Swamped

You've got as far as planning your squad.

Captain Long's experience and prowess are simply unmatched. He's even fought the Rider before. No one else comes close, and many would be simply afraid to engage the Rider at all.The advantages he offers are too significant to ignore, even if he won't take it to a fatal blow. As long as you don't press that point, he'll cooperate - he knows as well as you do what a win against the Rider would mean for the flow of the battle. You just need to persuade him that you have a good enough plan.

Next is Burgundy. She may not be anywhere near her father's talents, as an officer or a fighter, but she's hardly incomptent. And her reputation among the Marshguards may serve her well. She's also used to working closely with Long. Of course, the fact that it means you won't have to monitor her - and consequently, won't have her monitoring you - is also convenient.

Third, Darlene Kitey. From her various escapes, she's learned much about the Marshguards, and may have insights into the specific ones the group faces. Rider will more than likely have his own support, and even if he doesn't, there are going to be a good number of them on the way there. Of course, her fighting skills are impressive enough as well.

Finally, you plan to send Penelope out. She hasn't seen much combat, which is a concern; but she's clever, and you've been training her to put that to good use out in the field. You have every confidence that she can demonstrate her value to the Bogknights; if it were up to you, she'd have been promoted by now.
Besides, she's the only other one who knows about the Captain's letter. You don't think he'd try anything improper, whatever his connection to Mudviper; but you have your doubts, and you know better than to ignore them when planning.

A talented team, with a Blade, Stone, Wing, and Leaf. But the best team in the world is nothing without a good plan - and they'll be depending on you to come up with one. More than that, they won't even risk it if your plan doesn't sound feasible. You know Long's testing you, and ordering him to recklessly charge at the Rider is a certain way to fail that test.

No, before you can go any further, you'll need a battle plan. And frankly, you expect that you'll need more than one squad involved. The strike team's the one that will directly engage, but they're sure to need support on their way there.

So. What is the plan?