Squadron Nightraven had done much the same to the other enemy drones around them, and shredded most of them to pieces without much of a fight. The other shield wings also made quick work of their enemies, although they didn't tear through them like Nightraven did.
They used more brutal methods.
Mantis' wing slammed shield-first into the drones and knocked them off-balance even further. Some were hit so hard that they were thrown back down to the ground. The cadets then pounded them relentlessly with their maces. This cracked their armor and warped their structure to a great degree.
Some even made sure to knock the rifles out of their hands, before they crushed their arms into useless ribbons of metal.
They didn't have the efficiency or precision that squadron Nightraven had, and weren't able to disable or destroy most of their targets in a single hit. But they were able to damage them with their blunt weapons, some rather severely.