Dark Matter assumes you croak everything in the hex which you still refuse to address. If you're going to just assume that they'll automatically win every conflict (even if you say that you don't assume that), I'm just going to ignore it until you justify it. If you don't croak everything in the hex, they're allowed to attack when a hostile unit enters the hex. This has been shown (and referenced by Word of the Titans) repeatedly.
Not everything. Gah! You keep apparently conceding this point and yet you never actually do!
Could be, but I doubt it. Parson had much more motivation to jump ship when he was losing. If he ever had the power to split, why do it now?
Cheese works, but it makes for very bad storytelling on either side. Which I believe was your argument.