Mala Tinero was a Human female who lived on Gus Talon, a moon of Corellia, in 2 BBY. An apt mechanic, she lived and worked with her father, Rallo, who was a clandestine supporter of the Rebel Alliance. Tinero was romantically involved with a Corellian freighter pilot named Wedge Antilles, whom she attempted to persuade to participate in the Alliance's rebellion against the Galactic Empire; however, the pilot was reluctant to get involved. While Antilles was away from Gus Talon on a supply run, Rallo's Rebel ties were discovered by the Imperial Captain Turrant, and after Rallo and his men killed several of Turrant's stormtroopers in a firefight, the Captain ordered an orbital bombardment of the moon. The bombardment left both Tinero and her father dead. Antilles received lasting emotional scars, but Tinero's death simultaneously acted as a catalyst in his decision to ultimately become involved with the Rebellion.
Mala Tinero was a Human female who lived with her father, Rallo, on the Corellian moon Gus Talon in 2 BBY. Rallo was a mechanic who operated a workshop on the moon while secretly supporting a cell of the Rebel Alliance; Tinero helped him around the workshop and hoped to become more active herself in the fledgling Alliance's rebellion against the Galactic Empire. In 2 BBY, she was romantically involved with Wedge Antilles, a young Corellian who was operating from Gus Talon as a freighter pilot. Although Antilles was nervous around Tinero's father, Rallo in fact approved of the boy and helped him perform maintenance on his ship.
Mala Tinero flees from Imperial stormtroopers.
One day, when Tinero and Antilles were at a street market together in one of the moon's cities, she began to chase him through the market after he playfully stole her necklace. When Tinero attempted to leap over a glass vendor's stand in her pursuit, she crashed to the ground and brought several of the vendor's glass sculptures with her. She eventually caught up with Antilles, but he was standing next to Rallo and facing down a pair of Imperial stormtroopers—Tinero's father had stopped the boy from running straight into the troopers and their captain, Turrant, whose patrol was temporarily stationed on the moon. Later, when Antilles was tinkering with his ship and preparing for a job to deliver machine parts out of the system, Tinero asked him to consider joining the Rebel Alliance. Antilles was reluctant to do so, but he promised that they would further discuss the offer upon his return.
Antilles was gone for two days, and during that time, Tinero and her father were working on a landspeeder in Rallo's workshop when Captain Turrant arrived and arrested them both on the charge 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. Tinero fled at a word from her father, tossing a blaster rifle to one of his Selonian employees on her way out. 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 two of the bombardment's casualties.
When Antilles returned to Gus Talon, he found no trace of Tinero, and her death caused a deep hatred of the Empire to blossom within him. He threw in with the Rebellion and, over the years, became one of the foremost heroes of the Alliance and its successor state, the New Republic, in their long and ultimately successful war with the Empire. Antilles continued to feel pain and loss over Tinero for years after her death.
Tinero and Wedge Antilles
Tinero had a close relationship with her father and at times assisted him with his duties around the workshop. Following in Rallo's footsteps, she demonstrated aptitude as a mechanic. Rallo was himself protective of Tinero; however, he also trusted her with the knowledge of his involvement with the Rebel Alliance. Tinero was resentful of the Empire and was eager to aid the Alliance herself, as well as to recruit Wedge Antilles to the rebel cause. She and Antilles loved each other, although neither of them had the opportunity to tell the other before her death. The two were emotionally very close yet playful with one another, and Tinero was not above poking fun at him for delivering cliched romantic lines. Tinero's death had a deep impact on Antilles, who bore emotional scars for years and became inspired to dedicate his life to fighting the Empire. Tinero had black hair that fell down to her chin, as well as dark brown eyes and fair skin.
The last time Antilles and Tinero saw each other, shortly before the former left Gus Talon for a job, Tinero wore cyan clothing with yellow trim, along with a golden necklace and bracelet and dark boots. While she was working in the workshop at the time of the bombing of her hometown, Tinero had a green suit with a belt and gloves.
The character of Mala was introduced in "Lucky," a short comic story written by Rob Williams and penciled by Michel Lacombe. It was included in the twenty-third issue of Star Wars Tales, which was published in May 2005. Advertised on the cover of the issue as "The curse of Wedge Antilles," "Lucky" tells the story of Mala's death, which inspires Antilles to join the Rebel Alliance but continues to haunt him for years. The 2012 reference book The Essential Guide to Warfare, which was written by Jason Fry and Paul R. Urquhart, later provided her last name of Tinero.
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Essential Guide to Warfare
- "Star Wars: Revenge of the Quiz" — Star Wars Insider 148