Aquarian Steam Tank 2

The Imperial Aquarian Steam Tank Corps


"From Shore, Through Blood to the Coral Beyond."

The origins of the IASTC lie in the 1850s, when collaboration between Robert Stephenson and the Atlantean Empire produced the first steam tanks.

Stephenson’s steam engineering background and the Atlantean’s knowledge of Hydraulics lead to great leaps forward in the field of armoured warfare but the levels of heat generated by the tanks and the comprehensive water cooling systems used to counteract these made both Human and Atlantean pilots unfeasible.

However, extensive research and development by Atlantean Zoologists alongside British animal breeders and trainers produced the perfect solution: tropical fish of unusual size, or TFOUS.

The TFOUS were produced by careful interbreeding of several species from the Caribbean region and are bred for intelligence, obedience and bravery. They are also put through a stringent selection and training regime in order to ensure that only the best fish end up in the bowl of these powerful and sometimes unpredictable vehicles.

The IASTC was founded in 1855, following the decisive use of aquarian steam tanks at the battle of Balaclava in the October of the previous year. Their devastating charge into Russian artillery broke the enemy line and started a total rout that won the day for Allied forces. Salutary newspaper reports and even an epic poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson captured the public imagination, and the creation of a formalised regiment was a popular choice which greatly enhanced Allied forces in the Crimean and Boer Wars.

Further research has produced tanks capable of operating both on land and on the sea bottom and the IASTC are now deployed wherever their speed and firepower can bolster the forces of either the British or Atlantean Empires.
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This was my entry in the Great Exhibition at the Asylum this year. It didn’t win anything but I’m happy with it any way.

And, yes, I’m afraid it is a fish tank.