Battle of Ringo Vinda

The combat of Ringo Vinda occurred both on and around the extensive circular space station, which the Separatist Alliance controlled and which encircled the entire planet. The struggle persisted for multiple rotations without either faction securing a significant advantage. Commanders from the Galactic Republic included Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker—who had recently lost his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano—and the Jedi Masters twins Tiplee and Tiplar, each leading their respective groups. The Separatist forces were under the command of the Harch Admiral Trench and the super tactical droid Commander Kraken. During the conflict, clone trooper Tup from Skywalker's 501st Legion was missing for a period of five rotations, a disappearance that Skywalker reported, although Tup eventually reappeared.

In a determined effort to bring the destructive battle to a close, Generals Skywalker, Tiplee, and Tiplar initiated a large-scale assault on the space station. As they fought through the corridors, the Republic forces, composed of the 501st Legion and Clone Commander Doom's men, were guided by the Jedi Generals, engaging with droidekas and BX-series droid commandos, alongside standard B1-series battle droids. Several soldiers utilized blast shields for protection. The Republic forces eventually regrouped in a spacious room to prepare for their attack on Trench's command center. Skywalker outlined a strategy where each of the three Jedi would take one of three corridors leading to a large area before the command center, with Tiplee on the left, Tiplar on the right, and himself and Clone Captain Rex advancing down the center. Given the significant depletion of Doom's men, Skywalker instructed ARC trooper Fives and Tup to select ten of their best soldiers to join Tiplar's group.

As the groups readied to depart, Fives noticed Tup behaving strangely and inquired if he was alright, remarking that it was unusual for him to experience pre-combat anxiety. Tup noticed Tiplar instructing her troops to follow her and briefly became aggressive, but Fives' conversation snapped him out of his odd state. He claimed he was fine, attributing it to a headache, before hurrying with his friend to catch up with their group, which had already moved out. The assault proceeded down the corridors and into the expansive open room, while starfighter combat raged outside the space station. Trench ordered his droid forces to maintain their position as the Republic's advance pushed them back. However, as the fighting intensified, Tup began to feel unwell, striking his head in an attempt to clear his mind, before fixating on Tiplar as she battled several DSD1 dwarf spider droids. Removing his helmet, Tup uttered the phrase "Good soldiers follow orders" before approaching Tiplar. Fives, witnessing this, was unable to intervene, and Tiplar had barely enough time to turn in surprise before being fatally shot in the head, dying instantly. The cause, unknown to any present, was a malfunction in Tup's secret "inhibitor" chip, implanted in all clones to ensure compliance with Order 66, the Sith's covert scheme to eliminate the Jedi Order.

Fives tackled Tup to the ground, while Tiplee, in horror, rushed to retrieve her sister's body. Skywalker, observing that the Republic forces had lost their momentum, called for a retreat. He then assigned Fives the task of ensuring Tup's safe return to Republic lines to investigate the incident. Skywalker was among the last to evacuate the room, with the blast doors sealing behind them to slow the droids' pursuit. Trench, witnessing the event from his command post, reviewed a holographic recording of the killing before contacting Separatist leader Count Dooku. The Admiral informed Dooku of the Republic's retreat and how their forces had nearly overrun his post before Tiplar's murder forced them to withdraw. Trench noted that he had studied clone troopers extensively during the war and that Tup's behavior when he killed Tiplar was unprecedented, as he seemed unable to control himself. Dooku became concerned and thanked Trench for the report. Back on Serenno, Dooku immediately contacted his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, and reported Tup's actions as a potential failure in the clone programming. Sidious instructed Dooku to capture the clone for examination to determine if the incident posed a threat to their plans.

Skywalker, Tiplee, and their forces retreated to the room where they had originally planned their assault, securing doors and setting up turrets to delay the droid forces. While Tiplee grieved for her sister, Skywalker, Rex, and Fives attempted to question Tup. Clone medic Kix had examined Tup but could not determine the cause of his condition. Rex spoke to Tup, who was disoriented and confused, asking if he knew what he had done. Tup's only response was to repeat "Good soldiers follow orders" until he saw Tiplee, who had approached, at which point he began saying "kill the Jedi" and lunged at her, prompting her to use the Force to throw him into the wall. Skywalker decided that Tup needed to be taken to a proper medical bay.

A more thorough examination of Tup in the Venator-class Star Destroyer's medbay onboard Skywalker's flagship yielded no answers. Tup awoke, confused about his restraints, and became agitated and horrified when Fives informed him that he had killed Tiplar, leading a medical droid to sedate him. Kix, reviewing the data, suggested that Tup had simply suffered a mental breakdown, but Rex and Fives remained skeptical, as the clones were engineered to withstand such stress. Moving the conversation to the hallway, Skywalker mentioned rumors of the Separatists developing anti-clone weapons and viruses, suggesting the possibility of biological warfare. Kix recommended transporting Tup to Kamino, which had the necessary facilities for a full investigation. Tup was loaded onto a Rho-class transport shuttle, which departed the Star Destroyer with an escort of ARC-170 starfighters.

However, before it could jump into hyperspace, the shuttle and its escort were attacked by B2 super rocket troopers and buzz droids deployed from HMP droid gunships. The droids quickly destroyed the escort and attacked the shuttle, neutralizing its pilots. When the artificial gravity failed, the troopers and medical officers in the hold armed themselves and donned breath masks. However, the clones were swiftly overwhelmed when the super battle droids boarded. The droids released Tup and transferred him to a pod before leaving the wreckage. The delirious clone was then transported back to Trench's command post, who reported the capture to Dooku, who ordered Tup sent to him. Trench ordered Tup be sent on the next shuttle out of the space station. When Commander Kraken expressed concern over the Republic blockade, Trench ordered him to see to the delivery personally.

When contact was lost with the shuttle, Skywalker, Rex, and Fives set out in an Eta-class shuttle and discovered the wreckage. Fives noted that the attack made no strategic sense, and Skywalker suggested the droids must have been after Tup. Donning a spacesuit, Skywalker and the clones searched the shuttle and found that Tup had been taken. Rex and Fives wondered if the abduction was proof that the Separatists were responsible for his condition. Tracking Tup's locator, Skywalker, Rex, and Fives returned to the shuttle, following the signal to a large hangar in the Separatist-controlled part of the station. The shuttle dropped them off before leaving, and the three spacewalked to the edge of the hangar, where they saw Tup being transferred to a Maxillipede shuttle, with a large number of battle droids standing guard.

Rex expressed concern about the number of droids, noting that while Skywalker was likely to be able to handle the dozens of droids by himself, he doubted that either he or Fives would survive the battle to witness it. Fives suggested that they use grappling lines to hitch a ride on the shuttle. When the shuttle departed the hangar, Rex and Fives both grappled on with their lines, with Skywalker hanging on to Rex. The droid pilots noted that the shuttle had experienced some drag as a result, which Kraken found improbable. Skywalker, Rex and Fives subsequently stormed the hold, fighting the droids guarding Tup. Kraken eventually noticed the noise and exited the cockpit, attacking Skywalker before the Jedi severed the droid's arms and demanded to know what he knew. When Kraken stated that he was programmed to resist intimidation, Skywalker beheaded him as Rex destroyed the pilots and took control of the ship. Skywalker then looked at Tup, who had been strapped to another gurney, and Fives, asked how his friend was doing, said that he appeared to be dying.

The Republic successfully sent Tup to Kamino on another ship. Fives persuaded Rex to allow him to accompany Tup, as he was worried about his friend. Commander Kraken was rebuilt by the Separatists and later participated in the Battle of Scipio. The examination of Tup yielded no conclusive results, as Doctor Nala Se, aware of the true cause of the clone's condition, was instructed to conceal the biochips' existence from the Jedi, including Jedi Master Shaak Ti. The Jedi speculated that a Separatist conspiracy was behind Tup's actions, a theory supported by his disappearance earlier in the battle. In a desperate attempt to save his friend, Fives convinced medical droid AZI-3 to perform a level 5 atomic brain scan, which Nala Se claimed Tup could not survive. The scan revealed what appeared to be a tumor, but was actually the control chip, which Fives had AZI-3 remove. However, Tup died almost immediately afterwards. Following this discovery, Fives went rogue and removed his own control chip to prove their existence, eventually persuading Shaak Ti to allow him to present his concerns about the chips to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

However, en route to Coruscant, Fives was drugged by Nala Se and subsequently framed for attempting to assassinate the Chancellor, who was secretly Darth Sidious. Seeming to have gone insane, Fives was forced to flee, while trying to inform the Senate and Jedi Council that every clone had these chips which programmed them with clone protocols for the Grand Army of the Republic, including Order 66. However, in the process of trying to get them to listen to his case, he was shot and killed by Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard. His dying words were to his friend, Captain Rex. Due to the effects of the drug he had been administered, Fives was not able to convince either Rex or Skywalker, who were both present, about the truth of the chips. Skywalker's skepticism was only reinforced by Fives' claim that Palpatine was involved, since Skywalker trusted the Chancellor and did not believe him capable of such a conspiracy.

Despite this, the loss of Tup and Fives weighed on Skywalker's conscience, just as losing Tano did. Rex harbored lingering suspicions about the truth of Fives' claims, which ultimately saved him and Tano—who returned to the 501st for the Siege of Mandalore—when Order 66 was finally issued.

The Battle of Ringo Vinda was first depicted in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Lost Missions episode "The Unknown." Its identification as such was first made in Commander Doom's Databank entry.