The Calamity Squad rode point, half a mile ahead of Captain Rodrik's main column.
Moving on horseback changed everything. Instead of trudging through dirt and pine needles at a peasant's walking pace, the five of them trotted along the coastal ridge road, their mounts giving them a wide view of the rocky cliffs and crashing waves below.
Jade rode at the head of their loose formation, holding his short spear comfortably across his saddle horn. His brown gelding responded well to subtle reins pressure now. To his left, Yuzon kept his hunting bow ready across his lap, scanning the coastal treeline.
Behind them, Nathaniel sat upright on his horse, looking much less like a panicked sloth than yesterday, though he still winced whenever his mount hit a bumpy patch of gravel. Numerius rode beside Mataranas, his back-slung kite shield clinking against his saddle iron.
"My legs are still sore, but this is definitely better than walking," Nathaniel admitted, adjusting his crossbow strap. "And we are making twice as much ground."
"Plus we look like actual light cavalry now," Numerius said, grinning as he patted his horse's neck. "Not just five farm boys with borrowed iron."
As they reached a stone crossroads overlooking a jagged sea bay, Vice-Captain Kaelen galloped up from the main column alongside Scout Officer Mara. The grim cavalry officer pulled his black warhorse to a stop beside Jade, while Mara adjusted her longbow strap.
"Captain Rodrik has an assignment for your unit," Kaelen said, handing Jade a rolled parchment map.
Jade took the map, unrolling it against his saddle horn. "What kind of task?"
"Sea Raiders," Kaelen explained, pointing toward a rocky inlet visible through the coastal fog below. "A stubborn gang of coastal raiders has established a cave hideout along those cliffs. Two days ago, they ambushed a merchant barge, killed the guards, and dragged stripped, bound captives down into their cave hideout."
Kaelen leaned over his saddle, his scarred face serious.
"The main company cannot drag two hundred heavy infantry down those narrow cliff paths without alerting the whole shoreline," Kaelen continued. "Rodrik wants a fast skirmisher unit to take the lead, but you five are still new and green in company eyes. Clearing a Sea Raider cave with only five men is a good way to get slaughtered."
Scout Officer Mara gestured toward six heavily armored Golden Boar veterans riding behind her, carrying tall kite shields and heavy broadswords.
"That is why I am attaching Mara and six of her veteran scouts to your squad for this operation," Kaelen added. "Mara commands the joint assault, but Jade's squad takes the point vanguard position inside the tunnel. You get your combat experience, and we rescue those captives."
One of the six veteran mercenaries, a tall, scarred Vlandian named Garek, spat onto the dirt road with a contemptuous sneer. Garek had a notched broadsword at his hip and looked at the five friends with obvious disgust.
"Are you serious, Vice-Captain?" Garek scoffed, pointing a gauntleted finger at Nathaniel and Numerius. "We are babysitting farm boys who were shoveling manure three weeks ago? Word around camp is the crossbow kid spent half the siege hiding in a castle privy drain! Why are we sharing a ten percent loot cut with green militia who can barely sit on a horse without whining?"
Numerius narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening on his iron-banded mace. "Say that again, scarface."
Mataranas shifted on his black workhorse, stepping his mount forward until his broad shoulders towered over Garek. Matty did not say a word, just staring down at Garek with cold, unblinking eyes.
Nathaniel adjusted his light crossbow strap, a sharp, sarcastic smile breaking across his bandaged face. "Actually, Garek, that privy drain story ended with me saving the company supply wagons and squeezing twenty-four denars out of Master Osric. But if you prefer shoveling manure, I am sure Osric has an opening in the stables."
Yuzon chuckled, while Garek's face flushed red with anger as he reached for his sword hilt.
"Shut your mouth, Garek!" Scout Officer Mara barked, her voice snapping like a whip. "These farm boys held an inner keep wall for three days against two hundred Sturgians and brought four heavy supply wagons through Whispering Pines without losing a single cart. They earned their skirmisher contract. You prove yourself inside that dark cave before you open your trap again."
Garek grumbled under his breath, glaring at Nathaniel, but he let go of his sword hilt and fell back into line behind Mara.
Jade checked the contract details on his UI screen as the system updated.
[Quest Assigned: Joint Coastal Hideout Raid]
Contract Type: Combined Skirmisher Operation (Calamity Squad + 6 Golden Boar Veterans)
Target: Sea Raider Coastal Hideout
Reward: 40 Denars Base Pay + 10% Salvaged Goods & Bounties
"First thing we do is leave the horses up here," Jade pointed out, looking down at the steep, jagged rocks. "Cavalry mounts are useless on narrow cliff paths and inside dark cave tunnels. We fight on foot."
The eleven-man joint force dismounted near a thick grove of pine trees overlooking the rocky inlet, tying their horses to sturdy branches.
Scout Officer Mara intentionally hung back near the pine trees, signaling her six veterans to wait. She wanted to test the Calamity Squad, stepping back to watch how these five green recruits handled recon and planning on their own. In a company surrounded by brute, uneducated mercenaries who only knew how to yell and swing axes blindly, seeing young recruits who actually thought before charging was extraordinarily rare.
Jade, Yuzon, Mataranas, Numerius, and Nathaniel crawled to the edge of a grassy cliff alone, peering through the coastal fog.
Yuzon pulled out his brass spyglass, adjusting the lens as he studied the guard patrols on the stony beach below.
[+1 Scouting]
"I see four guards on the beach," Yuzon reported in a low whisper, keeping his eye on the lens. "Two sitting by a campfire, two patrolling near the longboats. They are wearing heavy studded leather and carrying throwing axes."
"What about inside the cave?" Numerius asked, crouching beside a mossy rock.
"The cave mouth is narrow," Yuzon analyzed, pointing toward the dark entrance. "It creates a natural choke point. If we try a frontal assault during the day, their beach guards will blow a horn, and the fifteen raiders inside will form a tight shield wall in the dark tunnel."
Mataranas looked down at the cliff paths, his voice calm. "Night raid is better."
"Matty is right," Jade agreed, studying the terrain layout. "At night, most of the raiders will be drinking or sleeping inside the main cavern. The beach guards will be tired and relying on the campfire light, which ruins their night vision."
Nathaniel pulled out his parchment ledger, checking their gear list. "And in the dark, my light crossbow gives us an advantage from the high ledges. Forty denars base pay plus ten percent of their salvaged silver makes this worth the risk."
Yuzon drew a quick map in the dirt with a stick while the four of them leaned in. "Here is the breaching formation for the tunnel. Matty leads the secondary stack behind the veterans with his heavy cavalry shield. Numerius right behind him with his mace to crush their oak shields. Jade takes the right flank with his short spear and round shield, while I provide point-blank bow support from behind Matty's shoulder."
"Nathaniel stays near the cave mouth on a high rocky ledge," Jade added. "If anyone tries to break out of the cave to flee onto the beach, Nate snipes them with his crossbow."
Nathaniel swallowed hard, pulling his light crossbow tight. "High ground, crossbow cover. Got it."
Behind them, Scout Officer Mara had been listening to every word of their planning session from the pine shadows. A faint, genuinely impressed smile broke across her scarred face. These weren't brute sellswords shouting for blood. They were calculating, disciplined, and operating like an elite tactical squad.
Mara stepped out from the trees, walking over to the cliff edge.
"That is one of the cleanest tactical breakdowns I have heard from a five-man squad in two years," Mara said, her sharp eyes scanning Jade and Yuzon with newfound respect. "Most mercenaries in Captain Rodrik's company would have charged down that beach yelling and gotten five harpoons through their guts before reaching the longboats."
Garek and the other five veterans looked at each other in quiet surprise, unable to argue with Mara's praise.
"Your night raid plan is solid," Mara continued, resting her hand on her sword hilt. "At midnight, my six veterans and I will take out the beach sentries quietly from the shadows before they can sound an alarm. Once the beach is clear, the Calamity Squad leads the breaching support into the cave tunnel."
Jade nodded respectfully. "Get your gear ready, everyone. At midnight, we take that cave."