Chapter Text
When Obi-wan met his commander, he was tired, exhausted really. Days spent healing from his wounds from Geonosis and then helping organize the Jedi into being leaders of the new Grand Army of the Republic as one of the few Jedi with military leadership experience.
He also was put on the Counsel for his aforementioned experience.
He also had an injured Padawan to worry about.
An injured Padawan who he definitely didn’t see kiss a certain Senator. (They all need their stress relief after that battle, he figures, making a mental note to go over the differences between attachments and love again with said Padawan.)
So when Obi-wan finally met his commander, he was a little distracted but that didn’t stop him from realizing that he had met this clone before.
Commander Prime.
Unlike the other clones, he didn’t introduce himself with his designation number (thank the Force, honestly. As if Obi-wan needed another reminder about how wrong having a slave army was).
But part of Obi-wan wondered if he was a clone at all.
Afterall, this particular “clone” felt like Fett. The same Fett that disappeared after Obi-wan spoke to him on Kamino. The same Fett that the Jedi were inconspicuously looking for.
However, due to being a potential clone of Fett and Obi-wan being overwhelmed by the sheer information that the Order was now in charge of millions of identical men that they had no previous knowledge of at the time he met Fett (it was supposed to be a simple “track down a bounty hunter” mission. Not “discover a kriffing army” mission), it was entirely possible that the Commander had a very similar feel to Fett and it was just unfortunate circumstances that they ended up with one of the very few Jedi (the only Jedi) who had met Fett.
Obi-wan was originally going to let it go for the aforementioned reasons, but then evidence started showing up that proved to Obi-wan that even if this “Commander Prime” wasn’t Jango, he certainly was different.
First, Commander Prime despised the Jedi. Despite working respectfully with Obi-wan, he could still feel an undercurrent of hate and anger aimed at him and any Jedi near. It was strange because all the other clones had auras of awe and genuine respect radiating off of them. (To be honest, Obi-wan found the anger to be a bit relieving when surrounded by all the hero worship and he knew that Commander Prime would not hesitate to call him out either vocally or in the Force with his presence when Obi-wan did something stupid)
Secondly, Commander Prime never removed his helmet. During their off days, all the other clones could be seen walking around bucket-less, especially as the war progressed and they relaxed more around Obi-wan, but the Commander never did. When asked (by Obi-wan and other clones), he came up with a different story each time if not straight up ignoring the person asking. Obi-wan actually found himself sneaking around trying to catch the Commander off guard. It got to the point where there were actual bets and polls around the 212 trying to figure out what Commander Prime looked like under his helmet, the stories and guesses getting wilder and more outrageous as time went on. (Obi-wan’s personal favorite was that the Commander was actually a vampire disguised as a clone and was sucking everyone’s blood as they were sleeping and the reason he couldn’t take his helmet off was because the lights would kill him or send him into a murderous rage and none of them would survive)
Finally, one of Obi-wan’s men absolutely hated Commander Prime, CC-2224 or Lieutenant Cody. Lieutenant Cody was the best of the best, second of his class (losing to a CC-1010 by a mere point), ARC trained, responsible, reliable and filled with absolute loathing every time Commander Prime walked in the room. Obi-wan found it confusing and a point of evidence because with every other clone, Cody was filled with joy, pride, and shined with the need to protect them all. Even when he was irritated with Captain Rex for his latest stunt or Waxer and Boil for trying to adopt something or someone, he still had those feelings thrumming in the background (It was like standing in the sunshine, warm and relaxing).
Then Commander Prime would walk in and it was like all warmth and happiness was sucked out of Cody, turning deadly, sharp, and frigid.
When Obi-wan asked, Cody would just state that they have a difference in opinion but it would not affect their work. (Must have been a pretty significant difference in opinion)
With all these points (and some other minor differences that Obi-wan had picked up), Obi-wan decided to test his theory. He didn’t want to arrest Prime because he wasn’t entirely sure if Prime was Fett or just different. He also didn’t want to treat the Commander differently in case he was actually a clone and this was all just a coincidence.
So, Obi-wan did the best thing he knew how to do: he strategized…
…and threw himself into danger “recklessly”.
He says “recklessly” because he knows his limits. The plans he utilized not only test the Commander’s dedication to protecting him and allows Obi-wan to figure him out more (as it’s hard to lie to someone in the heat of battle), but it also draws fire away from his men and ensures that more of them come back alive after every battle.
Plus, the acrobatics and the adrenaline rush was the best feeling Obi-wan has felt in a long time.