Objectively, Colonel Mendoza recognized the complete collapse of his nation, and gathered together his senior commanders in the wake of the failure of the 3024 Small War. In that meeting, his force acknowledged that the nation they had followed was gone, and they chose to find their own way in an increasingly bad situation. The individual commands gathered their dependents and the bulk of their military assets, and made a break for the agricultural northern frontier, as far from the fighting and the urban sprawl as possible, seeking the relative safety of the hinterlands while the remaining military commanders began fighting for position and resources.

When the 3025 Pandemic Outworld Flu struck the world, his force were far from the epicenter, and largely managed to avoid the problems that other military commands suffered, luring smaller commands and national police forces as replacements for their losses, otherwise remaining strong in the face of the terrible plague.

3026 found his force calling itself “The Condottieri”, and they promptly declared themselves mercenaries and began seeking a way out of the nation, citing that life in the distant Sangrian town of Garrison might be a place they could find sanctuary. In late-January, 3026, they were approached by * “The Iron Dingoes” directly, having made contact with their agents in Garrison, and offered to evacuate the entire force directly to The New Republic of Sangria, and absorb the military elements, while offering land to their dependents on Dingoes territory. After a quick council of senior commanders of the 21st, they accepted, and within days, the entire force was evacuated via spheroid DropShips to Corazón Airfield for processing and medical evaluation, while the Dingoes dealt with another sudden increase in population and an additional three new battalions of raw infantry and armor to their forces.

Today, Colonel Mendoza commands the majority of his former command as it operates as a largely House force serving the Iron Dingoes. These troops rotate out of Gollere in short tours of duty to maintain combat readiness, but otherwise have simple facilities in Garrison that provide housing for their forces when they are on stand-by. As most of their dependents live nearby, this has proven quite manageable. He has various Majors and Captains who once served in his command as leading officers of each sub-unit under his command.

Generally speaking, this force often responds to Lord (Major) Michael Ruxbondy “Paladin” while in their cantonments, but ultimately operate as roving forces with very little responsibility beyond patrols of the unit’s local landholds when not deployed off-world. The force is loosely still referred to as the 21st Motorized Infantry Regiment “The Condotteri”, despite its loose organization as several independent units, each with their own specialization.

In mid-3030, the colonel was given over direct command of the newest military formation under the Iron Dingoes, the 1st Special Forces Group – “Red Shields”, and engaged them in training to operate as a rapid response force against the enemies of the Iron Dingoes. They were based from Fort Boomerang near Corazón Airfield for some months, where they were engaged in war games against * Dangerous Operations Group (DOG).

Today, the unit has taken possession of the central command facility in Garrison, where they operate as the primary patrol force for the entire landhold structure in Sangria. They patrol its edges, and operate largely as military police within the borders, assisted by any locally established community garrison force.