Lieutenant Malena served as a pilot within the Rebel Alliance's Yellow Squadron throughout the Galactic Civil War. During the Battle of Endor which took place in 4 ABY, Captain Ribeiro, who was Yellow Leader and Malena's commanding officer, calmly instructed Malena to shadow her. Following this, they broke away from the other starfighter squadron members and established a defensive perimeter around the entry point of the Galactic Empire's Death Star II space station's superstructure, with the intention of stopping additional Imperial TIE fighters from chasing those who had already entered.
The first reference to Malena appeared in the Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy reference book which was published in 2021.