The immense pressure wave hit the soon to be ex-trainees, knocking them off their feet and over the walls. Thankfully, everyone working on the wall is required to wear manoeuvre gear as a safety measure, so almost everyone was able to launch their hook into the wall and stop their fall. As Ed regained his balance, he saw Samuel falling, his eyes shut. Edward immediately disconnected his hooks, shouting "Leave Sammy to me!" He launched his hooks into the wall at a point lower than Samuel was at, which allowed him to catch up. He grabbed Samuels leg using his automail arm and launched his other hook back into the wall. As he noticed the small trickle of blood coming from Samuels head, he heard Eren shout "This is our chance! Attack the Colossal Titan!" Edward looked up in time to see Eren shoot over the wall, followed shortly by a massive gust of steam likely coming from the Titan. As he pulled Samuel to the top of the wall, he saw everyone already waiting and crowding around Eren, asking him what had happened. What he didn't see was the Colossal Titan which had been there mere moments before. As Eren explained the Titans disappearance, Edward wondered why Eren seemed untouched by the steam gusts from before. Surely the heat would burn anyone who was caught in it, meaning that Eren had somehow avoided the gusts. Sasha was the first to notice Samuels condition, and said "Is Samuel okay?" "I think he's taken a piece of rubble to the head. He may be suffering from a concussion, and needs some medical attention soon." Edward explained. "Thomas, Mina, both of you get Samuel back to the HQ. Everyone else, we have to start evacuating civilians beyond the wall. Our first priority has to be minimising damage." Everyone moved down the wall, with Thomas and Mina heading back to the HQ with Samuel while Edward, Eren, Connie and Sasha staying near the gate. Before they could really start evacuating any nearby civilians, a member of the Garrison came flying towards them. "Everyone head back to the HQ! Let the Garrison handle the evacuation for now!" As the trainees met back up, Edward looked back and saw the titans coming through the now shattered gate. They were mockeries of life, and even though this was the first time he had really seen a Titan, they somehow seemed familiar.

Back at the Headquarters for the Trost District, the 104th Trainee squad formed up. As there was only one brigade of Garrison Soldiers stationed within the Trost area, the trainees were being assigned to assist in the evacuation of civilians and from the centre to the rear of the city. They were also assigned to defend the castle and ferry gas to the various squads being deployed throughout the city. Each of the top 10 trainees bar Mikasa, who had been assigned in the very rearguard defending the civilians at the gates, had been assigned to lead a squad of trainees across the rear half of the district. Edward, on the basis of having a clear head when the Colossal Titan appeared, had been assigned to run across town, delivering spare gas and making sure there were no civilians still in their homes.

He was just coming back from delivering gas to one of the vanguard squads when he spotted a 10m class titan reaching into a house a good distance to the left of his current path. He changed trajectory the second he heard the screaming from that direction. Launching a hook directly into the titans neck, he gave himself a jet of gas to speed up, and slashed deep into the titans nape. Moving into the house, he saw a young boy in the grip of the titans evaporating hand. Knowing that the steam could leave serious burns, he forced open the titans grip and pulled the child away from the disintegrating hand. Turning around, he saw the child's father, cowering in a corner. "What the hell are you doing here? You should be evacuating!" He shouted, angered that there were still people who weren't even remotely safe yet. "Well, I thought about it, but I reckon someone bound to leave something good behind, and the titans won't use it, so-" the man's response was cut short by Edwards fist striking his face, as Edward shouted "So you thought you'd risk the life of your son for some valuables! What kind of ass-hole are you?" The man just cried, but Edward had already answered his own question. No matter where you go, people will do stupid and sometimes just evil things for wealth. "Look, just get to the gate. You don't deserve any help, but there's no way I'm gonna let you abandon your kid, so I'm gonna move with you for a short while."

He followed them via the roofs for a few streets down, before spotting another titan, 15 metre class this time, coming up behind them. "Damn it, keep moving! I'll take that thing!" He shouted to the pair, as he turned around and began hooking towards the titan. "Okay then, enemy directly in front, no easy way around them, no choice but to fight. Just the way I like it." He started off by swinging straight down the centre of the street, keeping low. As he knew it would, the titan began to squat down in order to try and grab him. As the titan reached for him, he launched both of his hooks to a house to the left, suddenly getting him just out of harms way. As he swung behind the titan, he hooked directly across the street, and let of a massive jet in order to get a speed boost. He then performed a lateral slice across the titans neck, cleanly removing the core. He then landed heavily into the house he had hooked to left leg first. Had it been anyone else, they could have easily broken their leg, however Ed's automail leg took the blow with relative ease. Unfortunately, 3 years of nothing more than basic maintenance finally took their toll, as a joint in the knee finally broke. "Shit!" Ed exclaimed, knowing that without the knee moving properly, he could barely walk, and without control of the leg he'd have trouble keeping his balance. He moved to the roof and rolled up his trouser leg, trying to get a good look at the knee. Not being particularly gifted with automail technology, all he knew was that something had given inside the casing, and that he'd need an auto-mail mechanic to fix it. As he wondered where the hell he'd be able to find a mechanic, he saw Connies squad coming over the rooftops towards his position. As he rolled down his pants, Connie shouted "The Vanguard has been wiped out, and Titans have cut us off from the HQ. We're meeting back up to try and figure out what to do." "Damn it, alright then just give me a minute to catch my breath." Edward replied as he slowly got back to his feet, obviously favouring his left leg. "You do something to your leg?" Connie asked as he landed on the roof. "Don't worry about it, I just landed on it wrong," Edward said, dismissing the question, even though it was obvious his leg was having trouble. "Let's go meet up with the others, just follow us," Connie said, doubtful that Edward was really fine.

As Edward, following Connies squad, arrived at the group, he looked around and saw it. Their faces, all of them had seen someone die. It was painted in their eyes. Everyone had been powerless as someone died. As he looked around, he heard a voice calling out. "Asshole! Where's your squad, where's the gas, where's our backup?!"He turned just in time for Jean's fist to catch his cheek. "What the hell?" Edward retplied, as Jean was held back by Marco. "You were put in charge of the gas runners right? So where's your squad? Where's our gas? How are we supposed to get back across the wall?" "Look, I don't know where they are, I had to stop off and help out some civilians. When I left, everything was running smoothly." Jean made ready to argue further, when Mikasa arrived from the rear of the city. "Why are you still here? The retreats been signalled so why aren't you over the wall?" She asked, looking around at the people gathered. "We're all too low on gas. We can't make it over the wall. This idiots squad screwed us." Jean replied, pointing to Edward. "Hey, don't blame me. The Garrison Command had decided to move back behind the wall, and I was the only one who was willing to run gas to the vanguard, so I had to go." "Has anyone seen Erens squad?" Mikasa asked, ignoring the argument that was starting between Jean and Edward. "Armin's over there but..." Connie replied, his voice trailing off. Mikasa walked over to where Armin was sitting, and asked him"Where's Eren?", As soon as Armin looked up with a tear streaked face, Edward knew the truth. As Armin screamed, "The members of Squad 34 of the Trainees have given their lives valiantly in service of humanity!" Edward motioned towards Jean, and began to walk towards hin. "We have to make sure she doesn't do something stupid. You know how much she cared about him." Jean nodded, a grim look on his face as his anger slightly faded, replaced with concern. Mikasa stood up, a blank look on her face. "I will lead us all to the Headquarters, past the Titans. I am strong, and I have gas to spare. Follow me and live, or cower here and die, the choice is yours." With that said, she turned around and began to head towards the HQ. "Damn it, fine! I gotta find out what those idiots were doing without me anyway! Stand on your own two feet and move people!" Edward called out as he followed her. As he left, he heard Jean begin to give a speech, shortly followed by cheering and the rest of the trainees following behind them. The last ditch effort for survival for the trainees was at hand, and there he was leading the charge.