Pask

"Target sighted! Red Corsairs Predator, left of the bunker. See the repair seam on the turret? Steady. Fire! Good shot. Driver. AT mines, steer left now. Gunner! Enemy infantry in crater, eleven o'clock. High explosive, fire! Sponson gunners keep an eye out, there's plenty more where they came from..."

- Internal comm log, Hand of Steel, Operation Retort (Second Assault on Fort Lycos)

Knight Commander Pask is considered one of Cadia's most renowned tank aces. A hero of the Imperium, Pask is one of the most skilled tank commanders ever to grace a Leman Russ Tank and has commanded these behemoths through hundreds of campaigns, his reputation continuing to grow with each victory. Over the decades Pask has commanded all variants of the Leman Russ and has mastered them all. He knows the capabilities and limits of each and every weapon system these mighty war machines can mount and it is a brave fool indeed who strays into his gun-sights.

Trial by fire
Pask talents and uncanny abilities as a natural tank hunter was first demonstrated with the Cadian 423rd Armoured Regiment, when he was drafted to serve as part of the tank crew of the Leman Russ Tank Hand of Steel. The 423rd was deployed as part of the Imperial Army Group raised to repulse Waaagh! Gutchutta on the world of Cyris. When an Ork Bonecruncha ploughed over the Hand of Steel, its giant Deff Rolla crushed the turrent and ground its commander into a bloody pulp. Pask took the initiative and assumed command of the battered tank and order the rugged machine to be turned around to face the immediate threat. As the Orks armoured assault continued to grind through the Imperium's lines, Pask demonstrated his innate abilities to see his opponent's weak spots and aim his tank's main gun at his enemy's most vulnerable points. Noticing a poorly welded armour joint on the Bonecruncha's rear, a Lascannon shot from his Leman Russ struck the vulnerable spot, striking the vehicle's crude engines, causing them to detonate. This sent the machine flipping over its own Deff Rolla in a blaze of fire and smoke. Under Pask's inspiring command the battered Hand of Steel claimed another 14 confirmed armour-kills during the ensuing battle, breaking the back of Waaagh! Gutcutta's assault.

Hand of Steel
While fighting the Eldar on the world of Haytor's Hole, the repaired Hand of Steel was finally laid low whilst engaging a squadron of Fire Prisms and, despite the Techprist's ministrations, was declared unsalvageable. Though Pask had achieved a great victory against the Eldar his trusted tank was no more. Pask was offered command of a mighty Baneblade Super-Heavy Tank, the Cadian commander refused and, in a ritual that he would repeat a dozen times since, insisted on putting his faith in another Leman Russ Battle Tank, rechristening his new steed Hand of Steel.

A Legend is Born
During the Saint Cyllia massacre, Knight Commander Pask and his armoured company claimed no less than four Titan-class kills. Pask himself accounted for the dreaded Titan, Damnation Eternus, a single shell from the Hand of Steel's battle cannon breaching the tainted core of its plasma reactor causing it to meltdown. The cursed machine was consumed in a cataclysmic explosion that set the sky on fire. Over the decades Pask would continue to command all variants of the Leman Russ Battle Tank, mastering them all. Pask is a superlative tank hunter, for this is not an armoured vehicle that he has not duelled with and bested.