Ponder

"Someday we will win, no matter what it takes."

— Ponder's vow to Tartarus

Captain Ponder was a UNSC Marine Corps junior Marine officer who has served on Harvest. His career has been marred by an incident involving Insurrectionists on Eridanus II. He is killed in action during the First Battle of Harvest against the Covenant.

Biography

Eridanus II

In 2513, then-Lieutenant Colonel Ponder commanded the 1st Battalion, 21st Division, 9th Marine Expeditionary Force, which was deployed in the Eridanus System. During this time he took part in the interrogation of an Insurrectionist in Elysium City, Eridanus II. This rebel is married to the daughter of a local official. When pressed for information about former UNSC Colonel Robert Watts' second-in-command, the man grabs his own daughter threatens to detonate a grenade, declaring "someday we will win. No matter what it takes." Although the man is dedicated to his cause, Ponder knows that the rebel is unwilling to kill his family. However, an attached sniper draws the opposite conclusion and shoots the man through the wall: as a result, the grenade's pin is pulled out of reflex. Ponder covers the explosive with his own body, preventing casualties but losing an arm from the explosion.

After the incident Ponder resists pressure to retire. However, he is forced to accept a two-grade demotion to Captain. His arm is replaced with a prosthetic and, although he disliked it and refrained from wearing it when possible, it did not hamper his ability to utilize weapons.

Harvest

Ponder was reassigned to a Colonial Militia training unit on Harvest. His subordinates included Staff Sergeants Nolan Byrne and Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson. It was at this billet that he is present at First Battle of Harvest and the start of the Human-Covenant War. Ponder is part of a delegation to meet with Covenant representatives. The meeting started peacefully, but degenerates into a melee when overeager Unggoy attack militia recruits. Ponder is severely wounded by the Fist of Rukt wielded by Jiralhanae Chieftain Maccabeus.

When the Covenant assault and glassing began in earnest, Ponder volunteered for a suicide mission to buy time for the civilian evacuations. He drew the enemy warship Rapid Conversion toward the surface and to him by claiming the fake AI processor he was carrying was an "Oracle." Upon seeing the cruiser being damaged by Harvest's Mass Drivers, Tartarus impaled the marine on the bayonets of a Type-25 Carbine. Ponder's spine was severed and he died quickly, but not before repeating to Tartarus the same vow he had heard from the Insurrectionist before. Ponder takes his remaining time to enjoy the warmth of the sunset, rather than regret his past decisions.

The crippling of Rapid Conversion clears the way for the human evacuation. Two-hundered and fifteen out of some 360 cargo freighters of both refugees and militia managed to escape into Slipspace.

Trivia

• Ponder was fond of Sweet William Cigars. Avery Johnson may have picked up the smoking habit and liking of the brand from him.
• Ponder described himself as a "church man" to Governor Thune (which led to a lengthy conversation about religion) and compared the sound of a MAC gun firing to a church bell on a Sunday morning.

Sources

• Halo: Contact Harvest