The crash of the Subspace Hunter-Killer Ship on the Astral Frontier had happened days ago. Murphy had been busy dealing with the Eternal Night Calamity in the material world, but his "eyes and ears" in the Astral Realm had been keeping the Creator's Chosen informed of the ship's every move.
When Pipi Snake personally delivered the message that the strange ship had finished rebuilding itself, Murphy knew it was time to set out.
Old Transia, chairman and star courier of "Astral Logistics," came to pick them up in person. He brought Murphy, Triss, Adele, and Mosna, along with the prisoner, Ms. Flindis, and Maxim and Bonnie, representatives of the "Astral Army's valiant warriors," to a region close to the Astral Colossus.
They didn't go straight to the defensive wall on the Astral Frontier because Mother Gaia was stationed there. Her presence prevented any power weaker than hers from connecting directly to the main body of the Astral Colossus. Neither the route from subspace into the Astral Realm nor the route from the material world could cross that colossal planar wall.
You could say Mother Gaia had been bitten once and was now afraid of the rope for ten years. After retreating to the Astral Realm, she'd uncharacteristically started building up the wall connected to the plane at a frantic pace. She seemed intent on imitating Old Ao's Azure Rampart and creating an unbreakable frontier for the Astral Realm.
"Hey! Look, Mother Gaia is laying bricks herself. It's become one of the Astral Realm's new wonders."
Standing on Old Transia's shell, Pipi Snake had transformed into a little snake and was circling Murphy. It lifted its tail toward the distance and said to the group,
"Mother Gaia's been acting like a madwoman these past few days. She insists on reinforcing the