Michael has opted to take to the air (sooner than he'd have liked) to avoid the dark energy orbs. He thinks he could survive one, but doesn't want to test the theory, let alone repeat the experiment. Besides, the vibes he gets from them remind him uncomfortably of visiting the ruins of Heartland, back in 2054, after Calvert Wycoff blew his stack. Remind him uncomfortably, as well, of how comfortable he, Divis Mal, was with the Terrible Glory of Taint™.

In a spirit of scientific inquiry, he hits one of the orbs with a small-scale version of his energy-suppression field*. If it causes the orb to fizzle, he'll try it again.

While he waits for that experiment's results to come in, he fires a nice big bolt at one of the approaching dropships, big enough to do some real damage.

* See the list of his powers in Aberrant: Worldwide Phase I.