Martian Invasion of 1997

The Martian Invasion of 1997, simply known as the Martian Invasion and later known as the Dying Days, was an invasion of Earth by the Ice Warriors of Mars, which took place in May of the year 1997, seeing the United Kingdom briefly subject to the Martian Occupation. They used "giant camera tripods" during their invasion. (PROSE: The Dying Days)

6th May
The Prince of Wales and his sons were on the royal jet on course to London when the Martian ship entered the atmosphere, diverting to Madrid. Ancelyn was in Durham on a pilgrimage to the tomb of St Cuthbert when his sacred oath called him to protect the rightful sovereign of the Britons and their descendants. He headed to Balmoral with an SAS team to evacuate Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, with the submarine Prometheus waiting to take them to safety in Canada whilst other members of the royal family were being accounted for. (PROSE: The Dying Days)

7th May
At 10 o'clock, the third Martian Proclamation was given: "People of the United Kingdom. Your astronauts committed a terrible crime, through their ignorance. This should not be the way our races first meet. Let us put today behind us, and work together. We have much to offer one another. Your fellow human clans abandoned you, yet you fought for your beliefs. This we respect. We have talked to your Lord Greyhaven, he is a brave, bold man. Let us live in peace, people of the United Kingdom and Mars."

- The third proclamation.

16th May
Royalists launched an attack on London, with Provision Government spotters reporting that they had blocked off the M25 and they are moving in on most of the major routes. Taking over local radio stations, they prepared a broadcast at midday, the same time as the "ex-Queen" was to address the UN General Assembly.

Following midday, the Brigadier spoke: "I am the commanding officer of the force that will liberate London. Not just from the Martians, but from those that betrayed you to the Martians. I serve Xznaal, Greyhaven and the rest of their Provisional Government notice: this is their last day in office. Our army is already mobilised. It is a small force, but it is larger than Henry's at Agincourt, and we have right on our side. The Provisional Government has lied to you: its members have been in league with the Martians for many years in their attempts to gain power. Now they have power, they use it against their own people: the air-raid on Edinburgh, shooting on civilians in Bradford, cutting off the water and electricity supplies in Chester and York. Thousands of people have died, but this is only the beginning. I saw for myself the effect of the Martian gas on Adisham. Unless they are stopped, the Martians will wipe out mankind with their new weapon. I don't mean to scare you: rest assured that the Martians can be stopped. With your assistance, they will be stopped today. We would ask those Londoners wishing to evacuate to head south, down to Kent. Those who wish to join us are equally welcome - you can help us by cutting power and telecommunications lines, by barricading the smaller roads and by preventing the Provisional Government's security forces from barricading the major ones. Hopefully, we will not have to fire a single shot to end the Martian Occupation. It is now a quarter past twelve. Our tanks will be in Ealing, now. God willing, the Provisional Government will have fallen within the hour."

- Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.

As the speech finished, the broadcast cut to live coverage of the Queen's address to the United Nations. She had been informed of the effort to retake London and had given it her blessing. Her speech began by wishing luck to Lethbridge-Stewart and his forces. Her advisors waited outside as she spoke, preparing to hand out press releases and lobbying ambassadorial staff. (PROSE: The Dying Days)

Aftermath
Having been deposed during the invasion, Queen Elizabeth II was restored to the British throne. Her second coronation, the only recoronation in the history of the United Kingdom, was held on 23 November 1997. At this point, six months following the invasion, the whole incident was looked on as a distant memory.

Oswald put forward the claim that there had never been any Martians, it had all been part of the coup leaders' conspiracy to divert attention while they seized power. His main observation was that few people had actually seen a Martian, and no items of alien technology had been recovered. Any sightings' of the Martians or their ship could be put down to mass hysteria or ball lightning. Oswald wrote a book on the matter which had become a best-seller, and his theory was particularly popular in the United States. (PROSE: The Dying Days)