Michael was born into the wealthy Altor family. The Altor family was one of the families that controlled parts of the shipyards that orbited Fondor. His father, Cassius Altor, had 4 other sons before Michael was born. Since Michael was the youngest, he was the one who would be destined for military service in the Galactic Alliance Armed Forces. It was a tradition of the Fondor elite for their youngest son or sons to enter the military.