[mcv]

I'm running my group through the SRM season 4 missions (as well as a couple of other things from that period). I really like a number of them, and especially how they connect with each other and give a bunch of recurring characters. One mission I never really knew what to do with, was Rally Cry.

In the mission, the shadowrunners are suppose to abduct a senator and insert him into a Humanis rally in order to discredit him.

My problem is: to me it sounds almost trivial for him to claim he was abducted and wasn't there voluntarily. The mission hints that a few people around the senator might be bribable, but for them to squander their current meal ticket, I'd expect the runners would have to pay them more than they're getting paid.

It seems to me that the only way this can possibly work, is if nobody knows he's been abducted, and there's some evidence that he intended to be at that rally. So if I'm going to run this, that's probably the angle I'm going to be using. But that makes the mission a lot harder: how do you abduct someone without anyone realising it's an abduction? It probably requires much more thorough infiltration, for which the mission provides no details.

Does anyone have an idea how best to handle this? How do you make an abduction invisible? How do you make sure neither driver, security nor mistress are aware of it?

There's probably a lot of security that needs to get hacked in order to wipe and plant evidence.

One spell the mage has, Influence (or is it called Suggestion?) might help the senator blurt out that he's going to the rally. Does it work that way? I guess the spell shouldn't work as a mind control spell.

Are there existing adventures or source books with more details about this sort of thing? Am I overlooking important aspects? All in all, it sounds like quite an extension to the mission as currently written.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

My initial thought would be to cover up the abduction by leaving some kind of body double in his place to fool his security and whatnot. preferably while he's at some kind of private retreat or simply alone at home... someplace that leaves him as unconvincing an alibi as possible.  And then place him at the rally via whatever coercion it takes.

[mcv]

Best would probably be to make it look like he intended to go to the rally. Make the people around him believe that's were he intends to go, fake some message on the Matrix about it, that sort of stuff.

[Sphinx]

[SPOILER WARNING]
It's been awhile since I ran these Missions for my players in my home campaign. I think they abducted the congressman from the mistress's apartment and kept him sedated while the team's face attended the rally in his place (using a combination of Impersonation and Disguise skills, Increased Charisma and Physical Mask spells). The rest of the team used their cybereyes, commlink cameras, and drones to record evidence of the face (acting as the congressman) enthusiastically participating in the rally, gladhanding and generally behaving like a politician supporting the cause. Then they made sure all the footage was uploaded to the Matrix and various interested news sites. Afterward, they left the real congressman passed out in the back of an autocab, reeking of synthahol. He could only claim that he "couldn't remember what happened."