I couldn't have said it better myself.
A few ideas on HOW to turn this idea (or premise) into a story.
Hope it helps.

<Cue music> Black Escaflowne

I'm going to start out saying something I've said before. [Consider the
source ^_^]

Considered in isolation, IDEAS are worthless. Not until (and unless)
you DO something with an 'idea' does it actually become a story. It is
almost universal among professional writers [I hasten to point out that I
am NOT in that august company. Yet. ^_+] that they have a fan or fans
approach them with an 'IDEA'. 

The difficulty in writing is NOT finding
an 'idea', it's turning the idea into a story! I'll add a few links at the
end that go into much more (and better) detail than I ever could on the
subject of writing a story. But first, a few of my own ideas and
observations.

<Cue Music> Struggle by Stan Ridgeway

OK, first off:
Ranma/Zoids >>story?
Let's break this down into it's basic components:

Ranma: Martial Arts/comedy/romance > Slapstick/romance
That is, Ranma reduces to primarily a Slapstick (physical comedy)
with a light romance driven plot-line. This is NOT hard and fast since
there ARE elements of drama. But the primary focus is physical humor
which is driven by romantic conflict.


Zoids: Space Opera type SF > Giant Robot >Action/Adventure
Zoids is a bit easier to deconstruct since it's primarily an
Action/Adventure story. (This is ONLY for example purposes. I'd
rather NOT hear from 'Zoids' experts about how I've missed the entire
point of Zoids. I'm simply trying to illustrate a process for writing a
story)

Now then . . .which elements do you keep, which do you throw away?
Do you want a romantic comedy with giant robots? Martial Arts Action
Adventure (substitute martial arts for the giant robots?) You'd go
through a similar process for an original story, btw. You'd decide what
KIND of story you're writing, or at least basic elements. Western,
Detective, Horror, etc.

<Cue Music> Fight! Iczer-One/Never Run Away/Eien no Iczer-
one/Iczer Robo

{puts me in the mood for giant fighting robot stories. ^_*}

I'm 'guessing' that you're setting your story in the 'Guardian Force'
(third of the three arcs but first aired in US) Zoids universe? Frankly I'd
probably use one of the earlier series, simply because I find the idea of
giant Zoid fighting games rather boring.  (As opposed to an actual war
for survival)^_*

BUT, a decision is a decision.  For the story we have the following
elements:

1)Martial arts comedy characters
2)Giant Battle Robot games universe 

NOW . . . what are you going to do with them? What's the dynamic
tension? WHAT drives the story? Simply having Ranma & co. drive
around in Giant robots fighting OTHER giant robots isn't going to
work. WHY involve Ranma in the first place? AND, what are you
going to do with Nodoka? (And why would _she_ be the leader? I
don't care one way or the other, but there's got to be some internal
justification for that choice.)


<cue music> Coffee and Pepto by HB Radke & The jet City Swingers

Universe: Zoids > Guardian Force > Giant Fighting Robot > Games
This is the framework of the story. Sets the limits, gives physical
parameters, language, customs, etc. This is the stage upon which the
story is played. 

Characters: The players. These are the people the reader will care
about. The authors 'avatars' who will be heroes and cowards, lovers,
rascals and rouges. 

Dynamic Tension or "Problem to be Solved": Motivating force that
drives your characters to DO things. Untangle a love triangle, save the
world, defeat evil, discover the lost cities of gold . . . SOMETHING!
 It is the PROCESS of problem solving that is interesting. IF your
hero(ine) takes a straight line path from the first page of your story to
the end, that's pretty boring.

NOW, what's the problem to be solved in this story? Getting back home? Saving the world (Zi, Earth, both?) A new love interest for Ranma? (with conflicts from Ukyou/Shampoo?) Simply staying alive?

 Watt-Evans sixth law of fantasy: if a story can be written without a
fantasy element, then don't bother with the fantasy element.
http://www.sff.net/people/lwe/miscellaneous/laws.htm

In this case, WHAT do Ranma & co. bring UNIQUELY to this story? What do they bring that no other characters could bring? Can you write the story just as well w/o Ranma & co.? If you can, do NOT force Ranma into the story simply because you think it would be neat to see Rama driving a giant robot. 



the magic of Ranma. Watt-Evans' Fifth Law of Fantasy: Magic, like everything else, has rules
Rules provide structure. If ANY thing is possible in your story, then nothing matters.

 If your 'hero(ine)' is about to be eaten by a giant man-eating Jabberwock and suddenly pulls out a package of Jabberwock repellent that (s)he just happens to have . . . you've destroyed the element of suspense. Because NOW the reader can't tell if the hero(ine) has a real problem in the
future or can just 'fix' things with a snap of the fingers.

<Cue Music> Big Tubba Mista by Alien Fashion Show

As for this 'idea', I can think of ten different stories with this mix:
(These are just starting points. There are many variations on each theme)

1)Nodoka is related to the 'ancient zoidians'
2)Ranma (through the cursed pools) is connected to Zoid technology
3)Shampoo attempts to use a 'magic' item to get Ranma. Said magic item is
actually Zoidian technology.
4)Ukyou is actually a lost Organoid
5)Backdraft is recruiting fighters to beat the Good Guys
6)The Good Guy's are recruiting fighters to beat BD
7) Ranma tries a new "cure" for his curse and falls through a hole in space/time >> Zi
8) A Ranma 'enemy' (Ryouga/Happi, etc) tries to get rid of Ranma >>Zi
9)Natural phenomenon zaps Ranma to Zi
10)Experiment gone wrong on Zi snatches Ranma to Zi

{and of course, you can mix-and-match}


In some cases a character or characters have some preexisting
relationship with Zi. In other cases the connection is accidental.
The connection may be benign or sinister or neutral. 

The "problem" may simply be getting back home. 
OR
defeating and enemy and getting back home 
OR 
defeating an enemy in order to get home 
OR 
defeat enemy > save Zi/go back home> Zi destroyed,
you can have one or the other, but NOT both. 


Perhaps Nodoka and Ranma join Backdraft, leaving
Shampoo & Ukyou with a conflict?

There are a LOT of choices. One is not better than the other. They
just give different stories. It is up to the skill of the author to tell a GOOD story, based on the 'idea'. 


LINKS:
http://hobgoblin.net/resources/createlink1.asp
http://www.geocities.com/twadvice/
http://members.aol.com/MacedonPg/writing.htm
http://freereads.topcities.com/narrativedialogue.html
http://www.dragonsquillandink.com/Resources/writing_resources.html









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