Squats

The **Squats,** also known as **Homo sapiens rotundus**andthe **Space Dwarves** are a species of Abhumans found primarily around planets close to the galactic core who are most noted for their short, stocky and physically hardy appearance and temperament. Squats are the descendants of baseline humans who had colonised the worlds around the galactic core within the Dark age of Technology, were they were intended to mine the rich resources found on the oldest planets within the galaxy.

The squats would become a problem or the Imperium of Mankind as when the imperimum eventually reached the Squat homeworlds, they **WIP**

## Etymology

The term “Squat” was the term originally given to the squat ancestors during the waning years of the Dark Age of technology until the great cataclysmic time period of the Age of Strife would commence. Before the great warp storm would envelope the galaxy for nearly 5000 terran years, a great many human refugees were recorded arriving and settling on the Squat ancestor mining colonists on mass, looking either to flee the turmoil of the Dark Age terran civilisations or the blight that would be the arrivals of Pyskers. The early terran communities calling these mining colonists “squatter world” with the largest of these refugee mass being renamed “Squatterland” to undermine and ridicule these fleeing terrans. Eventually when the age of strife came about, and the squat ancestors began to slowly losses their history in the turmoil of their harsh
subterranean lifestyles, the “squatter” terminology would soon become a mainstay in their society, eventually being shortened to “Squats” and “Squatland” respectively. Even when the squat ancestor’s bodies become to
reshape themselves into something more familiar to the squats of the 31st millennium, the term would remain within their vocabulary as their namesake.

## History

### Dark Age of Technology (M15 – M25)

During the time period known as the Dark Age of technology, the squat ancestors were originally groups of human colonists who would have come from the other colonised terran worlds and terra to the planets closest to the galactic core, the oldest and longest stable planets in the milky way galaxy. They came to mine the potentially rich material deposits buried deep under the planet’s crust from countless millennium’s of asteroid debris
build-up. In those early years, life on those planetoids proved to be one of
the most hardest for human colonists to endure, due in part to the lack of a fully abundant oxygenated atmosphere and extremely low amounts of fertile land
on the planet’s surface. But miraculously, these stubborn colonists managed to
survive their harsh lifestyles and someone prosper under it. Developing
themselves as skilful miners, engineers and pilots in a number of different fields of work.

### Age of Strife (M25 – M30)

When the time period that would be known as the Age of Strife came about following the self-destruction of the Eldar Race and the
birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh. The galactic wide warpstorm brought about from
her birth made it almost impossible for space-faring ships to reach any other terran planets during this time as any ships traveling in this time period were almost always lost within the warpstrom. This made the squat ancestors cut off from any other Terran civilizations within the galaxy at large and would remain
stranded on their mining colonies for the foreseeable future of their lives. So in this outcome the squat ancestors endured their harsh lifestyles and planets
until the warpstorm would reside, making space-ship flights at the most dire of needs and only to their closest planets within the galactic core.

In the span of the 5 millenniums that the age of strife endured, the squat ancestors found their bodies adapting more and more to the conditions the planets they found themselves under. Due to the high
gravitational pulls of their planets respectively, these humans would become smaller, and stockier to be able to better survive and prosper in the majority of their subterranean homes they formed under. Their hair would also become more durable and longer as a result of compensating for the different atmospheric conditions, it would take the span of the squat ancestor’s rapid evolution only 3000 to 4000 years of life to resemble the “Squats” that the Imperium of Mankind would come to recognise within the 31st Millennium.

### Rise of the Kingdom of Squatland (28th millennium)

When the imperium of mankind would eventually rediscovered
the squats within the galatic core planets, they would already be under the directly factional control of the Galatic Kingdom of Squatland, an oligarchic
nation ruled by leaders of many of the squat familes which were directly
protected by a central being known as the “King of Stone” **WIP**

## Military

####

**Hearthtroopers** - Hearthtroopers are the advance soldiers of the Galatic Kingdom of Squatland who formed the backbone of the squat armies during their age of turmoil and the War for Squat Independance. These troopers bore power armour which would enhance their physical strength and durability to weapon-fire, which played an important role of the squat's fighting against both the Orks and themselves. Hearthtroopers would make full use of any of the key weaponry equipment which the squats generally employed, such as combination solid-slug/close range axes rifle and a powered shield to more devastating equipment such as a heavy flamer, rocket launcher and even in some cases electrical shock weaponry.

Unlike the Space Marines of the Imperium of Mankind, Hearthtroopers were not genetically enhanced, meaning it would take only the stronger, nor did they bare a black carapace, making their power Armour much more heavier and loud as a result and making stealth tactics null and void.

**Veteran Hearthtroopers** - These soldiers are veterans from many conflicts fought in the name of the Squattish Kingdom and as such, their power armour has been further augmented with more reinforcement and design to their their hierarchy stasis as members of the eltire corps.

## References

* Image Reference (Pinterest, 2018)
* Image Reference (Manticblog, 2018)
* Image Reference (Deviantart, 2018)