2400s Dalek invasion of the solar system

The 25th century Dalek invasion was an invasion of the Solar system waged by the Daleks, led by the Golden Emperor, (COMIC: Invasion of the Daleks) from the year 2400 to 2409 at the latest. (PROSE: Break-through!)

Preparations
At a time when the Daleks still did not know the location of the Earth, the Earth ship the Starmaker was pounded by a meteor storm and forced to land on Skaro. The Daleks destroyed the ship. The only survivors were Captain Flint Fleet and two children, siblings Tom and Jennie, who escaped in a Dalek saucer to warn Earth of the danger posed by the Daleks. Among the wreckage of the Starmaker, the Daleks found the remains of a piece of paper which revealed to them the existence and location of Earth. The Emperor declared that the Daleks would search for Earth and conquer it. (COMIC: The Road to Conflict)

Later, Skaro moved to the Solar system around the orbit of the Sun, making it easier for the Daleks to invade. (COMIC: Invasion of the Daleks)

Colony attacks
Before moving to invade Earth, the Daleks first wiped out the primitive races on the moons of Jupiter and the monsters on the moons of Saturn. They then destroyed the small human colony on Mars in just three hours.

Several weeks later, the Daleks travelled to Venus to conquer it. They were briefly seen passing Earth by Paddy who was working on an observation satellite but they activated an electron shield which masked their presence. As flying saucers were regarded as a 20th century myth, he was sent on sick leave back to Earth and treated for moonspots.

On Venus, New Paris was unprepared for the Dalek attack and after the savage onslaught it was reduced to ruins with the survivors rounded up and after a brief protest during which several dissenters were exterminated, they were made into slaves. After this, two Daleks were sent on hoverbouts to investigate the Churchill Mountains where Jeff, Andy and Mary Stone were on a working holiday. They destroyed their cabin and captured Jeff and Mary whilst Dalek Scout 159. Andy used a rock blaster to destroy the scout and after discovering its intercom, vowed to rescue Jeff and Mary. (COMIC: Invasion of the Daleks)

Occupation of Venus
After four months of hiding himself from the Daleks and struggling with the sometimes scarce food supply, Andy discovered from a dying man on Major Road Eight that Jeff had been taken to the lead smelting works because of his profession as a mineralogist. Two days, Andy infiltrated the lead works and located Jeff who was in control of a new painting process that allowed the Daleks the combat the rust they suffered from in the climate of the planet. With Andy's assistance, Jeff mixes sodium azide and lead salt with the paint mixture and convinces the Daleks that all the casings should be painted at once. Under the hot Venusian sun, the paint hardened and the sodium azide combined with the salt to produce lead azide which fractures causing thousands of tiny explosions. The disorientation experienced because of this allow Andy enough time to release Jeff from his chains and they both escape, with the mission of locating Mary. (PROSE: Red for Danger)

Before they could conquer Earth, the Daleks needed lots of oil but the delays involved in procuring this on Venus angered the Dalek Council who ordered that the slaves be worked to death. Mary negotiated with the Daleks to employ a system where one half of the work force rests while the other half works to increase productivity and prevent casualties from exhaustion. This new system was very efficient so Mary was sent to New Paris to implement the system at other oil wells. The glass on the binoculars Jeff and Andy was using led to them almost being detected in a nearby forest which gave them the idea to reflect the heat the sun to one of the search lights to start a fire. The oil well was destroyed which prompted the slaves inside to rebel against their masters. After they were freed, they talked with Jeff and Andy and gave them information about the whereabouts of Mary. (COMIC: The Oil Well)

Suddenly, the Daleks disappeared from Venus. Although it was known that huge fleets of them had retreated to other universes, a large section had been last seen near the Churchill Mountains, which they had hollowed out and made a base. Vel Karneen of the Space Army landed on the planet in search of them. Whilst thinking on the Winston Dam, Jeff noticed that the central Churchill Mountains was larger than the others whereas before the Dalek occupation they had all been the same size, deducing that the Daleks must be inside. Vel allowed him and Andy to borrow a copterjet which they landed at the bottom of the mountains before beginning the climb upwards. They discovered the Dalek base and gained access. The slaves were rolling oil drums from a stockpile to the base of the rockets, where its contents were drawn out to the interior of the space fleet. Andy reunited with Mary and spread the word among the prisoners of the incoming rescue whilst Jeff disabled the lights in the base. Once doing so, the slaves all ran towards the exit and down the mountain with only minor casualties being sustained. The Daleks immediately attempted to flee with all twenty rocket ships stored in the mountain being met by the Space Army. The Daleks managed to down one of the Space Army ships but were completely obliterated soon after, ending their occupation of Venus. (PROSE: The Secret of the Mountain)

Secret missions
Later, on one of his scouting space trips, Jeff landed on Skaro and delivered a report back to Earth on the inner workings of the Dalek City including a document titled Anatomy of the Dalek. He was briefly seen by one Dalek but was able to escape before capture. (COMIC: City of the Daleks)

Jeff, Andy and Mary went to Mars equipped with a spectroscanner that can detect dalekenium. They arrive and find a badly wounded man named Catilla who tells them that he and his crew were captured by the Daleks and taken to Mars. They escort him and the crew back to their ship where he falls into a coma but that night the spectroscanner was destroyed. When questioned, Cattila reveals they are artificial humanoids and that the Daleks promised them Mars in return for the capture of the Stones. Andy knocks him out and a squad of Daleks arrive but Jeff swiftly wipes them out with a weapon on the ship - the pulveriser. The trio head back to Venus with their prisoners, Mary joking that it would probably take them fifty years to pay for a new spectroscanner. (COMIC: The Humanoids)

The Daleks decided to send an advance rocket ship which landed in a field in Kent to establish a reception station for the full invasion by spraying down liquid metal so the larger ships could land on the hardened metal strips rather than the uneven ground. A young mole who was experiencing his first night out of home alone, observed as these events unfolded. He went over to examine the oblong sheets and tiny silver balls to deduce that this was what he had smelt. An approaching Dalek startled him and he hurriedly burrowed underneath the metal roadway and then veered and surfaced. The weight of one of the sprayers pressed down on the edge of the metal sheet bearing the hole and dipped, falling onto its side. It accidentally turned on and sprayed liquid metal all over the Daleks which collided with each other in an attempt not to be solidified. Two Daleks escaped the initial burst and sped away to retrieve a solution from the ship but were caught on the ramp. They were all easily disarmed when found the next morning with Jeff declaring that "If I could find the mole who did this, I'd make him the most popular animal in history." (PROSE: The Small Defender)

Daleks based on Gurnian captured the spacecraft that Andy and Mary were travelling in. To amuse, the Daleks let their prisoners loose on the planet with the hope of them being devoured by the native Horrorkons. However, the Horrokons ignored Andy and Mary and they worked out that it is metal that appeals to them. They gathered up all the scraps they could find and lured one of the beasts to the Daleks that were pursuing them where they were destroyed. Andy and Mary quickly got off the planet with the intention of calling in the Space Army to deal with the remaining Daleks. (COMIC: Monsters of Gurnian)

Final battles
At this stage in the conflict, there were many human spies on Skaro posing as humanoids such as Mike Sharman. (PROSE: Diamond Dust)

in the search for a new dyno-molecular mineral, Jeff took his underwater sea laboratory to a depth of four hundred fathoms he found a Dalesub that disappeared over a thousand years prior. Taking the ship to the surface, he encountered a Dalek patrol which attacked but the ship's weapons were able to easily overcome them. (COMIC: The Super Sub)

Using their massive data processing machine, the Daleks discovered that diamond dust was an effective weapon through the experiences of miner Harry Longhurst in 1960 and a jeweller who had been cutting a diamond. At this time, there was an uneasy peace betweeen Skaro and Earth and it was speculated the Daleks were preparing for a big attack. Jeff was sent to Skaro to investigate and spoke with spy Mike Sharman who told him of the Daleks' plan. He told the Earth officials and having been elected Chief of Defences eventually came up with the inspiration from the London Underground and told all Earth cities to build similar systems. When the Daleks attacked, the trains all began at once and with jet engines at strategic points the dust was blown back at the Dalek force, disintegrating them on impact. (PROSE: Diamond Dust)

Eventually, the Daleks were forced to retreat back to Skaro where they activated a force field to prevent the Space Army from landing. On Jupiter, Mary was able to blend three kinds of acids together which ate through the silcronium casings the Daleks wore. On Mercury, Andy trained an army of silver ants to carry rust and spread it amongst them. On Pluto, Jeff discovered how to bend the sun's rays which first blinded and then disarmed Dalek invaders.

Vel Karneen lost a total of twelve ships whilst attempting to enter the gaps in the force field at Skaro's north and south poles. Whilst discussing balloons, it occurred to Jeff that if one of the poles were sealed then the Daleks would have no air and suffocate. As this happened, a note was sent through the force field telling the Daleks of this and soon after they lowered the field to discuss peace terms. (PROSE: Break-through!)

The Dalek Emperor agreed to the terms that the Daleks would never leave Skaro again and that their dreams of conquest were over. The world rejoiced over peace with newspaper articles reaching New York and Paris, a cricket commentary being interrupted in one location and robots receiving extra oil. Andy remembered that the Black Fleet had last been seen near Earth and realising that the Moon was undefended, he, Jeff and Mary set off to investigate. They discovered Daleks there intending to use discarded nuclear bombs to stir up lots of dust and rock. They were then planning to use a megla ray during a solar eclipse to send the dust and rock to Earth making the air unbreathable. Mary set the bombs to detonate before the eclipse occurred which destroyed the Daleks who were still preparing on the Moon. As they watched the eclipse from space, Jeff confirmed that their search for Daleks was only just beginning. (COMIC: Battle for the Moon)

Aftermath
Stories of the history of the invasion were written in the history book of the Age of Universal Peace which begun in 2409. (PROSE: Break-through!) As part of the treaty, the Dalek weapons were stored in a big space vault above Skaro and the Daleks themselves had their gunsticks removed. Two hundred years later, an artificial planet had been destroying planets and posed a potential threat to Skaro and Earth. As it was an age of peace and the humans didn't understand how to work the Dalek weapons they had little with which to defend themselves. Reluctantly, the humans accepted the help the Emperor offered in return for their weapons back. After the Mechanical Planet had been destroyed, the Emperor declared that the Daleks will conquer every planet, beginning the conflict anew. (COMIC: The Mechanical Planet)

Daleks with time travel native to the 40th century attempted to go back in time to reprise the invasion in 2415 but the Golden Emperor's time machine was faulty and he ended up in 1415 during the Battle of Agincourt. Without their leader the invasion was a failure and the remaining Daleks quickly surrendered. (COMIC: The Secret of the Emperor)

Historical discrepancies with the Dalek Wars
Accounts of the Age of Universal Peace lasting "two hundred years" until the beginning of the invasion of the 27th century, (COMIC: The Mechanical Planet) conflicted with accounts of the Dalek Wars, specifically the Second Dalek War which was fought throughout much of the 26th century. (TV: Frontier in Space, PROSE: Love and War, Prisoner of the Daleks, et al.)

The narrator of The Dalek Conquests noted that writing a precise chronological account of Dalek history was made very difficult by the fact that the Daleks possessed time travel. The exact details of the effects this may have had on Dalek history and the aftermath of the 25th century invasion in particular is unclear. (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests)

Behind the scenes
This is the first attempted Dalek invasion of Earth depicted in any media as the release of The Dalek Book preceded their second television appearance in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and the eponymous invasion in that story by nearly five months.

As with aspects of The Dalek Chronicles detailing the creation of the Daleks, the events in The Dalek Book and its follow-up storyline in The Dalek World were contradicted by future stories. In the case of the Dalek annuals, the 200-year peace achieved in The Dalek Book was eventually overridden by Frontier in Space and ensuing stories about the Second Dalek War during the 26th century.

No other works have tried to reconcile these inconsistencies, but The Dalek Conquests and The Dalek Handbook at least suggest the Daleks involved in the Second Dalek War were guilty of changing history as their time travel technology became more sophisticated. The Daleks adopt similar strategies in The Dalek Outer Space Book comic story The Secret of the Emperor, though to little success.

At any rate, these inconsistencies do not necessarily suggest any alterations to the 25th century invasion itself - only to its longer-term aftermath during the Age of Universal Peace and the 27th century invasion.