Fallout: New Vegas/Ant Misbehavin'

Ant Misbehavin' is a Boomer quest, provided by Raquel.

The generator
The first task is to re-enable the generators to provide power to the base.

While there are only two steps required, the building is filled with ants.

To restart the generator, head to the first floor, and approach the to generators. Restart the two generators, then reset the main breaker switch.

The ants
As described by Raquel, the ants have been eating gunpowder, and are explosive when hit by an energy or fire-based weapon. Regular bullets and most melee weapons work without problem, but will explode if hit by the wrong weapon.

If you have a science or speech skill of at least 50, you can ask Loyal for a Sonic Emitter. With this emitter, place it on the ant next within the base, then activate the emitter. This will safely kill all ants, and allow you to restart the generator without any threat.

Without the emitter, you will need to kill all the ants manually. Make sure your companions are not using energy weapons (the ones that do should wait outside), and finish off the ants with kinetic weapons. An additional hazard within the generator room are howitzer shells: if you shoot one, or cause a nearby explosion from an ant, they trigger a massive explosion that will most likely be fatal (even if you are on the catwalks above the generator room.

You aren't required to kill the ants to complete the quest, if you have a sufficient speech skill.