Philo Questioning Transcript

Q: Your name for the record, please.
Philo: Philo.
Q: Given name?
Philo: Just call me Philo.
Q: Is that an alias?
Philo: One of many. I find it's not prudent to get tied down to a name. My real name wouldn't do you any good anyway. It's not me you're interested in, it's my employer.
Q: Very well. Who is your employer?
Philo: Damned if I know.
Q: You do understand that you could be executed for banditry under Newton law? To say nothing of attempted assassination of the Administrator and his son. Answering these questions is the only thing that might save you.
Philo: I'm acutely aware of my situation, thank you, and I'm willing to give you as much information as I have. However, my employer kept me at a very long arm's length. Blind drops, intermediaries, the works. Presumably in case of this exact situation.
Q: Fine. Then, why did you launch attacks against Newton?
Philo: Because I was being paid well to do so. It's the sort of thing I do for a living.
Q: I mean, what was your employer's reaason for doing so?
Philo: As far as that goes, I can only speculate. But I can tell you that we were instructed to do what it took to get your town to mobilize as it has done.
Q: That was the only purpose to the attacks?
Philo: That and to scare people off if possible, but that didn't seem to materialize. Think about it. If we wanted to destroy the town or kill all its residents, we would have launched a decisive attack right from the beginning if we had half a brain, not waited for you to get mobilized.
Q: What about the arson attack?
Philo: Just to strike at a target that would get your hackles up. We were under orders not to damage the town too badly.
Q: Why not?
Philo: Again, I can only speculate. But it's not hard to see that there's two likely possibilities. Either someone in Newton wanted an excuse for Newton to build an army and expand, or someone outside of Newton wanted to turn Newton into a threat.
Q: Into a threat?
Philo: Once you had built up some troops, we were told to attack small towns around Newton to try to get them to come to you for aid. I gather the city-states that those towns belong to aren't too happy about that.
Q: What about the mortar attack?
Philo: As for that, I was told that Newton was going to be expecting a big mortar attack. We got sent a few mortars and a bunch of decoys. We were to fire a few shells and then pull out of the area entirely. I would guess so that you guys went nuts trying to track us down before we could strike again. But you tracked us down and nabbed our spy in town. And then you nabbed me. And now you know what I know.
Q: That's all?
Philo: That's all. I'm just a businessman. Someone offered me enough money to come out here and harass this town, and so I did. You've been calling us bandits, but we're mercenaries, same as you hired yourself. Of course, the bandits around here thought we were bandits. It seemed to intimidate them a fair amount, to say nothing of the intimidating power of your new army. I believe most of the smaller groups that didn't join up with have left the area.
Q: Thank you for your answers. We will decide what to do with you.