You're a Coordinator?

Just like that, the time for the three of them to take their assessment arrived during training.

The simulators had also increased from the original five to ten.

Clearly, the reason there had only been five before was to make them compete with one another.

At that moment, Xu De was facing the seven who had teamed up, alongside Draco and Moody. He was beginning to take things seriously.

Only by defeating them completely could he secure his position.

Only through a string of victories—over those six, and over Moody and Draco—could he maximize his value, gain more benefits, and find more opportunities.

"Combined combat exercise, begin!"

At Cook's command, all ten piloted their units. After a brief but intense acceleration, they appeared together in the simulated expanse of space.

Unlike the ruined battlefield Xu De was used to, this battlefield was on the lunar surface, where gravity was weak. That made the Ginns even harder to control.

You could walk on the Moon, sure, but only a little.

"Damn it, they never told us this battlefield would be here."

"What about you, Xu?"

Moody asked helplessly after stumbling across the uneven lunar surface.

"It wasn't among the available scenarios."

Xu shook his head as he answered.

The information had been kept well under wraps. The Moon wasn't even an option in the simulator's list of scenarios.

"Then why are you standing so steadily!?"

After nearly sinking into the loose lunar soil, Moody leaped and regained his footing before looking at Xu De and accusing him.

"I calculated it beforehand."

Xu De replied. He wasn't relying entirely on other people's information to guide his actions.

Considering current events, Halberton's personality, and the purpose behind the Mobile Suits, he could also make an educated guess about what the assessment might involve and prepare for it in advance.

Targeted training based on inside information was certainly important, but it was just as important to be fully prepared when no such information was available.

You couldn't just hear nothing and then relax without giving anything any thought.

The Moon wasn't among the simulator's scenarios, but Xu De had worked out the formulas for gravity on the Moon and Earth.

For example, controlling a Mobile Suit's steps on the lunar surface meant calculating based on the unit's weight, the area of its feet, its mass, and the Moon's equatorial gravitational acceleration.

The process was much like when Kira had adjusted the parameters earlier.

The difference was that Kira calculated and adjusted as he fought, while Xu De had done the calculations in advance.

All he had to do was plug them in.

Then he could use an inverse dynamics model to adjust the joint torques in real time, and that was more or less all there was to controlling its walk.

Of course, the problem of reaction speed still remained. Walking was possible, but more complex movements were difficult.

"Hmph."

Draco, who had also stumbled before regaining his footing, spoke up.

"Adapt quickly, then take them all out."

"All six of them are going to come after us."

As Draco spoke, six points of light leaped high into the air along the distant horizon.

The magnified display gave Xu De a clear view of the six Ginns charging straight toward them.

"You've got quite the mouth on you."

Moody, who had seen it too, grumbled.

"I'll lead the assault. Moody, cover me. Draco, provide suppressing fire!"

Xu De reacted at once.

"Don't go around giving orders."

Moody complained, but despite what he said, he knew that Xu De was the only one who could move with any agility here. He and Draco accepted the plan.

With that, Xu De leaped up from the lunar surface.

"They look about the same, don't they?"

An officer in the observation room commented as he watched the scene.

That was true. Although Xu De's side had adapted to the lunar terrain faster, the six on the other side weren't pushovers. They were all elites with quick reflexes. If they hadn't had time to calculate, they could simply jump.

They could use their thrusters to overcome gravity.

After two days of practice, they could just about manage it.

"Xu De's adapted to the gravity incredibly quickly, though."

While the others were walking, Xu De was already running. When they started running, he was already flying.

"Interesting, and very thoughtful."

As a tactician, Halberton genuinely admired Xu De.

He had both Moody's and Draco's strengths, along with a more tactful personality.

His ideas were also more original, and he was firm in his convictions.

Without any unexpected setbacks, he could accomplish great things.

"But even Xu De and the others will have a hard time when they're surrounded, won't they?"

The officer continued in a low voice.

"No, their thrusters can only overcome gravity temporarily. This is just a high jump. And they haven't mastered the use of their attitude-control nozzles, so once they jump, they'll be sitting ducks..."

Before the officer could finish arguing, Xu De—who had leaped just as high as the others—skillfully raised his gun.

With the fire support of the two behind him, he aimed at the cockpit of one of the distant Ginns.

Gunfire poured from his weapon in an instant.

A continuous stream of orange-yellow flashes struck the cockpit of that Ginn with unerring accuracy.

The elite pilot on the other side had assumed they could only fire blindly. Faced with Xu De's precise shots, his heart sank.

Was this guy even human?

Why could everyone else only fire blindly, while Xu De could hit his target precisely from so far away?

And they were all airborne.

They were all moving, too.

Was he cheating?

As the pilot thought this in despair, his screen quickly went black.

Even a heavily armored cockpit couldn't withstand repeated, concentrated hits from a 76mm machine gun.

Seeing this, the other pilots' hearts lurched. They could only try to dodge using their attitude-control nozzles.

Then...

The smooth arcs of the many units in the sky became twisted and erratic.

Clearly, the sudden turn of events had thrown them off and caused them to lose control.

As they lost control, Xu De's calculations became useless too, and his precise shots missed.

"Holy shit, how'd you do that just now?"

Moody exclaimed in surprise as he watched one of the enemy units go down the instant the two sides met, even as he continued to lay down suppressing fire.

"Calculated the jump distance, matched the takeoff speed with the launch angle, factored in the thruster output, and let the computer assist."

Xu De replied quickly, and his unit landed steadily on the lunar soil.

"It's not that hard. They still don't know how to use their attitude-control nozzles, so just think of their leap as one simple arc. I calculated the lead and fired along their landing trajectory."

That was how machine guns on fighter jets worked. When both sides were moving so fast and were so far apart, all you could do was lead your target.

It was part of the psychological game, too.

You were betting on what the other side would do next.

"Shit, I know that, of course. But you're saying that wasn't hard?"

"You're a Coordinator?"

Moody grumbled. He had flown fighter jets himself before.