The beginning...
Born as the son of the Templar Grand Master of the White Wolves Falco was destined to become a knight of this order. But his father had other plans for him. The boy grew up in peace, studied hard in the scripts about the Empire and was trained in the use of the cavalry hammer by his father.
The Reiksguard training...
At the age of 15, Falco was sent to join the training of
the Reiksguard in Talabheim. At the gates of the Reiksguard-college, Falco an
his companion students were mocked by an big, strong man wearing colorful wings
on his helmet. Falco, who was taught respect for everyone, didn't accept this
and in his young thoughtlessness he
challenged the man for this 'wrong doing'.
Little did he know that the man in front of him was Kurt
Helborg, the
Reiksmarshall, Grand Master of the Reiksguard, second only to the emperor Karl
Franz himself. Helborg asked the youngster's name and in hearing it smiled. The
son of his old war buddy was challenging him? Thinking he'd be teaching the boy
a lesson he accepted and told Falco to pick his weapon. Falco choose his own
warhammer whereas the Reiksmarshall took a sword. Falco charged Helborg,
swinging the hammer with one hand above his head. As a cavalry hammer is
commonly known as a two-handed weapon, the strength of this youngster surprised
the older Grand Master. Being an expert swordsmen however, he agile parried the
attacks of the young boy but he was not able to make a counter attack. "This boy
is good!", he thought "but will he learn to control his temper?". After 2 hours,
Falco showed some signs of being tired. Helborg held up his free hand to signal
the stopping of the fight. "You are a brave young man, Falco. Strong, fast but
very hotheaded! I will personally teach you to control yourself so you will be
one of the finest warriors known to men!" Falco asked the name of his opponent
and on hearing it, kneeled and begged for forgiveness. Kurt helped him stand up
and brought him to the barracks where his fellow students had already gathered.
Ten long years later, Falco was the first Middenheimer to become the First
Knight of the Reiksguard's Inner Circle, the personal body guard of Karl Franz.
First Knight...
As commanding officer of Karl Franz' body guard, Falco
gained plenty of experience on the battle field. Where the Emperor went, he
went. Always had he been listening to the tactical knowledge of Karl Franz and he had learned
much about it. One day, 60 miles from Middenheim, the army of Karl Franz was
ambushed by a large Whaagh of Night Goblins. Being outnumbered 20 to 1, the
Empire troops organized themselves to sell their lives at high cost. Falco
suggested the Emperor to take a small group of knights and make a run for it to
Middenheim. The Emperor didn't quite agree and wanted to stay with his troops.
Falco, knowing the life of Karl Franz was way to important to stay with his men,
then suddenly struck down his sovereign, lay him over a horse's back, told his
lieutenant the Emperor had become unwell and told him also to take 20 of his
best men and ride like hell to the Wolfenstein, the citadel of Middenheim, where
his father's order had its main base. The lieutenant did as he was told while
Falco took command over the army being the highest in rank. He knew this small
host of 400 men was not going to be able to stop this horde but as long as he
lived no Night Goblin would pass this wide mountain pass. Having no artillery,
this had taken another passage to the north coming from Nuln, he ordered the
handgunners to shoot at will but to remain on the left flank of the passage
where the Night Goblins couldn't make a massive charge due to the rocky
underground. The halberdiers where positioned central at their side and the
regiment of Spearmen were placed at the right flank. He and his knights would
take the centre behind these first lines. He told them to dismount. A few
halberdiers were told to cut of large branches from the few trees available. His
men didn't know why they had to do that, as the front
troops were already stuck in battle with the Greenskins,
but did it anyway. The handgunners were able to hold of several waves of gobbo's
but as they didn't get the opportunity anymore to reload where cut down. The
halberdiers could almost take cover behind a wall of human and greenskin bodies
but would not be able to hold their own much longer. The spearmen, killing many
night goblins with their longer spears were also at the end of their efforts.
The Reiksguard got stuck in and due to their
complete armour were chopping more
night goblins than they could count. They had been fighting wave after wave for
2 hours now and Falco knew that the Emperor had to be safe now. The 5
halberdiers had cut down enough branches now and Falco told them to bind the
branches behind the unmounted horses. Just as the Night Goblins were about to
make a final break through, the horses stormed through their ranks, scared of by
the branches set on fire. The Greenskins ran in panic. It would take time for
them to regroup. This would allow Falco to regroup the remaining 60 men of which
25 knights. The handgunners had been cut down to the last man. The halberdiers
and spearmen had held of the Night Goblins at a high cost. The remaining
branches were to be used as cover. Then the troop of Night Goblins, now
outnumbering them 100 to 1, reappeared. Having no troops enough to form flanks
Falco had organized his men in a circle taking cover behind the branches. The
Whaagh stormed on their spears and again fell in great numbers. But there was no
holding back this horde and Falco saw his men falling around him. He kept
chopping down those green horrors but as he fell, he
knew the end had come. As a big Goblin was about to strike down his sword, the
earth started trembling and a shot sounded. The goblin fell and the other
goblins started running. Falco saw hundreds of knights storming in the pass
waving heavy cavalry hammers. In the front rank he recognized his lieutenant,
carrying a smoking pistol, his father and ... the Emperor. When he had come back
to his senses, the Emperor had realized what had happened. In striking him down
Falco had saved him. So when they arrived in Middenheim Karl Franz had organized
a rescue party. The night goblins were ran down and destroyed. Karl Franz
thanked his First Knight because not only had he saved the Emperor, if the
Greenskins had been victorious they could have made the way free for other
tribes to raid and pillage the Empire. He was for always in debt of Falco.
The Peace Keeper...
Five more years passed and Falco had proven himself to the
Emperor and the Reiksmarshall. The Empire had been under siege in all wind
regions by various foes. The Emperor primarily concerned on defending Altdorf
and the
Reiksmarshall who was about to fight the fearsome Vampire Counts in the
South realized that action was needed. A new function was created: that of the
Peace Keeper. The Peace Keeper was only to take orders from the Emperor himself
and could decide to ask for the help of one or more knightly orders if this were
needed. He would take the command of the Relieve
Force: a new type of force, not
linked to one city or state, mobile but strong enough to swing a battle or war
if there was one. This force was created from the reserve troops of the cities
of Talabheim and Middenheim, known for their excellent
infantry troops,
and Nuln, known
for their artillery train. Both Kurt Helborg and Karl Franz thought of only one
man that could take this function: Falco. Falco accepted and with his army he
goes wherever his help is most urgent. Many heroes of the Empire have fought
with the Relieve Force and always they succeeded in their goal: restoring the
peace within the Empire no matter what...
