Ponder

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

- Ponder's vow to Tartarus

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

Eridanus II
Lieutenant Colonel Ponder commanded the 9th Marine Expeditionary Force, 1st Battalion, 21st Division which was deployed in the Epsilon Eridanus System. During this time he took part in the questioning of an Insurrectionist in Elysium City, Eridanus II. The rebel had married the daughter of a local official. When pressed for information about Colonel Robert Watts' ,the local rebel commander, second-in-command the man grabbed his own daughter threatened to detonate a grenade declaring: "Someday we will win. No matter what it takes." Although the man was dedicated to his cause, Ponder knew the rebel was unwilling to kill his family and bluffing. However, an attached sniper drew an opposite conclusion and killed the man through the wall. The grenade's pin was pulled out of reflex and the resulting explosion tore off Ponder's arm.

After the incident Ponder resisted pressured to retire. However he was forced to accept a two-grade demotion to captain. His arm was replaced with a prosthetic and, although he disliked it and left it off when possible, it did not impede his ability to use weapons.

Harvest
Ponder was reassigned to a Colonial Militia training unit on Harvest. His subordinates included Staff Sergeant Nolan Byrne and Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson. It was at this billet that he was present at First Battle of Harvest and the start of the Human-Covenant War. The captain was part of a delegation to meet with Covenant representatives. The meeting started peacefully but degenerated into a melee when overeager Unggoy attacked militia recruits, and Ponder was severely wounded by the 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". Tartarus impaled the marine on the bayonets of a Type-25 Carbine. Ponder's spine was severed and he died. However this brought the enemy cruiser into range of a surface-based mass driver and two rounds caused the ship to crash.

The crippling of Rapid Conversion cleared the way for the human evacuation. 215 out of some 360 cargo freighters of 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" and compared the sound of a MAC gun firing to a church bell on a Sunday morning.