During the time of the Galactic Civil War, a young Human female named Raleigh Dawn also went by the alias Kestrel. A past encounter with fire left her deeply scarred, both physically and emotionally. She had clearly been evading something for quite some time, but the exact nature of her pursuer remained a mystery.
Kestrel was scheduled to meet up with a Rebel operative known by the code name Tiree. Tiree placed a great deal of trust in her, although the specifics of their history and connection were unclear. She was intended to become a new asset for the Rebel Alliance.
However, the existence of an Imperial bounty placed on her head complicated matters significantly. Despite their best efforts, the team of bounty hunters consisting of Skorr, Furlag, 4-LOM, and Zuckuss were unsuccessful in capturing her on Ord Mantell, although they did manage to force her to leave her most recent safe house. It appeared that Skorr's pursuit of Kestrel was driven by something more than just financial gain.
Kestrel paid a visit to her friend, the slicer Skivvers, in an attempt to discover who had issued the bounty for Raleigh Dawn. Skivvers was unable to access the information, as it was a private listing. However, Skivvers did have something else for Kestrel: a datapad containing the coordinates for a meeting with Tiree. They convened in an alley, where Tiree handed her another datapad containing new coordinates for a rendezvous off-world.
Kestrel then located a ship and pilot willing to transport her to those coordinates.
Dawn's character was inspired by a character played by Kathryn in the "Rebel Breakout" scenario of the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, which was gamemastered by Pablo Hidalgo. The RPG character did not have the nickname "Kestrel"; this alias was implemented due to copyright issues. Dawn's reaction to Vanis's apology for the inability to greet her, Raal Yorta, Sammie Staable and Smileredon-Verdont was based on lines of dialogue assigned to the "6th Rebel" in the Adventure Script that came with "Rebel Breakout."
The name "Kestrel Dawn" was later used as an alias by Jyn Erso in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.