Squats (Original) - Age of the Imperium: The Squat Homeworlds were almost unique in the Imperium -- though they were officially a part of the Imperium of Man and owed allegiance to the Emperor of Mankind, they were not directly controlled by the Administratum. Instead, they were allowed a certain amount of political autonomy like the Adeptus Mechanicus, being ruled by the governments of their individual strongholds and leagues just as they were before the Age of Rediscovery.The experiences of the previous millennia had left the Squats with a strong sense of cultural unity and a fiercely independent nature, and instead of rejoining the Imperium as subject worlds of the Emperor, the Sauat Homeworlds negotiated a series of treaties that enabled them to keep their local independence from the Adeptus Administratum's demands in return for military and technological assistance to the Imperium and beneficial trading terms for Imperial merchants.The character of the Squats -- hard-working, tenacious, honourable, and inimical to alien species -- was almost perfect from the Imperial point of view, and the Imperium's High Lords of Terra were content to allow them a greater degree of self-government than normal -- and avoid the nightmarish task of unleashing a war of conquest against such a powerful, Abhuman sub-species of Mankind.In exchange for this freedom, the Homeworlds provided troops for the Imperium and traded exclusively with other Imperial worlds. This commerce made the Squat Homeworlds very wealthy. The Squats also allowed the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus free access to their advanced technology, as the Squats possessed several STC technologies never before seen by the Mechanicus and a higher proportion of working devices dating from Humanity's Dark Age of Technology than anywhere else in the galaxy.The Squats were also expected to follow Imperial policy in external affairs, which was not a problem as they were a very inward-looking and xenophobic society following the Age of Wars.Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the relationship between the Squats and the Imperium was that the Squats did not follow the Imperial Cult. Instead, they practised a form of ancestor-worship, venerating their dead clansmen and their families. They believed that when a Squat died they joined their ancestors, adding their own honour to that of their forebears, but a part of their name and their honour remained with their living descendants, forming a constant link between the living and the dead.Squats ensured that their deeds in life would reflect honourably on their ancestors, adding glory to their clan and their family. Squats guarded their reputation fiercely, willing to go to great lengths to blot out a disgrace to their honour or the honour of their clan.When Squats served alongside the troops of the Astra Militarum, they adopted certain aspects of the Imperial Cult, incorporating them into their own rituals of ancestor-worship.Imperial orthodoxy, as preached by the Astra Militarum commissars and Ecclesiarchy priests who came into contact with Squat forces, was that the ancestor-spirits of the Squats were watched over by and emanated from the Emperor, and the Squats were happy enough to accept this idea and participate in the rituals of Emperor-worship on those terms.During combat, the Squats used squads of motorcycles supported by massive artillery barrages from massive, juggernaut-like war machines such as the Land Train, Colossus, Cyclops and Leviathan. They also used an advanced form of power armour fit to their smaller size, called exo-armour.