One of the first actions of the Strax Ascendancy was the development and production of ammunition for its new army

Strax's military industrial capability was left nearly completely destroyed in the wake of the Union occupation and what factories that did survive had since been retooled for the Union's purposes. As such, producing old Straxian Empire ammunition was nearly impossible.

However, with the abundance of Union-made ammunition left behind and one of the remaining factories being a production line for said ammunition, Ascendancy R&D set out instead to reverse engineer the Union's microjet ammo.

Knowing that it would take longer to receive than simply recreating old ammunition, Ascendancy Command decided to gamble and hesitantly approved of the project after the promise of a far more superior round than what they had. As part of the agreement, only two stipulations were placed.

Foremost was the requirement to be fed into a firearm normally. The vast majority of troops in the newly formed CAFSA had utilized old Straxian Empire weapons which used a conventional gas system and Command did not want to retrain their entire military on a new weapon platform. Essentially, the existing system would need to remain relatively unchanged with the new ammunition.

Secondly, the Union's smart guidance system was to be removed. While it proved effective on the battlefield against unarmored targets, Ascendancy R&D successfully convinced High Command that they had confidence that the shortcomings of the ammo could be solved if their efforts were focused on it and not having to reproduce the complex system used to change the bullets trajectory mid-flight. This also assisted with the first stipulation as there would be no need for an imaging system built into the firearm in order to lock targets.
-
Beginning in 2012, the program, dubbed Project Firebrand, was already slowed by the bulk of Ascendancy assets being used in the rebuild of Strax and solidification of the new regime. Because of this, by the time the forces of the CAFSA were deemed ready to take on the Union seven years later in 2019 they had to do so using the quickly aging firearms of the old Empire.

While Operation Steel Sun ended in a victory after two years of fighting. Notable drawbacks arose not just with the old ammunition against more modern Union infantry but also a shortage of it. This prompted High Command to put a heavy focus on Project Firebrand ammunition and weapons. After a personal visit to the Firebrand labs by General Wul’k, as Grand General Galkarot had been severely injured during Steel Sun’s conclusion, he gave his approval and essentially gave the project a blank check.

With their newfound support, and effectively nine years of development already completed, Project Firebrand was deemed completed in early 2023. The result was an external propellant charged gyrojet. The jet projectile itself is encased in a triangular ‘kicker charge’ (or booster) of propellant which launches the projectile down the barrel, thus solving the low initial velocity problem of the original Union ammunition. The gyrojets rocket motor is ignited a few moments after ignition of the booster charge by the primer, propelling the projectile towards the target. Accuracy was solved by utilizing the rifling already present in the firearm, as the jet effectively acted as a normal bullet until free from the weapon. The gasses from the initial kicker charge are what provide the cycling action for the weapon, which cycles as a normal firearm would. The opening of the breach is used to expend any excess gas, preventing build up of propellant, as well as added heat venting.

An added benefit upon receiving further support was that Project Firebrand was able to join with the StrakArm's development team that were in the process of designing the SA-02, the Ascendancy's new assault rifle. As a result, a weapon platform was already ready to be trailed at the program's conclusion.

The new rifle and its ammunition would get its combat trial only a few months later. The CAFSA had begun a campaign fighting rebels, a faction of which was being armed by the Union, in the Zecarov system during Operation Sundown. A limited number of SA-02s were produced and saw high praise from the infantry that used them. After the operations ended six months later, the SA-02 and the new gyrojet ammunition would officially go into mass production on both Hellion V and Strax, and the Firebrand initiative would go on to produce various forms of the ammunition and the weapons to fit them, such as the Ascendancy's new sidearm.


Ammo band colors;
- White - frangible (for use inside starships)
- Red - standard, tracer
- Black - standard, light armor piercing
- Blue - enhanced-penetration, tungsten core


Strax Ascendancy/Galactic Dreams universe, character, art ©  kernkraftwerks