After humanity prevailed in seven gruelling battles against its sister ships, the eighth and final Thargoid Titan, Cocijo, attacked Sol, striking at the very heart of our civilisation in a desperate but deadly gambit to turn the war in the aliens’ favour. As we did in the battles with the Titans Thor and Raijin, we asked our community of courageous Elite Dangerous commanders to fight, one last time, for humanity’s survival - and to bring us back reports and footage from the front lines. 

You’ll find those reports, videos, and photos below - all submitted by real Elite Dangerous players who were there when humanity fought back against its Cocijo, the last and deadliest of the Thargoid motherships. Here’s how it all went down: 

Initial reports from the assault on Thargoid Titan Cojico

While seven Titans had already been dispatched, even the most experienced pilots were under no illusions about the scale of the fight ahead. Here’s CMDR AndyRice echoing the Pilot's Federation call for aid, and delivering a rousing speech to his comrades:

"The situation is, honestly speaking, not promising. The Pilot's Federation released an announcement, appealing for all commanders to get involved in the current evacuation and anti-xeno activities. In this announcement, the Pilot's Federation wrote ‘There's no hope of evacuating all 22.8 billion inhabitants.’ I've never seen an announcement like this; I've never seen them this desperate in the past seven years.

“I've transferred half of my fleet to the Solar System, including an AX combat ship, a stealth Titan bomber, a battlefield maintenance vessel, and a refugee ship. I'll be the shield and sword of our beloved home.

“The enemy has arrived, and the battle has begun. During the past few days, we have sustained severe casualties. Most of the rescue ships have been mercilessly destroyed, while billions of people are still stranded on the burning spaceports.

“I don't know how this will end, but no matter how it ends, we’ll fight to the last moment of this war.

We'll fight at the burning space stations,

We'll fight over the glaciers of Europa,

We'll fight above the azure sea of our mother Earth,

We'll fight while the ruins are still burning,

We'll never fade gently into that good night,

We shall never surrender."

Joining the conflict in these early stages, Slamscape took it upon himself to take down a surface installation in Wolf 359 solo:

Inspired by the words of an ancient Earth president from centuries past, Odinoji took it upon themselves to investigate the threat, reporting back with these images of the Titan looming above Earth:

"Can we and all nations not live in peace? In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognise this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you, is not an alien force already among us? What could be more alien to the universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?"

The traitors and the evacuation

It’s a beautiful sentiment, and yet there are some who would think of individual fortune at the expense of common cause even in humanity’s most desperate hour, as CMDR Henckes's experience demonstrates. Henckes was in the nearby Ez Aquarii system - for there were many fronts in this battle other than the main showdown with Cocijo - and had a run-in with some traitorous humans:

"I was already days into fighting against Thargs and rescuing victims - this is just one of the many fights I engaged in after the Titan Cocijo moved! This is the battle in the system Ez Aquarii and it was tough. I had to be rescued because my ship was destroyed by Interceptors - like the Basilisk that almost killed me - and, unfortunately, by traitors; humans that have chosen to help the Thargoids.

"It’s almost impossible to understand why they would help in the annihilation of humanity, but somehow they prefer the enemy over their own kind. Yes, I know it was us humans who started the war, but we never made such invasive attacks on the Thargoids, we don't even know which system they live in. There’s no justification for them to invade the Bubble like this, to kidnap citizens and to start experimenting on our people.

"I never wanted to kill a single living being, but I want to live, and to see humanity prosper. I dreamed about a future in which we could coexist with the Thargs, but it looks more distant each day."

Before the attack on Cocijo began, evacuating civilians to safety was a major focus for many commanders. CMDR I.N.K.V.I dove into these efforts, before joining the anti-Xeno squadrons to help beat back the ceaseless assaults by Thargoid interceptors:

Battle is joined

Every single pilot was needed for the battle against Cojico, including those with less combat experience like JHenckes who enlisted alongside his brother for the battle:

"I've never been good at combat in Elite Dangerous, so I spoke to my brother and we went to help in these battles. I found myself in complicated battles, but I was able to take down enemies like Cyclopes and Basilisks."

"The battle is far from over, and the proof is that while we thought we were winning this war, they are literally in our backyard threatening to steal our home…"

For some commanders like Donut the weight of the battle was almost too much to bear:

"I was one of the last evac ships to leave Sol. I had just landed on the Cornwallis when the report came through: The Titan Had Arrived.

“At the same time, all the emergency channels out of Sol lit up like a Yule tree. Everyone was just screaming. No messages, no evac orders. Just screaming. And I would say it was the most terrifying thing I'd ever heard, but the scary thing was when all the channels went silent. That sudden quiet chilled me to the bone."

In dark times like these, the greatest motivation can be a reminder of what we're fighting for, as Lambda discovered during their first bombing run against Cocijo: 

"Having never made an attack on a Titan, I was definitely nervous entering the caustic cloud surrounding Cocijo. But my caustic sinks did their job, and I successfully avoided the pulse wave attack of the massive Thargoid. Then, as I was approaching for my first bombing run, a bright light hit my eyes. It wasn't a Thargoid attack, nor was it weapons fire from a fellow commander. It was Sol, the sun itself. That humble G-type main-sequence star has warmed and protected humanity for thousands of years. I was reminded of why I was here; to protect our precious cradle Earth and to save as many lives as possible. The sooner Cocijo fell, the sooner we could start recovering and rebuilding."

Watching the battle from beyond Cocijo's caustic cloud, GraphicEqualizer couldn't help but be awed and unsettled by the quiet surrounding them:

"Often the reports come in from the hectic war zones, close-ups of the Titan, the surface battles and mayhem, but sometimes just the still and ominous silence is even more unnerving... "

Outside Cocijo’s cloud, hundreds of Thargoid ships swarmed across Sol. LiquidMorkite logs capture the mood among pilots in those bleak early days as the Thargs destroyed all in their reach:

"Shortly after the invasion was confirmed, almost all rescue megaships were ordered to systems close to Sol to help with the defence, and shortly after their arrival, they couldn't survive the overflown waves of Thargoids. According to GalNet, eight of eleven active megaships are reported as destroyed. The Thargoids are not holding it back this time."

The turning tide

But that’s not the full story. LiquidMorkite’s account continues, describing how the collective efforts of thousands of commanders proved crucial in a slow, sure, yet agonising turn of the tide: "After one week of relentless fights, all the systems are back in our hands. Titan Cocijo is now completely vulnerable, and by the time I'm updating this post, it has one and a half hearts down."

LunchAndDinner buoyed by the rapid progress against Cocijo reported back with footage of their assault on the Titan:

"We are locked in, everyone is contributing to taking down Titan Cocijo! Like the other Titans, it's going down pretty fast as of right now. Many commanders are rallying together especially in the AXCI discord to coordinate attacks, we are doing our part in defending Sol!"

Despite the danger he was in, CMDR John Wick managed to capture a stunning image of Cojico following a bombing run:

The beginning of the end

As the war against the Thargoids - or at least, this phase of it - edged nearer to a close, DeeCajunGuy reports in with footage from one of his bombing runs, delivering one final call to action:

"No matter the threat, humanity will prevail. Time to hoist the black, the white whale became perfume, the kraken became a delicacy, and now these Thargoids are about to become an afterthought. For Sol, for humanity!"

Hunter log included several images of the colossal Cocijo:

After more than a week of desperate fighting, the end seemed in sight, but with Earth still in threat, pilots like Alec_Turner remained uneasy about what lay ahead:

"As I write these words the people of Earth are holding their breath.

"At approximately 06:48 UTC today the last remaining heart of the last remaining Titan was destroyed and the Titan has now entered a meltdown state. It's expected to explode in 24 hours. As one of the numerous pilots battling the Titan today and therefore responsible for its fate, the question I'm now asking myself is, will its cataclysmic detonation take the Earth with it?"

Meanwhile, Eskimo1313 worried that Cojico's death throes may have been a call for aid: "Titan Cojico made a few noises after its destruction that I feel it may be calling for reinforcements."

Finally, following two weeks of vicious fighting between humanity and the Thargoids’ final desperate gambit, Cocijo was destroyed. But while many celebrated the death of Sol's assailants, some commanders like Donut ruminated on the outcome - we had won, but at what cost?

"I can't help but think... the Thargoids have already done what they came to do. What will be left of Earth? What about the Titan wreckage that just destroys the other systems that we've killed Titans in? It seems that whether or not we win this war, the galaxy as we knew it is gone forever."

Our heartfelt thanks go out to every commander who stepped up, not only in the battle against Cocijo but in the fight against each and every Thargoid Titan that came before it. In our darkest hour, your bravery saved humanity from almost certain destruction, and while the Milky Way may never be the same again, at least its greatest threat is ended. What happens next is up to us.

Were you there in the battle against Cocijo? Share your memories of the event in the comments below! Now that the Thargoid war is at an end, you may want to get involved in some more community events by checking out the community spaces section of our Elite Dangerous guides.

Some text has been edited for brevity, clarity, or spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can find the original wording here. Image credit: Frontier Developments and LiquidMorkite.