards.
2. Let them go. They’re beat, and we’ve sent a message they ain’t gonna forget. If they have anypony else in that gang of theirs, they’ll know that we mean business and leave us be.
3. Try to follow them. If they flee back to their camp, we might find where their camp is. Could be valuable knowledge should it come up later. [DANGEROUS]
Confidence Required: 25