In the final trailer there is a shot of Titan in some type of white/bluish maelstrom/debris field and an explosion of some kind. The next shot is of T'veen and the Haliian officer reacting to it as if in pain or distress. So it's possible some type of psychic/telepathic weapon is involved in the plot.
Spock had also sensed the deaths of an entire Vulcan crew before, so it could have been a ship/station full of Vulcans/telepaths that was destroyed.