My take on the Aslan ihatei issue. First, some background:
Rebellion Sourcebook, page 60:
"By mid-1117, it was clear to the Aikoho Earleatrais that the Imperium
was being torn apart. At that time, an ihatei fleet which had
originated in Ealiyasiyw sector entered Trojan Reach in search of new
worlds; it was redirected to Imperial territory and was successful
in establishing a settlement within the Imperial border."
And so on.
Norris, faced with too many problems, delegated a Fleet Admiral to
"eliminate any threat to the Domain" that the Aslan caused. To use
an infamous line, "when you have a hammer, all your problems start
to look like nails." The Admiral had a fleet behind him. By 1119,
he was applying this "hammer" to every Aslan nail he could catch,
not bothering to check his definition of "Threat to the Domain"
with Norris.
In short, it didn't work. By 1120, the Aslan had reached the region
so marked in the Player's Handbook and Imperial Encyclopedia.
One thing to remember is that the map in the PH is a _snapshot_ of
the sector as of 001-1120. Another thing to remember is the definition
of the Imperium's border: within this line, the Imperial Navy
_controls_the_space_lanes_. As far as our hapless Admiral and the
Scout Service were concerned the Aslan controlled that space, because
the Navy certainly didn't.
Barring a few violent incidents (the ones we all read about in the
TNS), the Aslan settled in where ever they found room to do so, and
promptly became reasonably good neighbors. The majority of the
perceived threat vanished. This didn't save the Duchess (?) of Egryn,
unfortunately.
Why can I make the assumption of fading menace? Because by late 1123
Norris feels comfortable enough with his rimward neighbors to send
the Arrival Vengeance in that direction with a reasonably good
chance of the ships' getting to Daibei.
The map of the Vengeance's path also notes Frontier, Outlands and
Wilds. The Frontier designation runs along the Imperial border all
the way up to Vilis subsector. Based on this, the Sword Worlds and
possibly the Darrians are also having ihatei problems in the 1120s.
From Arrival Vengeance, page 7:
"Norris has used both naval force and diplomacy to attempt to
contain the Aslan ihatei. In its current role, Vengeance is primarily
concerned with the latter..."
It is apparent that Norris has, by this time, realized the nature
of the "invasion". While he can't stop the Aslan advance completely,
he is trying to direct it. Flareups between land-hungry Aslan and
"dammit, I live here!" Imperials contribute to the Frontier rating.
Much of Glisten subsector is actually classified as Wilds, but I
suspect that this is due to the earlier violence more than
current threat.
While we don't have any data on the next seven years, I can guess
the general trend. An uneasy state continues between the incoming
Aslan and the Domain, very gradually improving, but with bad spots
and regressions fairly common. On the other side of the Domain, the
Vargr are slowly running out of steam. Norris looks forward to many
years of juggling the two groups with some dismay. Then comes
the Arrival Vengeance, home at last; the "Regency Address" in 1127;
and, in 1130, word of the Virus.
The moment the reality of Virus set in, the possibility of shifting
borders was gone. Norris knew it, the Aslan knew it, and the Vargr
learned it the hard way. The Zhodani had given up on shifting borders
over a thousand years ago. The region behind the Claw became static,
border-wise, unless you were a very long way from the Quarantine
Zone.
The Aslan probably returned to spreading along the edge of
the Great Rift, as well as boosting the manpower of the Regency. The
spread of the ihatei is more slow and deliberate, and never violent,
because they don't dare fight each other with the Virus looking over
their shoulder.
James Kundert [email removed]
[email removed]
There was a young lady named Bright,
Whose speed was much faster, much faster than Light.
She departed one day in a relative way,
And returned on the previous Night.
--Albert & the Heart of Gold