The Hollandian Task Force

February 11, 2003 - Waters South of Kaafu Atoll - Raj Southern Island Chain - Southern Expanse

The Raj Southern Island Chain was a group of 30 atolls that were located 500 kilometres south of the main islands of the Oceanic Raj, a colony of the Oceanic Empire that was located in the Asiatic Island Mass, and stretched from the Persain Island Cluster to the Gual Colony of Indosine. The Malayan Island Cluster, which formed the northern side of Malacca, was a part of the Raj, along with several other strategic points. The Raj had very little military might, and most of the fleets stationed within its waters were Oceanic fleets that served in those areas, like the Oceanic Malayan Squadron, the Oceanic Ceylon Squadron, and the Oceanic Southern Colonies Squadron, among others. At present, most of these fleets had been brought to Europa to fight in the war against Mediterrenea and the Reich, and the Raj was left almost defenceless. Because of the lack of ships at their disposal, the Admiralty had decided to leave the Southern Island Chain unguarded in order to assign forces to more valuable strategic areas. While they were unique as the only island chain in the Southern Expanse, the atolls held no real strategic value. 

The largest of these atolls, Kaafu Atoll, was home to five hundred people, two small sailboats, and a task force of six ships that were anchored a few kilometres off shore. The six ships were ships of neither the Raj or the Oceanic Empire, but ships of the Koninklijke Marine, the Navy of the Kingdom of Hollandia. The two nations of Hollandia and Oceanica were both colonial powers that had had many feuds between them, but had put it all aside to wage war against the Niemec Reich. At least, that was what Kaafu's citizens believed. They were an isolated territory of the Empire, and had no idea that two weeks earlier, Hollandia had signed a treaty with the Reich that removed them from the war. 

It had been two weeks since Hollandia had left the war, and a month since Admiral De Ruyter, the commander-in-chief of the Koninklijke Marine had sent Java to the Southern Expanse to hunt down the Builder that had been discovered at Malacca. Based on the reports from Soemba, the gunboat who guarded the Hollandian side of Malacca, the Builder was leading a fleet made up of a Westarian Des Moines-class heavy cruiser, a Yamato Myōkō-class heavy cruiser, and an unidentified battleship. Also mentioned in that report was the fact that the Oceanicans also knew about his existence, and were probably going to hunt him down too. The national Hollandian intelligence agency, the Koninklijke Inlichtingendienst, had also reported that the Communists, the Reich, the Mediterrenean Empire, and the Republic of Gual were all sending fleets of their own to the Southern Expanse. The latest report from Soemba described a joint task force of Westarian and Yamato ships, more than two hundred ships strong, that had taken a whole day to pass through the strait of Malacca, from when the first ship entered to when the last ship exited. Java knew that her task force would be the smallest of the eight nations competing for the Builder, and that she wouldn't be the first one to arrive, either. 

Thanks to the treaty, Java's task force had been able to pass through Mediterrenean waters, saving a week of travel. With that shortcut, they gained a lead over the Gauls and the Oceanicans. The treaty also allowed for the rest of the Navy to pass through the same shortcut and support the task force. The task force was made up of some of the most advanced ships of the navy, but they were still a meagre force of six ships: four surface vessels and two submarines. Java was the commander, and the largest ship in the fleet. She was identical to her sister, Sumatra, with the same ten guns, the same two funnels, and the same tall masts. Her deputy commander was Van Kingsbergen, a fast sloop that had served at Lux with Java's sister. Van Galen and Van Ghent, two of the Admiralen-class destroyers, and O 19 and O 20, the two O 19-class submarines, made up the rest of the force. 

They were anchored off of Kaafu to refuel, and, once they were fully fuelled, they would depart south for Diego Garcia, the centre of the Southern Expanse.