"Understood. Initiating launch protocols. Escape vector locked in. Catapult activation in 3... 2... 1... Launch!" A brilliant flash of light and the roar of the engines filled the hanger as the particles excitedly pounded harmlessly against the hull. The machine shot through the tube at a high velocity, keeping its limbs close together until it reached the exit. Retro-rockets flaired to life as Rook spread its arms and legs, flattening itself out as it came to a stop. Kaz reoriented himself with the ship, matching speed with the Pioneer. He took his eyes off the controls for a moment to run the preliminary system's check that almost always followed a launch, but found no errors. "Rook has left the nest. Matching course and speed with the Pioneer. System check green. Everything checks out so far."<br/><br/>Kaz grabbed the flight sticks and ran through some basic maneuvers then, trying to get a feel for any differences in control. Thankfully he couldn't detect anything; it seemed the system was not particularly heavy. Kaz then accelerated rapidly, flying very near to the ship, using it's hull to test the maneuverability at high speeds. Nothing was off, not in the slightest.<br/><br/>"Preliminary checks are complete. Green across the board. Rook is read for the first jump test. Please advise."<br/><br/>So far, Kaz had behaved himself, choosing as he always did to take the flight seriously, for he believed that a pilot who made light of training did not typically last very long in the cold dead of space. They were iced early, for one reason or another. It was a shame, because not all of them were jerk-off pilots. Many of them could have had a promising career if they didn't just become lazy over time.<br/><br/>Kaz blinked slowly, bringing his focus back to the HUD. The new panel in front of him blinked steadily, the blue hue reflecting slightly off his polarized visor. The Dart was primed and charged, just waiting for him to push the magic button to activate it. Here would be the danger. Anything and everything up to that point was nothing. But he knew what would happen when it was activated? Maybe it would explode, or send him to some random point in the universe. He'd never know in either case.