Justus Barus

Justus Barus, 2014

Justus Barus in 2016

Justus Barus in 2018

Private investigator (Currently)

## TACITUS Expanded Universe Information

### Weapon

Smith & Wesson Model 327, Glock 17, Heckler & Koch HK416, any weapon at his disposal

### Real life counterpart/Model

Iko Uwais

> "*So, you thinking about working for us anytime soon? We're always open for a new squamate."*
>
>
> "No, I'm done.*"*
>
>
>
> ― Vince Crosby and Justus Barus in the aftermath of his 2014 war against New Dawn and its associates
>
>

**Justus Barus**is a former Indonesian Armed Forces soldier, an immigrant to the United States, and a private investigator. He is considered the East Asian counterpart of Derek Westbrook (at least as a private investigator).

## Biography

Not much is known about Justus' past, but what is known is that he was a former soldier in the Indonesian Army, having spent at least five years in the Army before retiring for unknown reasons and joining the police force.

In 2014, Justus investigated several members of his own police force after it was found that they were making corrupt dealings with Indonesian criminal syndicates. After a clean member of the police force revealed to Justus that some of his fellow cops are corrupt, he asked Justus to investigate while undercover. Justus agreed, but his mission soon transformed into a one-man mission of retribution against the mobsters and the corrupt cops that supported him after it was discovered they killed his wife, a private investigator who had similar suspicions. During Justus' mission, he encountered Task Force Reaper, who had been hired to investigate drug trafficking allegations within the Indonesian police force. They formed a tentative alliance and together waged a vigilante war against the corrupt branches of Indonesia's own government that were responsible for running and covering up the drug trafficking activities.

After laying waste to much of the mobsters and corrupt cops responsible for his wife's death and killing the main ringleader, he quit the police force and moved to the United States sometime later. He considered becoming a member of Task Force Reaper, out of gratitude for their help, but later decided against it and became a private investigator instead.

As of 2017, he is still friends with the Reapers.

In 2017, Justus was involved with investigating a human trafficking ring run by both the Democratic Empire of Korea, Indonesian crime lords, and the Chinese Triads. He is first involved when he hears of the kidnapping of a young American woman named Opheilia Drake at the hands of human traffickers in Indonesia, where he is visiting family members. Justus later discovers connections between the kidnapping of Ophelia and his 2014 investigation of the crime mob that had corrupted the police force he worked for. Along the way, he meets Ophelia's younger sister Wendy Drake and they work together to bring down the human traffickers. Coincidentally, he also finds himself reunited with the Reapers and also meets Vince's younger brother, Israel Crosby.

Israel, Vince, Wendy, and Justus embark on a rescue mission, laying waste to the human trafficking network to save Ophelia.

## Personal details

### Personality

Justus is a quiet individual, having been an introvert for most of his life. Whenever he does speak, it is usually either witty humor or a quick comment. He is quite good at internalizing his thoughts.

Justus is almost always calm and composed: the only times he got angry are when he found out his wife was killed by corrupt cops in his own police force and when he witnessed his new friends in Task Force Reaper under attack from his foes that were responsible for his wife's downfall.

He has a strong sense of loyalty towards his friends.

###  Political views

Justus is Anti-authoritarian, believing that governments were originally intended for good, but humanity has corrupted them to the point where they are evil and oppressive. He is also an anti-conformist, believing that conformity leads to "slavery."

### Religious views

Justus was raised Buddhist, but during his teen years he left Buddhism, believing it to be "deceptive", that its teaching of working towards freedom from suffering is "self-defeating" and ultimately "pointless." He has a high respect for Christians and Jesus Christ, citing Him as a true Anarchist. He has also believed that although Jesus was not anti-authoritarian, He was hostile to the idea of government (to a certain extent). He commonly wonders why so many people believe in salvation by works, even though the Bible clearly taught against it.

Justus currently believes a blend of Philosophical Theism and Dystheism. He is a Philosophical Theist in that he believes that one does not need doctrine (ex: the teachings of the Bible) to know God-they instead can read about what God has done throughout history to confirm whether He is real. He is also a Dystheist, believing that God may not be as good as the holy texts from the various religions make Him out to be. He cites various stories in the Bible and the Qu'ran and various other holy texts from Monotheistic religions to cite his argument, the most prominent being:

* God telling Abraham to kill Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice in the Book of Genesis
* God killing the whole human race with a flood after the Fall of Man
* God instructing the Israelites to drive out the Canaanites from the Promised Land via violent means
* God killing Aaron's sons for offering a sacrifice the wrong way.
* The death and resurrection of Jesus in general (which Justus believes is a coverup disguised as "Good News" for people to detract from the horror of such an event).
* The entire Muslim Qu'ran (which, to Justus, seems to be the revelations of a "Holy Madman" who cannot seem to make up his mind concerning how his followers, the Muslims, should submit to and worship him).

The above texts make up his major argument that God seems to contradict Himself in so many different ways to the point where it has become impossible to know for sure whether this God truly is perfect.

He also has a problem with people maintaining that God "exists", claiming that such a phrase leads to the Problem of the Creator of God ("Who made God?"). Justus argues that, if humans were indeed logical, then they'd know that if everything exists, it must have a cause. However, God has no cause. The question then follows, "How can God technically 'exist' in any real sense of the word if He is the unmoved mover that Christians and Muslims speak of?" Therefore, the question of the existence of God is a massive logical fallacy. It is because of this that Justus maintains that "God doesn't exist: He just *is*." In addition, he sees any argument that includes the phrase "God exists" as an insult, even blasphemy, to God.

## Skills and abilities

### Skills

* **Gifted Intelligence**: Justus is very intelligent, an expert in deductive reasoning.
* **Expert Tactician**: Justus is so good at planning and executing missions on the fly that even his allies in Task Force Reaper and the Indonesian police force are impressed.
* **Combatant**: Justus is trained in the martial art known as Silat, which focuses on techniques such as strikes (i.e. elbow and knee), throws, takedowns and weapons (i.e. kris sword and the karambit). He has a knowledge of various pressure points in the human body to hit in a fight. He is so skilled, he is considered the "Jackie Chan of Indonesia."

## Quotes

*"Vince, get out of there!"*

- Justus to Vince Crosby

*"You shouldn't have done that."*

- Justus before subduing a killer.