Battle of Earth In the alternate reality , the Battle of Earth was a conflict fought on stardate 2258 . 42 between the Romulan starship " Narada " and the of the United Federation of Planets . Prelude . Following the destruction of Vulcan , the " Narada " plotted a course for Earth . The " Narada " s captain , Nero , torture d Captain , who was captive on board the Romulan mining vessel , using a Centaurian slug to coerce Pike to reveal the security codes to Earth ' s planetary defense system . He revealed his intention to Pike to destroy the homeworlds of the Federation one at a time . , who was now in command of the , planned to fall back with the primary fleet in the Laurentian system . However , his first officer , , felt that they needed to find a way to engage the " Narada " immediately and rescue the captured Pike . After a brief brawl , Spock ordered Kirk marooned on , an ice - bound Class M planet in the Vulcan system with a Federation outpost . It was there that Kirk met a much older Spock , from the future , who explained to him what was really going on . Realizing that the timeline had changed because of his and " Narada " s presence , and knowing that his younger self would never make the decisions needed to save Earth and the Federation , Spock decided to help Kirk get command of the " Enterprise " . Kirk and this Spock made their way to Delta Vega ' s Federation outpost , whose only occupants were and Keenser . Scott had been stationed on Delta Vega six months previous after a transporter experiment went awry and resulted in the loss of Admiral ' s prized pet beagle . He was trying to prove a theorem in transwarp beaming . Spock took the opportunity to give Scott the completed calculations for transwarp beaming : the only thing Scott had forgotten was to take into account that space itself was moving . Spock planned to beam Kirk and Scott aboard the " Enterprise " while he and Keenser stayed behind on Delta Vega . He told Kirk that the only chance to stop Nero was for Kirk himself to take command and he could do so through Starfleet Regulation 619 , which dictates that a commanding officer must relinquish their command if the mission at hand leaves them " emotionally compromised " . He refused to come with them stating that it was not his destiny and that his self of that timeline must never know of his presence due to dangerous consequences . Kirk and Scott were successfully beamed into Engineering on board the " Enterprise " , but Scott ended up beamed into a holding tank in the ship ' s water treatment system . Soon after Scott was freed from his predicament , he and Kirk were captured and brought to the Bridge . There , Kirk challenged how calm Spock was after the destruction and the death of his mother , , provoking Spock to attack him . Kirk found himself being strangled against the helm console before Spock was stopped on command from his father , , who was on the bridge at that time . Realizing what he had done , Spock relinquished command under Regulation 619 , and left the Bridge . Kirk then took command , and began working on finding a way to overpower the " Narada " with the crew . The navigator of the " Enterprise " , , came up with an idea . He calculated that the " Narada " would pass by Saturn on its way to Earth . He reasoned that if they warped into Saturn ' s system and remained behind Titan , they could use magnetic interference from Saturn ' s rings to remain undetected . Assuming it hadn ' t already fired its drilling beam , they could use Scott ' s transwarp beaming calculations to beam someone on board the " Narada " . At this time , Spock , after a talk with Sarek about the loss of his mother , returned to the Bridge and confirmed Chekov ' s calculations . Spock volunteered to beam aboard the " Narada " ; since Romulans and Vulcans share similar cultural traits , it would be easier for him to figure out where the " Narada " s black hole device was . Kirk decided to go with him , ignoring Starfleet regulations about commanding officers beaming into dangerous situations . They also hoped to rescue Captain Pike while aboard the ship . The battle . By the time " Enterprise " has arrived , the " Narada " was already at Earth . It was lowering its drilling beam over San Francisco , home of Starfleet Command . The " Enterprise " emerged from warp in Titan ' s upper atmosphere , and helmsman Hikaru Sulu used impulse engines and thrusters to lift out of Titan ' s atmosphere and enter orbit . Scott tried to beam Kirk and Spock into the " Narada " s cargo bay , but ended up beaming them into another part of the ship that was heavily trafficked by its crew . This resulted in an intense phaser firefight . Kirk and Spock eventually reached a defensible position , avoiding their disruptor fire and killing most of the Romulans in the vicinity . One was left alive , stunned by Kirk ' s phaser . Kirk covered Spock while the latter used a mind meld on the stunned Romulan . He succeeded in determining the location of the " black hole device " and Captain Pike . Shortly after Kirk and Spock were beamed aboard , the " Narada " fired its drilling beam , cutting it off from the " Enterprise " . Kirk and Spock were on their own . The " black hole device " turned out to be a ship , the " " . When Kirk and Spock boarded the ship , it immediately recognized Spock as its owner , and gave its registry date as 2387 . It was here that Spock realized what was going on . When Kirk asked Spock if he could pilot the ship , Spock reasoned that he probably already had . While Spock took off in the " Jellyfish " , using its weapons to blast its way out of the " Narada " , Kirk found his way to the ship ' s bridge . He grappled briefly with Nero until Spock used the " Jellyfish " s weapons to shoot down the " Narada " s drilling platform , ending its drilling on Earth well before it could reach the planet ' s core . The platform fell harmlessly into San Francisco Bay , barely missing the Golden Gate Bridge . Nero left in a rage to go after the " Jellyfish " , leaving his first officer , Ayel , to deal with Kirk . While Ayel was able to overpower Kirk with relative ease , this made him overconfident , and he failed to realize that Kirk had stolen his disruptor until the Human , offered last words , let him know it just before shooting and killing him . Kirk then located and freed Captain Pike , who was left injured as a result of his earlier torture - during this time two Romulan guards had entered the chamber and discovered what was going on , but upon seeing them Pike grabbed Kirk ' s sidearm and shot both intruders before his savior even knew of their presence . The " Jellyfish " was able to warp away before a volley of torpedoes from the " Narada " could hit it . The " Narada " pursued the " Jellyfish " to a remote part of the Sol system . Spock laid in a collision course with " Narada " , which would ignite its remaining stockpile of red matter . Nero attempted to shoot the " Jellyfish " down with every remaining missile he had . At that point , the " Enterprise " appeared out of warp right behind the " Jellyfish " and destroyed all of the missiles aimed at it . The " Enterprise " was able to beam Spock , Kirk and Pike on - board before the " Jellyfish " collided with the " Narada " , igniting the red matter on board the " Jellyfish " and creating a black hole in the " Narada " . Kirk offered assistance to the " Narada " , but Nero defiantly refused . The " Enterprise " turned its weapons on the " Narada " , breaking the ship up and hastening its consumption by the black hole . Once the " Narada " was completely destroyed , however , the " Enterprise " found itself trapped in the black hole ' s gravity well , unable to move away even at maximum warp . Scott ejected several of the ship ' s warp core segments and detonated them near the black hole , helping push the " Enterprise " to safety . Aftermath . On Earth , Spock finally met the other Spock from the future of the prime reality . Spock was considering resigning his commission to assist with the rebuilding of Vulcan civilization , but his prime universe counterpart insisted that Spock " for once , put logic aside and do what feels right " and remain in Starfleet . Spock Prime had already found a suitable planet where the survivors of planet ' s destruction could begin the work of rebuilding their race . Following the incident , Christopher Pike required the use of a wheelchair as a result of his ordeal on the " Narada " . In light of his role during the battle , Pike was promoted to the rank of Admiral . For his heroism and quick thinking , James T . Kirk was promoted directly to Captain , and was assigned permanently to command the USS " Enterprise " in relief of Admiral Pike . A previous inquiry at Starfleet Academy concerning Kirk ' s actions in his third taking of the " Kobayashi Maru " test was dismissed . Kirk chose many of the cadets who were assigned to the " Enterprise " during the " Narada " crisis as his senior officers , including helmsman , navigation officer , communications officer , chief medical officer Dr . Leonard McCoy , and chief engineer ( who also brought Keenser along as part of his engineering staff ) . He would also choose as his first officer when the latter offered his candidacy for the position . ( )