Kira 'Valkyrie' Herja was born in a tiny village up in the Rocky Mountains. The village itself didn't have any particular natural resources to tempt the Combine, being a former ski resort, but it did have one thing that kept the trade open: Bargony's still.

Bargony was Kira's uncle, and he made the best moonshine in the Rockies. Even in bad snow, there were travelers and traders who would come to the village to get themselves some. Traffic through the burg was always moving.

So, when a ragged little man came into the town, there were those who pushed him aside and gave him a hassle.

But none of them were villagers.

See, the village had a heart. No matter how bad things got, they wouldn't turn their back on anyone, and when Bargony himself decided he wasn't going to sell 'shine to any of the people who mistreated the ragged traveler, well... Things got a little tense.

The tension got broken up by wendigo. You can guess what happened next. The traveler was a templar, and helped the villagers defeat the beasts. That year, the village was on Santa's 'nice' list.

Kira followed the traveler when he left, and begged to become a squire. She was taken on and taken back to the Templars to train. She grew strong, stronger than most expected, but didn't lose her jovial nature, even in the face of adversity.
During her training, she wandered as a squire to the man who'd recruited her. His name was Kinney, and he was as clever as they came. Too clever, in fact. Y'see, Kinney had put two and two together, and had realized that if he didn't try -too- hard to disguise himself, towns would actually welcome him in. He could even make a little profit off of it. Kinney was sliding towards being an anti-templar.

Kira almost slid with him. He indoctrinated her into the idea that Simon's judgment was flawed; that there was always a place for mercenaries in the world, and, as Kinney wasn't losing any power (or so it seemed) obviously the saints didn't mind.

Thing was... When the rubber met the road, Kira did the right thing.
Kinny had turned his back on a village that wasn't 'treating him well' (he'd been rebuffed about sleeping with the mayor's daughter) when a gang of muties led by a Doomsayer from the Cult o' Doom attacked. Kinny simply walked away, taunting the villagers for not having ponied up to him.

Kira's fury over this action finally bubbled over, and her hammer came down on Kinny, hard. He turned on her, and the fight that ensued almost dwarfed the mutie invasion.

Sadly, just as Kira gave Kinny the final blow, the Doomsayer took out a sizeable chunk of Kira's hip (a wound she has unto this day). She managed to take out the mutie, and rally the village, but the idea that she went for vengeance first still haunts her a bit, even with the blessing of the saint that came with it.
She went back to Boise with a heavy heart and with her mentor's sword. She knows what she did was right, but it still troubles her- not so much her actions, but the fact that a Templar, even one that seemed good, could turn so.

Since then, Kira has been sent out on missions that require less subtlety. She is the hammer when the problem already looks like a nail.