10 Times Streaming Era Star Trek Went Apocalyptic
6. Blow up Qo'Nos 1000 Years Early - Will You Take My Hand?
When the Burn decimated the Milky Way Galaxy, Qo'Nos was one of the planets that was almost destroyed. They, like many others, had Dilithium reactors active and operating on the planet's surface. Once the Dilithium went inert, these reactors exploded, killing billions of Klingons in the process. It was a terrible page in Klingon history, though in one possible reality, it had been preceded by another huge-scale explosion almost a millennium earlier.
At the close of the Klingon-Federation War, Emperor (posing as Admiral) Philipa Georgiou proposes a drastic response to Klingon invasions. In her own reality, she had transported a series of explosives beneath the planet's surface, positioning them at critical tectonic locations. When detonated, they had exploded along fault lines, beginning a chain reaction that devastated the planet's surface.
In the Prime Universe, the War with the Klingons had become so costly and devastating that Starfleet unofficially approved of a similar plan, though of course they could never publicly sanction genocide. The USS Discovery was to jump into the planet's crust (appearing inside a large cave system), wherein Georgiou and a small team from the ship would then plant the bombs. Most of the crew were kept in the dark about this, with the understanding that they would refuse the order if they discovered it.
In this assumption, Starfleet were vindicated, for as soon as Tilly realised what she was carrying, she informed Burnham, who in turn confronted Georgiou. After some brief crossed words (and fists), control of the explosives was given to L'Rell, who used this leverage to become the High Chancellor.
And they say there are no positives to hiding bombs under the Earth (or Qo'Nos?)