A plot syn­op­sis and the first chap­ter of Alan Dean Foster’s Trans­form­ers novel enti­tled “Trans­form­ers: The Veiled Threat” have been posted to Del­rey Online.

The book can be pre­ordered on Ama­zon.

The descrip­tion of the book reveals the mean­ing of the NEST acronym seen on the Iron­hide toys, on the leaked call sheet and some vehi­cles on set (Hum­mers) — it sat­nds for the some­what cheesy — “Net­worked Ele­ments: Sup­port­ers and Transformers”.

Life on earth has changed for­ever as humans and their coura­geous robotic allies, the Auto­bots, must work together to pro­tect the planet from the destruc­tive forces of the evil Decep­ti­cons. At the head­quar­ters of NEST (Net­worked Ele­ments: Sup­port­ers and Trans­form­ers), tech sergeant Epps and cap­tain Lennox both guard and assist cyber­neti­cist Yoki Ishi­hara and the brood­ing Russ­ian AI genius Petr Ivanov as they explore the dif­fer­ences between organ­ics and bots. In the mean­time, all around them, alliances fray, dis­trust grows, sus­pi­cions mount, and trai­tors come out of the shadows.

Opti­mus Prime, the pow­er­ful leader of the Auto­bots who is also part of NEST, is on the defense as bat­tles flare up from Aus­tralia to Zim­babwe. But esca­lat­ing Decep­ti­con attacks will cul­mi­nate in a final con­fronta­tion from which no one–man or machine–will emerge unscathed.

Via TLAMB