Fight: 12 Votes
There wasn’t much debate to be had; Kestrel knew her best chance at getting out of this one alive and without compromising the Gang’s position in New Oatleans was to take down the police officer as quickly and quietly as she could. Running would only delay the inevitable, and she didn’t trust herself to have as silver a tongue as she needed to talk her way out of the situation. Fighting was the only option she had left.
Kestrel rolls initiative using Muscle (+2 for surprise) (+2 for Daring): 18
Kestrel (18) attacks the police officer (10) first
While the police officer looked like she was still trying to decide on an appropriate reaction to coming fact to face with a dangerous outlaw hunted across the country, Kestrel quickly coiled her legs and launched at the mare, hooves ready to get her off balance and allow her to draw her knife and make the kill. She closed the distance in two blinks of an eye, but that extra blink she had to take without the use of her wings was enough time for her target to realize her imminent peril and dodge out of the way of Kestrel’s swing. She tried to retaliate herself to knock Kestrel to the ground, but Kestrel hopped a step back and managed to pop her wings through the slits in her duster to regain her mobility.
Kestrel attacks the police officer using Muscle (5): Critical Fail
With her wings spread, Kestrel lunged in for another attack, but in that moment, the unicorn had drawn the nightstick from her belt and swung it with surprising speed and force just as Kestrel drew in close. The swiftness of the riposte caught the outlaw by surprise, and the black stick cracked hard against Kestrel’s muzzle. Kestrel thought for sure she heard something in her nose crack, and the sharp pain a moment later confirmed it, followed by the hot dribble of blood over her lips. It almost put her down on the ground, but she caught herself on a wing and quickly pushed herself back to her hooves.
Kestrel has suffered a Serious, Non-Lethal Injury (-2 Healthiness)
“Lie down! You’re under arrest for assaulting a police officer!” the mare shouted, and the tip of her nightstick managed to clip Kestrel’s ear as she barely ducked her head out of the way. Kestrel drew her knife in the same motion and slashed at the officer’s legs, but the mare reared back and drew them just out of the way. The nightstick came flying through the air once more, but this time Kestrel widely backed away, taking extra care to keep an eye on the weapon held in the unicorn’s sparkling magic. She spared herself only a moment to make sure that nopony had seen their scuffle down by the end of the quay, and in that quick glance, she didn’t see anypony running or shouting for help.
This time the policemare took the initiative, swinging the nightstick again at Kestrel, but Kestrel was ready for it this time. Ignoring the pain in her muzzle and her jaw, the outlaw slipped under the swing from the nightstick and slashed at the police officer’s face with the knife. Though the officer turned her head away at the last moment, the point caught in the flesh just below her lower lip, and the turn of Kestrel’s neck dragged it up through the mare’s cheek before the blade lost contact with her skin. A few drops of blood flew into the air, and then more began to drip onto the ground when the two mares separated again.
They didn’t remain separated for long. Capitalizing on the shock of the wound, Kestrel lunged forward once again, this time throwing her entire bodyweight against the policemare. Though she was the smaller pegasus, Kestrel’s momentum was enough to tackle the unicorn to the ground while she still reeled from her injury, and a quick strike from her steel-shod hoof to the end of the mare’s horn disrupted the spell she’d been channeling. The nightstick clattered to the ground, and while the mare’s eyes rolled back in pain, Kestrel quickly spun the knife around in her teeth and drove it straight into the mare’s neck. She coughed blood and convulsed once, but a second stab just under her jawline bled away any energy her body had left. The light faded from her eyes, and soon the dead mare’s blood began to pool on the concrete pier, a crimson paint that seeped its way into the cracks crisscrossing the ground.
Kestrel fell back on her haunches and spit out her knife, bringing a hoof to her broken nose in the process to try and stem some of the bleeding. While a broken nose wouldn’t be the death of her, it was still more than she wanted to deal with right now, especially when it started to heal and any strain on her muzzle could cause it to unset again. The painful throbbing at the end of her muzzle would be a pain to deal with as well; what she wouldn’t give to step into a bar and stick her nose in an icebox until it was numb. But that was a luxury she certainly couldn’t afford, if not in money, then certainly in time and unwanted attention. Her number one priority needed to be cleaning up the mess she’d made and getting out of the town.
Grimacing, she stood up and dragged the police officer’s body toward the railing on the quay, intending to just dump the body into the water and fleeing before anypony saw something they shouldn’t. But she had only managed to haul the mare up to the edge of the railing by the back of her neck when a door opened on a nearby tavern and a small group of patrons stepped out, chatting to each other as they left from their early lunch. Despite Kestrel’s best efforts, the three happened to look her way before she finished tossing the body into the water, and their chatter abruptly silenced as the three ponies looked at Kestrel, and Kestrel back at them, the policemare’s corpse consigned to an inceremonious splash in the water.
Was the fight noticed by anypony? Critical Yes
Kestrel couldn’t believe her luck. She wondered what she had done to antagonize Lady Luck, and why the cruel bitch seemed so intent on causing her trouble. The fight with the policemare had been closer than she would have liked, and now she had three New Oatleaners who witnessed its aftermath.
How much worse would this whole ordeal escalate?
1. Flee. I have to cut my losses now; I can’t keep hangin’ ‘round, gettin’ into fights tryin’ to make my clean getaway. We’re past that point; best I can hope for now is that they didn’t recognize me, and see me as just some other common crook.
2. Attempt to intimidate them into silence. I ain’t gonna be able to deal with ‘em usin’ violence like I did the policemare; only chance I would have at silencin’ ‘em for good would be with my guns, and that’ll only escalate the situation further. But they don’t need to know that. Maybe I can scare ‘em into stayin’ quiet, but of course, that just gives ‘em more time to study my face, maybe put two and two together, and realize who they’re dealin’ with here.