Jim blocked another strike to his head, arms buckling with the blow, desperately wishing that he had more backup. The angry Romulan had knocked McCoy unconscious quickly, leaving the young padawan alone in his fight. Wielding a strange lightsaber design, more of a spear than a saber, he'd come out of nowhere. But he recognized him. He recognized his Force signature. Jim was fighting for his life against Nero, and he was losing.

Off to the side, Nyota, Scotty and Keenser were being Force-held against the wall by another Romulan who stood at attention nearby, watching the duel with a sneer on his face. Scotty and Nyota both had horrified expressions on their faces, but neither of them could do anything.

"You humans are rather pathetic, you know," Nero commented quietly, easily parrying Jim's clumsy attack. The young Jedi wasn't a bad fighter; he could hold his own against multiple opponents, but he had never fought against someone who was as strong as Nero, or ever faced anyone with a weapon that this opponent was using. Jim wasn't surprised that he was losing. But he never stopped. He couldn't afford to stop.

"So weak..." he continued as Jim desperately deflected another blow. "One swing from me at full force…" He brought his pike down onto Jim's lightsaber, sending it tumbling away from his hands, down into the pit behind him. "...And I have you at my mercy."

Quickly, Jim found himself hit in the gut by the butt of the pike, falling backwards with an 'oomph', completely winded. Within seconds, Nero's hands were around his throat, squeezing tightly. "All it takes is for me to cut off your air supply." The fingers tightened, Jim desperately gasping out, reaching out into the Force to try and find the strength to get Nero to release him, only to have his attempts blocked by the unmoving barrier that was Ayel.

His vision was fading to black, and he frantically tried to cling to consciousness. Suddenly, Nero paused, and his eyes narrowed. "That signature…" he whispered softly, and then his eyes widened. He screamed the name of the half-Vulcan, his hands loosening on impulse, and then he was gone, running, the lightsaber pike flying into his outstretched hand.

Jim had only a moment to gasp for breath before he found his throat constricted again. Ayel calmly lifted him into the air with one arm, looking at him with his typical sneer. Jim wished they would find a better method of killing him than just crushing his windpipe. Then he felt something at his waist, and he found that there was some hope.

Ayel laughed softly, turning his head this way and that. "You really are so weak; look at you." Jim tried to gasp something out, his fingers reaching out for that one chance. "You can't even talk…" Jim grasped it, and Ayel loosened his grip around his neck just enough that he could choke out what he wanted to say. "What?"

"I've got your saber…"

Ayel's eyes went wide as the young Jedi activated the weapon, the golden beam slicing straight through Ayel's torso. The Romulan's eyes rolled back into his head, and he let go.

It was then that Jim realized that this probably wasn't one of his better ideas. Ayel fell forward, pulling Jim along with him, the both of them beginning the long descent down into the bowels of the ship. Jim landed on the platform first, knocking the wind out of him, but not breaking his fall. The gold saber fell onto the platform, just as Jim slipped off.

He tried to use the Force to slow his plummet, but he was too weak. He felt his world going black for the second and possibly last time.

The prime version of Spock stood in the same place that he had found his counterpart. His eyes were closed, his mind centering itself out of habit in the quiet meditation of the damned. The sudden igniting hum of a lightsaber made his eyes slit open, looking out into the dark in front of him. The red short and wide tip of Nero's lightsaber pike was pointed at the floor and glowed brightly in the darkness. The Romulan who wielded it stared at Spock with eyes filled with wild fury.

The elderly Vulcan didn't make a move. He stood there calmly, waiting for his longtime adversary to react.

"Spock," Nero finally hissed out.

The half-Vulcan nodded in acknowledgement, staring at him.

"I've waited seventeen years for this moment, old man, seventeen years. Don't plan on me killing you though; I plan on enjoying watching you suffer."

At that, the fallen Jedi charged, swinging his pike with a yell. Spock calmly raised one arm, a lightsaber flying into his hand. The red beam ignited, easily blocking the blow. "You shall have to try harder than that, Nero."

Nero snarled, and made another slash, and Spock parried it as easily as he had the last. The Romulan stepped back and spun, slicing widely, only to have the lightsaber come up and block the blow again. Nero gave a shout and lunged, slashed, twisted, stabbed only to have each attack countered and avoided. Spock backed away slowly, shaking his head sadly. "You are angry and vengeful, my old friend. In your current state, you will not be able to defeat me."

Nero growled, "I am not here to be patronized by you! Now FIGHT ME!"

Spock raised an eyebrow, and his other lightsaber joined the first, both of them humming as steadily as their wielder. "As you wish."

Jim's eyes snapped open at the feeling of a hand firmly grabbing onto his wrist. In shock, he looked up and came face-to-face with Spock. The half-Vulcan was standing on the bottom of the platform, likely using some Vulcan Force trick to keep him there. His eyes were wide, and Jim couldn't help but smile at him. "Thanks, Spock."

The half-Vulcan didn't reply, instead pulling his mouth into a thin line. "I commend you for managing to kill Ayel, but I believe your master would not be pleased should you have died in the process. In addition, it is not necessary to thank someone for doing what needed to be done."

Jim grinned at him, "If you say so."

"Well…paint me shirt red and call me a Lieutenant Commander…I dinnae know ye could stand on the ceilin'…"

Spock blinked, and raised an eyebrow at Jim.

The padawan grinned, "That's Scotty. We met him on Hoth."

Spock didn't reply, simply hefted him up until Scotty could grab him and haul him the rest of the way. Spock then crouched, grasped the platform edge, and pulled himself into a handstand position before letting his legs fall onto the top side of the platform and standing up.

"What is it with you Vulcans and insane feats of strength?"

"Vulcans are naturally three times stronger than a human. There is nothing 'insane' about it; it is merely a facet of my natural biology."

"Ah."

Spock walked over, hefting McCoy onto his shoulder, and turning to look at Jim again. "I will take your master to my ship. Follow Nyota; she will take you to Master Pike and then take you to where my ship is located. You should not be bothered by many guards; Ayel was the head torturer. Here they do not have jailers."

With that he dismissed them with a nod and turned and ran.

"I hope my master won't overreact…"

Nyota gave a soft scoff before pointing down at the lower platform. "We need to get down there. I'd recommend jumping; think you're up to getting us down there safely now that someone's not crushing your trachea?"

Jim grinned at her. "Jump."

Nyota nodded and did so, Jim reaching out with the Force and giving her a boost so she landed safely. He looked to Scotty and nodded his head at the gap. Scotty looked down, looked to Nyota, looked at Keenser, and then looked back to Jim. "Ye've gotta be out of yer bloomin' mind."

Keenser pushed him, the engineer letting out a squawk before Jim managed to catch and half-toss/half-push him to Nyota, who braced herself and caught him. They fell onto the platform. Scotty blinked wearily, then looked down and realized just who he was laying on. "Ach! Sorry, lass!" he said hurriedly, standing up and helping her to her feet. Keenser jumped next, and Jim proceeded to show off by making a spectacular flip onto it.

"Alright, this way," Nyota stated once she was sure their attention was on her, and ran. They ran after her.

When McCoy came to, he found himself looking into the tattoo-covered face of a vulcanoid being. He automatically jerked backwards, using the Force to try and push him away. However, Spock had been expecting it, and raised his own hand, slicing down in front of him, the push going out to either side uselessly. That was when McCoy noticed the honest concern in the black eyes and relaxed.

"Alright, you pointy-eared hobgoblin, where's Jim, where's the rest of them?'

Spock blinked, surprised, yet pleased that he seemed to be more interested in getting to the point than useless questions. All of this was, of course, closely hidden. McCoy never got a chance to register any of those thoughts. "Jim has gone with Nyota; they will likely be saving Christopher at this point…"

"'Christopher', huh? Seems like a certain lack of respect to me…" Spock's features tensed, and McCoy reminded himself that while the Vulcan was young, he was even younger by Vulcan standards, and he was reaching his limit. "What's the story behind all of that? I know that you're not on Nero's side…what was the plan?"

Spock tensed, and then slowly shook his head. "I am not at liberty to discuss it. Please, McCoy, I give you my word that I mean you no harm, but you must trust me. Should we get a chance later, I shall tell you, but for now there is too much to do. Can you walk?"

"Yes."

"I need you to help me get this ship ready for takeoff. I shall keep this part of the Narada on loop surveillance; you must begin the start-up sequence. Is this agreeable?"

"Yeah, but we're not leaving without Jim."

"We will not leave until everyone returns."

"Does that include your older counterpart?"

Spock was silent for a moment, his eyes clouding slightly as he slipped into the stream of the Force, following the passages of time, tracing each lifesource he could find, right up until its end.

"His future remains uncertain," Spock finally answered quietly, running McCoy through the necessary sequences before the Jedi Knight could comment, and then leaving the ship to continue the surveillance loop.

McCoy desperately hoped that they wouldn't lose another Vulcan to that monster. But he didn't say a word, merely watched him go, before forcing himself upright and running through the steps Spock had given him.