On page 125 of the core rules (Basic Conflict section) there is an example of Katarina defending against 3 attackers. She uses her regular dice pool to defend against the first, is at -1 die to defend against the second and at -2 dice to defend against the 3rd. 

What happens if Katarina’s first action was an attack, not a defence?  Does that mean she can wriggle out of a penalty? Like this:

 - Full dice pool to attack the first person
 - Full dice pool to defend against the 2nd person
 - Penalty of -1 to defend against the 3rd person