So I confess to being pretty confused too about starting missions. I know it works. After trying one evening after my normal routine of hiring new ops, yadda yadda, I launched the game and just set an investigate mission against a corp, using the default cell. No planning. I authorize the mission, then assign the operation, then the start operation button appears and when clicked, it starts.
But along the way of doing the things I normally do before my first mission, something causes the mission to not want to start. Pic of where I was stuck at.
http://i.imgur.com/9EbeHHt.jpgI see that where it normally says [StandBy] it reads [Destroyed]. Is that why I can't start the mission? Why does it end up that way? Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be any way to abort an approved mission until you start it.
I've got more to write but currently I'd like to get a game underway and actually play a little bit first. Every time I settle down to do something for real, I run into this issue.
Edit: And now that I try it again, it doesn't happen.
This looks to be a bug:
http://i.imgur.com/VTuFwzP.jpgNote Dan's chance to succeed on that Code: Systems test. Note also that his proficiency as a Spy is in Covert: Systems, not Code: Systems. Maybe it's not a bug and I'm just not understanding the numerical expression.