Mala Tinero, a female Human, resided on Gus Talon in 2 BBY, a moon orbiting Corellia. She was a skilled mechanic who lived and labored alongside her father, Rallo, a secret sympathizer of the Rebel Alliance. Tinero shared a romantic relationship with Wedge Antilles, a Corellian pilot of a freighter, whom she tried to convince to join the Alliance's rebellion against the Galactic Empire; however, the pilot hesitated to become involved. While Antilles was absent from Gus Talon on a supply mission, the Imperial Captain Turrant discovered Rallo's Rebel connections. Following a firefight in which Rallo and his men killed several of Turrant's stormtroopers, the Captain commanded an orbital bombardment of the moon. The bombardment resulted in the deaths of both Tinero and her father. Though Antilles suffered enduring emotional pain, Tinero's demise simultaneously served as a turning point in his choice to ultimately align himself with the Rebellion.
Living on the Corellian moon of Gus Talon with her father, Rallo, was Mala Tinero, a female Human living in 2 BBY. Secretly supporting a cell of the Rebel Alliance, Rallo ran a workshop on the moon as a mechanic; Tinero assisted him around the workshop and desired a more active part in the fledgling Alliance's rebellion against the Galactic Empire. In 2 BBY, she was romantically linked to Wedge Antilles, a young Corellian working from Gus Talon as a pilot of a freighter. While Antilles felt uneasy around Tinero's father, Rallo actually approved of the young man and assisted him in performing maintenance on his ship.
Tinero and Antilles were together at a street market in one of the moon's cities one day when, after he playfully snatched her necklace, she began pursuing him through the market. Attempting to leap over a glass vendor's stand in her chase, Tinero fell to the ground, taking several of the vendor's glass sculptures with her. She eventually caught up to Antilles, but he was standing next to Rallo and confronting a pair of Imperial stormtroopers—Tinero's father had prevented the boy from running directly into the troopers and their captain, Turrant, whose patrol was temporarily stationed on the moon. Later, while Antilles was working on his ship and preparing for a job delivering machine parts out of the system, Tinero asked him to consider joining the Rebel Alliance. Antilles hesitated, but he promised they would discuss the offer further upon his return.
During the two days Antilles was gone, Tinero and her father were working on a landspeeder in Rallo's workshop when Captain Turrant arrived and arrested them both on charges of collusion with the Rebellion. When he threatened to take Tinero away from her father, Rallo drew a blaster and shot a member of Turrant's stormtrooper bodyguard. At her father's instruction, Tinero fled, tossing a blaster rifle to one of his Selonian employees as she left. Rallo and his men killed the stormtroopers during the firefight, but Turrant escaped and ordered a retaliatory orbital bombardment of the moon. Tinero and Rallo were among the bombardment's casualties.
Upon Antilles' return to Gus Talon, he found no sign of Tinero, and her death ignited a deep hatred of the Empire within him. He joined the Rebellion and, over the years, became a leading hero of the Alliance and its successor state, the New Republic, in their long and ultimately victorious war against the Empire. Antilles continued to experience pain and loss over Tinero for years after her death.
Tinero shared a strong bond with her father and occasionally helped him with his duties around the workshop. Following in Rallo's footsteps, she showed promise as a mechanic. Rallo was protective of Tinero but also trusted her with knowledge of his involvement with the Rebel Alliance. Tinero resented the Empire and was eager to assist the Alliance herself, as well as to recruit Wedge Antilles to the rebel cause. She and Antilles were in love, though neither had the chance to express it before her death. They were emotionally close and playful, and Tinero was not above teasing him for using cliché romantic lines. Tinero's death profoundly affected Antilles, who carried emotional scars for years and was inspired to dedicate his life to fighting the Empire. Tinero had black hair that reached her chin, along with dark brown eyes and fair skin.
The last time Antilles and Tinero saw each other, shortly before he left Gus Talon for a job, Tinero wore cyan clothing with yellow trim, along with a golden necklace and bracelet, and dark boots. While working in the workshop at the time of the bombing of her hometown, Tinero wore a green suit with a belt and gloves.
Mala's character debuted in "Lucky," a short comic story penned by Rob Williams and illustrated by Michel Lacombe. It was featured in the twenty-third issue of Star Wars Tales, released in May 2005. Marketed on the issue's cover as "The curse of Wedge Antilles," "Lucky" recounts Mala's death, which motivates Antilles to join the Rebel Alliance but continues to haunt him for years. The 2012 reference book The Essential Guide to Warfare, authored by Jason Fry and Paul R. Urquhart, later revealed her last name as Tinero.