BBC Special Report: Incursion at Kismayo (Episode II)
Anchor: Welcome back. I’m here again with Allen James, the BBC foreign correspondent who was on site during the Genoshan occupation of Kismayo and the ensuing conflict with Excalibur. Allen, perhaps you can contextualize for us the footage we’ll be seeing tonight.
James: Of course. The clips that we’ve been cleared to show tonight are from the most chaotic part of the day Excalibur moved in to break the occupation. As I understand it, their intent was to take a two-pronged approach, where one strike team lured some of the more powerful members of the Brotherhood out of Kismayo, while the other secured the city and dealt with the Brotherhood operatives left behind.
Anchor: But it didn’t turn out that way.
James: Unfortunately not. I can’t say the ambush didn’t go off as planned - even from a distance, it was rather spectacular - but the Brotherhood broke contact and circled back to the city. Hence the street to street fighting you’ll see in these next clips.
Anchor: A warning to our viewers. There’s some very graphic content in this footage. Sensitive viewers may want to be cautious.
[The scene is an overhead shot of the streets of Kismayo, where fierce fighting is taking place even as civilians are trying to flee. Ice walls, appearing at a frantic rate, are popping up to shield them from flying debris and energy discharge. Iceman is visible in the thick of the crowd, shifted entirely to ice and attacking the Brotherhood at the same time he’s defending the civilians. The cameraman mutters something that sounds like “don’t know how he’s keeping that up” just as reinforcements arrive on scene, both Brotherhood and Excalibur.]
Anchor: … it’s difficult to appreciate what they’re capable of doing until you see it for yourself.
James: Agreed. I should say, there was a marked difference in… skill and professionalism, between Excalibur and the Brotherhood. Watching the Brotherhood was like watching… a gang, I suppose, would be the best description. Watching Excalibur, meanwhile, was like watching a well-oiled machine. Even when things became chaotic, they adjusted.
Anchor: Well, one group is a highly trained and disciplined rapid-action team. The other group are effectively terrorists.
[The screen splits as the two men are talking, to show Polaris, her hair all but glowing green as she hurls cars at members of the Brotherhood who seem to be trying to get past her to attack a group of trapped civilians. Wolverine comes barrelling into frame from the west, claws out, and hurls himself at the closest hostile. As he does so, however, Polaris stumbles, screaming aloud as Exodus, burning so brightly that he’s almost unrecognizable as a human being, descends from above. One of the cars she had just been levitating comes flying at her; it’s deflected, but only partially. A purple blur is visible for a moment where Polaris had been. The clips ends on Exodus flying off at speed, clearly targeting someone else.]
James: Very powerful terrorists, some of them.
Anchor: … clearly.