If pkg is running without the -n flag, processing continues to the download phase.
For each action that requires content, IPS downloads any required files by hash and caches them. This step can take some time if the amount of content to be retrieved is large.
Once downloading is complete, if the change is to be applied to a live system (the image is rooted at /), and a reboot is required, the running system is cloned and the target image is switched to the clone.