The Hornstromp Cartel is a fictional criminal organization specialized on drug trafficking operations from Psamathe to other planets of the Outlands (especially Gaea and other worlds with high demands for drugs even if illegal) as well as smuggling military-grade weapons and Pilot jumpkits into cartel's hand. First appeared in Titanfall 3 as enemies in campaign (especially the mission Standoff and Within the Crossfire) and both a playable faction and an enemy type in Frontier Defense.
It is one of many drug cartels in Psamathe and this cartel originates from the Malta city on the aforementioned planet.
Overview[]
Gameplay-wise, it is an enemy type encountered in cartel missions and as a separate faction from IMC/Militia (not even the separate group involved in attack of the Syndicate), it is hostile to both sides. However, it is classified as "neutral" due to ambiguity and the difficulty to separate drug cartels from armed citizens (being part of the vigilante groups against cartels).
They have improvised versions of civilian model Titans like Journeyman, modified for use in combat with both military forces, law enforcement agencies, and rival cartels as well. In-addition, this cartel have contraband Pilot jumpkits in their hands of certain gunmens and runners but they aren't Pilots mostly (and rather they are heavily-armed jumpkitted cartel gunmens and members), and they also have weaponized drones that drop bombs on an unsuspecting opponent.
Lore-wise, it is a paramilitary criminal organization that makes up for the money earned from smuggling of illicit drugs and arms trafficking within a country where the city Malta is on. Its armed personnels consists of former IMC and Militia soldiers and Pilots as well as some of Apex Games participants. However, some corrupt branches of FMITO terrorists are working for not only the Hornstromp Cartel, but also other drug cartels in the entire planet.
History[]
Not much about it are known before the events of Titanfall 3 but years after being started off as a splinter group from Silva Pharmaceuticals formed by Elain the Drug Lord following the death of Torres Silva by Revenant, the Hornstromp drug cartel took the stage of organized crime violence in Malta during the Frontier Militia incursion of Mercenary Syndicate as they're heavily militarized; they're equipped with military-grade version of Apex Legends weapons, which has same effectiveness as Titanfall 2 counterpart, thanks to recruiting former IMC and Militia soldiers and Pilots and the fact efforts done by IMC and Militia forces on cutting the supply of illegal drugs won't help, but instead making it worse by encouraging drug production and recruiting narco-traffickers.
Like Mexican drug cartels in real-life, the Hornstromp Cartel are subsequently designated as a terrorist group by both IMC and FMITO forces simply due to how much violent they are. However after the full-scale invasion of Psamathe by both sides, groups of surviving cartel members (not just Hornstromp) are displaced into obscure locations of the Outlands like certain locations on Gaea.
Pop-culture references[]
- Brigands from Death Stranding 2: The general appearance of outfits used by drug cartel Grunts and even Pilots, especially when the cartel members in Psamathe wearing gas masks similar to Brigands in Australia due to a smog in Malta, Psamathe.
- The Amazing Digital Circus content farmers on YouTube: Like the rest of Psamathe drug cartels, this cartel is named after TADC content farm channels. In this case, this cartel is named after the Hornstromp family of YouTube content farm animation channels.
- The main character of Elain the Bounty Hunter by Gooseworx: The drug kingpin is named after that.
- KPA soldiers from Crysis: The voice acting of drug cartel Grunts.
Trivia[]
- It is expected that this enemy type will possibly re-appear in extraction mode on Apex Legends since the inclusion of drug cartels in Titanfall games (excluding the TFL expansion pack for the campaign that is based around Blisk and set during Apex Legends timeline as in cancelled Titanfall Legends as well as cartel-related campaign DLCs and expansion packs) can distract from the main storyline of the single-player campaign if done improperly.