Gothic 3 fighter

Is it possible to be a fighter with 2h weapons in G3 and ally yourself with any faction? I know the purpose is to get 400 str or smth like that and large weapons III but that is quite far in the game.

I am under the impression that you need to be allied with the rebels in order to be a paladin for ex.

I am a bit fuzzy on Large weapons (been a while since I did such a build), but I believe the top skills are taught at Nordmar after you do some quests for the trainers (?) So it shouldn't mess up with your main faction choice…

That's no problem at all.