Captain Ponder (Earth-4001)

Captain Ponder was a UNSC Marine Corps junior Marine officer 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.

History
The history of Captain Ponder is the same as his mainstream counterpart.

Personality & Traits
Ponder was determined and devoted to the mission and the soldiers under his command. Ponder described himself as a "church man" to Governor Thune—which led to a lengthy conversation about religion—and compared the sound of a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon gun firing from within a ship to a church bell on a Sunday morning. He rarely wore his prosthetic. Although he disliked it and refrained from wearing it when possible, it did not hamper his ability to utilize weapons effectively. After losing his arm, Ponder had missed serving with his men in the Insurrection. However, he came to believe that he was lucky to have been taken out of combat before he made another mistake that was responsible for the deaths of civilians. Ponder felt guilty for missing his eldest son's wedding and the birth of his first grandchild while at war fighting in the Insurrection. He claimed to have missed these "precious occasions" more than his lost arm.

Ponder enjoyed marching, even his first "grueling road hikes" in basic training. After he lost his arm, he would sometimes joke that he was lucky he did not lose a leg or else he would have learned how to walk on his hands to continue marching. Ponder was fond of Sweet William cigars. Avery Johnson may have picked up the smoking habit and liking of the brand from him.