Editing The Babysitter

{{Title|''The Babysitter''}}

{{Status|RealWorld}}

{{Film infobox

|release date = November 7, 2009 (Limited)<br>

'''''The Babysitter''''' is one of the [[seven]] short films comprising the anime adaptation of the ''[[Halo]]'' universe, ''[[Halo Legends]]''.<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=933040 Halo.Bungie.Org - ''Halo Legends'': Polite Questions Answered Here]</ref><ref>[http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/100/1007244p1.html IGN.com - SDCC 09: ''Halo Legends'' In-Depth]</ref> ''Babysitter'' focuses on the rivalry between the [[SPARTAN-II program|SPARTAN-II commandos]] and the [[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers]].

The first preview of ''Legends'' and ''Babysitter'' was revealed on September 17, 2009 during [[Wikipedia:Spike TV|Spike TV]]'s [[Wikipedia:Game Trailers TV|GTTV Presents "''Halo 3: ODST''" Countdown to Launch]].<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS252724+03-Sep-2009+PRN20090903 Reuters.com - Prepare To Drop! Spike TV Gears Up For "''Halo'' Month"]</ref> ''The Babysitter'' was released on November 7, 2009 for a limited time on ''[[Halo Waypoint]]''.

''The Babysitter'' is focused around an [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper|ODST]] squad aboard the {{UNSCShip|Kronstadt}}, who are sent on [[Operation: GREY VEIL|a mission]] to investigate alien ruins and assassinate a [[Covenant]] [[San'Shyuum|Prophet]] on [[Heian]], a world in Covenant-controlled space.

The story opens with ODSTs [[O'Brien (Heian)|O'Brien]], [[Taylor Miles|Dutch]], and [[Checkman]] discussing their upcoming mission (with a Marine named [[Berger]] trying to eavesdrop on them); O'Brien, the squad's sniper, is upset that he's being replaced as the marksman on this mission. When [[Cortez]], the squad's sergeant, sits down to join them, he brings news to the table that upsets the squad, especially O'Brien: the sniper replacing him is a SPARTAN-II, and he's the backup.

The squad enters the asteroid ring surrounding the planet in their [[M8900 drop pod|drop pods]], losing Checkman in the process; his pod bumps into an asteroid which knocks him off course, sending him plummeting into the planet the wrong way. The other four pods land on the planet in close proximity to each other; Cal, Dutch, and Cortez land in a forest, and O'Brien lands in a swamp, after hitting a cliff and breaking his oxygen tank in the process. Dutch and Cortez go to get gear to retrieve O'Brien, but stop when Cal simply walks into the swamp, unfazed by the thick mud, and lifts the drop pod out of the mud, throwing it to the side. Dutch tells O'Brien that Cal singlehandedly saved him from certain death, and his contempt for the SPARTAN grows.

The squad plots out the mission from there; [[Unidentified Prophet (Heian)|the Prophet]] will be landing at a logistics site north of their landing zone, and they need to get there before it does to set up for the shot, but before they can do that, they need to photograph the ruins on the way.

When they arrive at the ruins site, Cal halts them, noticing a patrol of [[Unggoy]] and a [[Brute Chieftain]]. The SPARTAN orders them to take out the patrol covertly; Cal kills a grunt with a [[Close Quarters Combat Weapon System|knife]], Dutch knocks another one out, and Cortez breaks one's neck. As O'Brien prepares to sneak up on one, he alerts it to his position by stepping on a twig, and the nearby Chieftain also notices. The Chieftain moves to pulverize O'Brien with his [[Gravity hammer (fiction)|gravity hammer]] as he takes out the Grunt with his [[M7S Caseless Submachine Gun|SMG]], only to be stopped by Cal, who grabs the hammer before impact. The Chieftain swings his hammer, knocking O'Brien and Cal back. O'Brien dangles from a cliff, and then a waterfall, losing his [[SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle|sniper rifle]], and watches Cal fight the Chieftain in hand-to-hand combat. The Chieftain is ultimately thrown off of the waterfall, after being blinded in one eye by an elbow to the face. Cal picks up O'Brien as he loses his grip and carries him back to the squad. His contempt for Cal grows yet further, having been saved twice and humiliated in front of his squadmates.

Finally, the squad reaches their destination two minutes before the Prophet lands. Cal sets up for the shot, and the Chieftain, who followed them from the ruins, ambushes the squad, attacking O'Brien first. Cal jumps in front of him, taking the hammer blow to the head and shoulder. Dutch, Cortez, and O'Brien collectively tackle the Chieftain, and Dutch unloads his SMG into the Chieftain's face, killing it. Cortez removes Cal's helmet to assess the injuries, and to the squad's shock, they find that Cal is a woman. Cal urges O'Brien to take the shot, claiming he's the only one that can do it. He hesitates, then picks up the rifle and takes the shot, killing the Prophet, and causing a major uproar among the [[Honor Guard]] at the landing site.

Cal then hands the data chip containing the photos of the ruins to Cortez, asking him to get them to [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Halsey]]. Cortez tells Cal that she should be the one to do it, but she tells him that they both know that can't happen, and she dies of her wounds shortly after.

Back on the ''Kronstadt'', the squad is sitting at their table. Berger joins them and attempts to make small talk about their last mission, making the mistake of mocking Cal's combat skill by saying that SPARTANs just can't keep up with Helljumpers. The squad throws apples at him for making such a comment, and when he asks what he said wrong, O'Brien reflects silently on how Cal saved his life multiple times, and her death.

{{Featurelist|secondcolumn=title-5|title-1=Characters|

*[[O'Brien (Heian)|O'Brien]]

*[[Catherine Halsey]] {{Mo}}

*[[Unidentified Chieftain (The Babysitter)|Unidentified Chieftain]]

 

|title-2=Species|

 

|title-3=Organizations|

*[[Covenant]]

**[[Covenant Honor Guard]]

***[[Sangheili Honor Guard]]

|title-4=Locations|

 

|title-5=Events|

**[[Operation: GREY VEIL]] {{1st}}

 

|title-6=Vehicles|

*[[Drop pod]]s

**[[Equipment drop pod]]

**[[M8900 drop pod]]

|title-7=Weapons|

*[[Combat knife]]

*[[MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System]]

*[[Sniper Rifle System 99C-Series 2 Anti-Matériel]]

*[[Gravity hammer (fiction)|gravity hammer]]

 

|title-8=Other|

*[[Weapon attachment]]

*[[Xenoarchaeology]]

}}

*Cal's sniper rifle's scope indicates that the weapon holds [[seven]] rounds.

*The ruins are neither of modern human nor Covenant origin. They also exhibit very little [[Forerunner]] design aesthetic - in fact, they have distinct Indian, Japanese, and Greco-Roman aesthetic elements, among others. In the DVD commentary, [[Frank O'Connor]] revealed that this mystery is an important plot point that will be explored in future ''Halo'' media. The ruins are mentioned once again in ''[[From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal]]'', in which [[William Arthur Iqbal|Dr. Iqbal]] speculates that the builders of the ruins may have borrowed from human architecture or vice versa. Information established in ''[[The Forerunner Saga]]'' hints that Heian was once an [[Ancestors]] colony, either missed when Forerunners purged the galaxy of any remnant of human civilization after the [[Human-Forerunner wars]] or abandoned during one of humanity's technological dark ages long before humanity waged war against the Forerunners.

*Before the [[San'Shyuum|Prophet]] lands, [[Sangheili|Elite]] and [[Jiralhanae|Brute]] [[Honor Guards]] are walking alongside each other. It is also interesting to note that the Elites are wearing green colored armor, regular helmets, and not the typical Honor Guard helmet. The shoulder plates also resemble the [[Hayabusa]] shoulders.

*One of the ODSTs is [[Taylor Miles|Taylor "Dutch" Miles]]. Dutch plays a significant role in other ''Halo'' media, particularly as a playable character during the game ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''.

 

{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Navbox/Media/Film}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babysitter, The}}