And the girl was motioning to him.
Barrent stared, trying to make some sense out of it. She gestured at him to turn something over, turn it over and destroy.
He had no more time to watch. Dizzy from loss of blood, he staggered to his feet and watched the machine charge. He didn't bother to see what weapon it had extruded; his entire attention was concentrated on its wheels.
As it came at him, Barrent threw himself under the wheels.
The machine tried to brake and swerve, but not in time. The wheels rolled onto Barrent's body, tilting the machine sharply upward. Barrent grunted under the impact. With his back under the machine, he put his remaining strength in an attempt to stand up.
For a moment the machine teetered, its wheels spinning wildly. Then it flipped over on its back. Barrent collapsed beside it.
When he could see again, the machine was still on its back. It was extruding a set of arms to turn itself over.
Barrent threw himself on the machine's flat belly and hammered with his fists. Nothing happened. He tried to pull off one of the wheels, and couldn't. Max was propping itself up, preparing to turn over and resume the contest.
The girl's motions caught Barrent's eye. She was making a plucking motion, repeatedly, insistently.
Only then Barrent saw a small fuse box near one of the wheels. He yanked off the cover, losing most of a fingernail in the process, and removed the fuse.