A.N. I came up this idea a while ago, and just couldn't let it go until I wrote something for it. I'm also still in heavy denial that both my favorite characters are dead, and I refuse to accept it! So the only option is to make a story where they both survive and ship them together while I'm at it. With that on with the story!

Chapter 1

System reboot in progress. Atlesian Knight model 200 startup sequence initiated….

Error...Unknown script detected. Processing….Heavy damage logged, priority shift.

Error. Unknown energy merging with system….Error! System rebooting.

The sound of fire crackling was the first thing that Pyrrha came to notice. Everything was a blur, Pyrrha felt like she was on a never ending merry go round that just kept spinning and spinning around. The next thing she noticed was how cold it was, a numbing feeling that left Pyrrha without a sense of the world around her. She tried to move her fingers, but she wasn't sure if she actually was.

She tried to open her eyes, but the feeling was off. Her vision flickered back to life more like that of a computer screen than just opening her eyelids. Pyrrha was lying on the ground that much was clear. Staring up at the shattered moon above Pyrrha tried to focus.

Everything came back to her in an instant, the tournament, Penny, Ozpin and the Maiden, Jaune, and finally the arrow striking her heart. The all consuming burning sensation as she felt her life leave her. Unconsciously Pyrrha reached up to her chest where the arrow should be, but there was no arrow there.

In fact Pyrrha heard the metallic tink of metal touching metal. She jerked upwards to look at herself. This wasn't her body Pyrrha realized in horror. Her body was disintegrated by that woman, looking down Pyrrha recognized the familiar mechanical limbs of one of General Ironwood's new Atlesian Knights.

Looking at her hands Pyrrha moved them experimentally in front of her face confirming the truth. Metal fingers moved according to what Pyrrha was trying to do. This couldn't be real was Pyrrha's first thought.

"System reboot finished." The former huntress in training jumped computer text appearing in the corner of her vision. It was like she was wearing a helmet with a visor, but it was actually her vision. The text was green and it disappeared as soon as Pyrrha processed what it said.

"Error, system maintenance required." Pyrrha's mind was whirling trying to figure out what was going on. Looking around she was in what remained of Beacon's courtyard. The school was in ruins though, buildings still on fire and Pyrrha saw Grimm stalking around. The beaten remains of other Atlas mechs littered the ground. The Grimm seemed to be ignoring her for the moment though, which was good because Pyrrha wasn't even sure she could stand right now.

"Priority shift, new objective retrieve synth-human core." The text was flashing in the corner of Pyrrha's vision, demanding her attention. Reading the text Pyrrha didn't understand what it meant, but after she read it the text disappeared.

Looking at her hands and body again Pyrrha tried to wrap her mind around this. She was alive, sort of even after the arrow struck her heart. She still felt her aura, drained and tired which would seem right if she had nearly died, or died Pyrrha still wasn't sure. Experimentally Pyrrha looked around spotting a small twisted piece of a metal locker door not to far away. Holding out her hand Pyrrha focused, the metal glided over to her as her semblance commanded it. She still had her semblance. Pyrrha let the metal fall back to the ground once she was sure it was real, and she was moving the metal not some twisted hallucination.

Looking down at her new mechanical legs, Pyrrha slowly moved them. Pushing herself up Pyrrha stood unsteadily. She stumbled and fell to her knee almost immediately. Looking down at her right leg some of the metal covering the leg was torn away. Wires were sticking out of the limb, and small electric sparks crackled around the damage.

Carefully Pyrrha stood again this time she managed to stay upright. Even though the limb was damaged Pyrrha felt no pain. In fact she felt nothing, everything was cold and numb. She could see leaves and debris fluttering in the wind, but she couldn't feel the breeze.

Stumbling over to the damaged fountain Pyrrha peered down into the water. Staring back at her was an Atlesian Knight mech. Unlike the others the visor was glowing a bright green instead of plain black. Moving her hand towards the reflection Pyrrha confirmed it was real and this wasn't some horrid dream.

The water rippled under her touch, and Pyrrha nearly collapsed again. She gripped the rim of the fountain hearing her metal body click as she shook. What was this? How was she alive! This shouldn't be possible, but here she was in a machine's body not alive but not dead either.

Perhaps this was punishment for murdering Penny, and almost taking the Fall Maiden's aura. If Pyrrha had eyes she would cry right not, scream if she had a voice, but her new machine body had no voice.

"Retrieve synth-human core." The text flashed again, and this time Pyrrha actually read it trying to understand what it was telling her. She didn't get the time to ponder it though as a low growl sounded out behind her.

Whipping around a Beowolf growled at her. Stalking over to her its claws clicking against stone walkway. Pyrrha looked around there was plenty of metal debris around, but no weapon in sight. With her shaky grasp on her body the former huntress in training knew she should not be getting in a fight right now.

The Beowolf was picking up the pace sensing Pyrrha was planning on running. Quickly with a sharp swipe of her hand a broken bench flew at the Grimm. Pyrrha didn't take the time to even see if it hit she bolted.

Pyrrha ran, she kept running quickly noticing there was no burning from her lungs, or limbs feeling heavy from exhaustion. The sickening realization that she had no lungs that needed air, or muscles that needed rest. Her metal body continued to run avoiding Grimm who sensed her tormented soul.

Eventually Pyrrha found the Amity Colosseum, the large stadium without anyone to control it had crashed into Beacon. Now a tangled mess of old school buildings and what was left of the Colosseum marred half the school.

"Synth-human core detected. Retrieve core." Finally the words flashing before Pyrrha forced the former huntress to slow down and read them. If Pyrrha could breath right now she'd imagine it would hitch. Imagines of Penny's horrified face right before she was ripped apart flashing in her mind as she looked at the mangled stadium.

Pyrrha knew it wasn't her fault, yet it was still her hand that caused Penny's death. Everything after could be linked back to Pyrrha in that single moment she let the villains' plan be set in motion. It was all her fault, maybe that was why she was still here.

For some reason though Pyrrha felt drawn to the ruined stadium though, her metal feet taking her numbly to the quickly crumbling structure. Traversing the ruined structure Pyrrha found nothing, but the crumbling building. Of course though there were a few bodies laying around, but as soon as Pyrrha looked at them she quickly shifted her gaze. Guilt tearing at her soul.

Eventually one body Pyrrha was forced to look at. Still on the stadium grounds Pyrrha found Penny's torn form. After the Nevermore had landed the rest of her body parts were scattered about, but her head and part of her torso was still mostly intact. Pyrrha collapsed to her knees next to Penny. She did this, she ripped her apart. Looking at her now metal and machinery were apparent on the girl, but did it really matter what Penny was though. She had a heart and a soul and Pyrrha took that away from her.

"Synth-human core found. Begin wireless download for transport of personality. Remove aura core to fully transport. " The words flashed in bright green right in front of Pyrrha this time. The former huntress jumped staring at the words. A download bar appeared in front of her, and slowly Pyrrha's mind began to process what the words had told her. Was synth-human referring to Penny? Looking at the mangled body that appeared to be what Penny was, but what did it mean wireless download?

It appeared Pyrrha was about to find out as the download bar filled itself fully. Pyrrha's body jerked against her will, and the former huntress struggled to control her body.

"Oh! Apologies, I did not mean to take over motor controls. Salutations knight, thank you for retrieving me!" Pyrrha froze, that voice it echoed in her head coming from nowhere in particular. Yet Pyrrha could hear it loud and clear.

"Could you please take the core out of my body. We won't be able to go anywhere without it." Penny's voice asked her kindly, and Pyrrha could almost imagine the kind smiled that would follow it. Just like the one she gave Pyrrha before they fought, before Pyrrha murdered her. Looking at Penny's body a small cylinder had popped out of a compartment built into the girl's chest. Carefully Pyrrha grabbed the cylinder, and almost immediately a warm feeling flooded her body. It was someone's aura, not just someone though it was Penny's.

Though Pyrrha only knew her from that fight the former huntress would never forget the strength that came from the small girl's aura. Now it was warm though, and it shifted around until Pyrrha felt a pleasant warmth settle in the back of her head. Almost as if Penny's aura was getting comfortable.

"Thank you!" Penny's voice chirped, Pyrrha couldn't believe it. Could Penny really be okay right now. She sounded okay, but the mangled body before her said otherwise. Pyrrha heard Penny hum in thought.

Pyrrha felt Penny's aura shift again. This time it reached out to Pyrrha's own, inwardly the former huntress in training shuttered. Her soul felt raw, drained worse than her toughest fight or even when she used her aura to unlock Jaune's.

"Pyrrha Nikos?" Penny's voice sounded confused, thinking of no other way to respond Pyrrha nodded.

"But you're human what are you doing in the body of Atlesian Knight?" Penny sounded quite perplex, but Pyrrha didn't have an answer for her even if she did she didn't know how to tell Penny. The synthetic girl seemed to be able to speak using the mech's internal systems, but Pyrrha could barely walk in this body now let alone figure out how to do the same. Feeling Penny's aura shift again, Pyrrha tensed.

"We can't figure this out if you don't talk to me." Pyrrha could feel Penny's aura shift around her own, not touching or mingling in their currently shared body. Vaguely Pyrrha recalled hearing in class about a way to communicate through aura. One had to create a link between two people's souls, but the process required trust and was considered a deeply personal thing to do with someone.

Penny seemed to be respecting Pyrrha's distance though, her aura staying close but still giving Pyrrha space. The girl was waiting to see if Pyrrha would accept the link so they could communicate.

Inwardly Pyrrha took a mental deep breath, this seemed to be her only option to speak. Besides Pyrrha needed to ask Penny something, comfirm this was real. That the voice speaking to her wasn't just Pyrrha's guilt addled mind creating ghosts.

Pyrrha reached out with her own aura feeling a warm sensation spread through her body before settling back in her head. The link was created, a tentative life line between their souls, Pyrrha felt a sense of joy. Yet it didn't seem to be her own she was sensing Penny's joy she quickly realized. The other girl seemed happy that Pyrrha trusted her enough to form a link.

"Penny?" Speaking through the link Pyrrha tested even in her head her voice sounded shaky. Disbelieving that any of this was happening.

"At your service! Thank you for trusting me, I think it would have been rather difficult to communicate any other way. I know Atlesian Knights lack vocal capabilities other than a few phrases." Penny explained her voice sounding happy.

"You're alive?" Pyrrha asked mostly ignoring Penny's previous statement.

"Well, my body is very much destroyed, but I'm fine as long as my core is intact. Which thankfully it is!" At the mention of the core Pyrrha looked down at the small cylinder in her hand. It glowed a bright neon green, and Pyrrha could sense Penny's aura surrounding it.

"Your core? You're not human." The second sentence was a fact, one that if Pyrrha looked back on made sense. Though she had few if any interactions with Penny, from Team RWBY's description of her she seemed...quirky.

"No, I'm not." A flash of sadness passed through the link, but it was gone in an instant.

"My core is what produces my aura, in a way it's my soul. As long as that is not damage they can rebuild my body, and as long as my head hasn't been destroyed they can transfer my memories to said body." Pyrrha once heard rumors Atlas was developing machines that could generate aura, but Pyrrha had shook it off as fantasy. Clearly Penny was proof it wasn't.

None of this explained Pyrrha's current state though.

"What happened to you? After I went offline I have no idea what happened." Penny sounded quite distraught that she had no idea what happened. Pyrrha couldn't blame her, she wished she didn't know what happened. Before Pyrrha could explain what happened though she had to ask.

"Why are you being so kind to me? I murdered you!" For a second Pyrrha briefly wondered if Penny was getting snippets of her own emotions through their new aura link, but the thought was quickly forgotten.

"Why should I be mad? You didn't mean to hurt me." Penny stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Pyrrha couldn't believe it though, she ripped Penny apart! How could she not have at least an ounce of anger towards her.

"That doesn't mean I didn't! Look at you!" Pyrrha gestured to the mangled body before them. Again though this didn't seem to bother Penny.

"Nonsense, though I admit I am rather upset my body was destroyed. It's a-okay the engineers at Atlas can fix me good as new! I'm not mad, I could never be mad at a friend." There was such a cheerful tone when Penny called Pyrrha friend that the former huntress felt a new wave of guilt hit her. She didn't deserve this kindness, but here Penny was giving it to her anyway.

"I'm more worried about you right now! Please explain what happened." Pyrrha herself wasn't entirely sure of everything that happened, but she tried explaining the events after Penny went 'offline'. Pyrrha paused though when she got to the part on top of the tower right before she was sure she died. Before Penny could question it though the synthetic girl shouted.

"Behind us!" Pyrrha whipped around to see the Beowolf that had been chasing her before towering above her. Her metal joints clicked as Pyrrha threw herself out of the way before the Beowolf's claws came down.

Clutching Penny's core in one hand Pyrrha extended her other hand without thinking she saw one of Penny's swords lying on the ground. The blade flew at Pyrrha the former huntress catching it using it to block another blow from the Beowolf.

The beast snarled trying to shove the blade out of the way, but Pyrrha held her ground. Jumping back Pyrrha stumbled her damaged leg sparking.

"We should retreat, we're not combat ready." Pyrrha heard Penny say, but Pyrrha only saw one way out through a destroyed hallway that the Beowolf was guarding. This beast was large its many spines and spikes growing out of its fur showing how long this Grimm has survived. It knew Pyrrha was at a disadvantage, so it was blocking her escape.

"I don't think we have a choice Penny." The Beowolf seemed to agree snarling at Pyrrha waiting for her to try and escape. Glancing around Pyrrha spotted two other scattered swords from Penny's mangled body. Quickly Pyrrha rushed forwards despite the damaged leg.

Swinging the sword she held Pyrrha slashed at the Beowolf several times before jumping back again when it tried to counter attack. With another wave of her hand before the beast could see it coming. The two swords came flying imbedding themselves in the beast's hide.

While the wolf was disoriented Pyrrha rushed forward using all her strength she swung Penny's old sword decapitating the Grimm. With a short howl the Beowolf fell away into ash and dust drifting away in the breeze.

Before Pyrrha would imagine she would be panting at least a little tired from such effort, but she felt nothing. While she did feel like her aura was greatly drained, the only feeling Pyrrha had was a cold numbness.

That was until Penny's aura made itself known again. Her aura shifting slightly through their now shared body as if checking for damage. It stopped eventually settling in the back of Pyrrha's head again. Pyrrha didn't say anything about it instead standing still staring ahead at nothing in particular. A part of her was finally accepting this as reality. While the other half still struggled to understand what was going on.

"We should probably leave this area. It appears highly infested with Grimm." Penny's voice was soft trying to coax Pyrrha into moving. Knowing of nothing else to do Pyrrha nodded her new metal limbs clicking softly as they left the coliseum.

A.N. This fic will probably be pretty slow burn, as I plan on making Pyrrha and Penny's relation gradually grow from Pyrrha feeling extremely guilty and indebted to Penny for destroying her original body to being friends and continuing from there. I'm planning on including some other ships in here, but for now the focus is sticking on our main characters here. With that I'll see you guys next chapter!