Dana raised herself on an orbital mining system, and her heroes were the spacers who ran supply contracts. She admired them for their freedom as they would drop by, cash in, and then gamble on sabacc, but they weren't rooted in one place. After nearly sixteen years of observing the spacers, she realized she too didn't need to be rooted either, so she made the decision to leave the mining system for pastures new.
After joining a merc crew, she met Grock and the pair became friends. After a promising start, the crew attempted to swindle the Empire during a deal, but the attempt failed. Because of this, the pair decided to leave the crew and embark on their own business venture together, figuring things would be better for them that way, as their former crewmembers ended up dead or imprisoned following the attempted ruse.
Eventually settling on Koboh prior to 9 BBY, the duo harbored dreams of striking lucky on the frontier and became regulars at Pyloon's Saloon where they eventually met Jedi Knight Cal Kestis in 9 BBY. Dana knew that she and Grock had a talent for turning opportunity into profit and quickly began taking and performing jobs. During one job, the pair successfully stole a drive core, however, she dropped a half-ton durasteel brace on Grock when a shiverpede emerged and startled her. She claims Grock lost his nerve at the sight of the beast, a charge he denied.
The pair also had plans on repairing the Dredger Gorge dams. Their idea was to short the central conduit and slice it through the emergency couplings to get the sluice gates operational. However, the presence of the Bedlam Raiders on the planet meant they had to be selective in the tasks they undertook. Whilst she became aware that Dagan Gera had assumed leadership of the Raiders, Dana refused to go off-world for jobs and wouldn't quit regardless of the threat posed by the Raiders.
After Grock decided it was time to collect a big score, the pair set out to steal an industrial fuel injector from the mountains, fully aware that other prospectors were too afraid to attempt the action because of the Imperial garrison stationed there. During the theft, Grock was killed by Imperial stormtroopers. Whilst he was unable to radio Dana and warn her of the threat, he was able to extract the injector before his death, which Dana collected and referred to as her bereavement tax. Upon finding his corpse, she vowed to return and bury him properly.
Grock's death affected Dana, though she tried to internalize her emotions, instead choosing to continue to portray a tough exterior. Eventually, she told Kestis that she was getting fed up with people treating her like a wounded bogling over the incident.
Despite being forced to go solo, she had no intention of leaving Koboh, saying the Imperials would have to drag her out in pieces, though she acknowledged it wouldn't be the same without Grock. She was aware that the Stone Spires held a trove of items dating from the High Republic era that elites would pay big credits for and intended to liberate them. She disagreed with Toa on their destination though, as the Twi'lek historian wanted to preserve them for posterity whereas Dana believed that following the credits was the best course of action.
Dana was a savvy grifter who dreamed of becoming rich from her hunting alongside Grock. She had a brazen attitude towards most and preferred straight talking and honesty. When receiving her fortune from Tulakt, the cryptic words went over her head as she attempted to decipher them. She would readily turn associates in for double-crossing her as she and Grock once did to an engineer they worked with, but she reassured Kestis that real friends didn't receive that treatment.
She remarked that she was glad she left her home when she did, otherwise she would never have met Grock. The pair frequently disagreed and bickered, though their bond always remained strong. Despite her brash attitude, Dana would apologize for her mistakes, as she did when she dropped a durasteel brace on Grock, though he was not quick to accept this. She attempted to put on a tough exterior following Grock's death, but could not hide her pain when discussing her partner with Kestis.