After years of secrecy, I can finally reveal my 1337 secrets for getting established in SC2 as quickly as possible.
I wouldn't call myself "leet", but in case anyone is looking in this thread for early game RU strategies, I recommend searching for a star in the Tauri group after mining Sol and some surrounding systems. (I forget the specific Tauri star, but I think it's white; it's been a while since I played, as trying to get this remake on a dial-up would be insane.) It has several planets with exotic minerals (sans heavy firestorms, unlike Alpha Centauri) and an Auric world rich in precious metals, and also biologicals you can sell to the Melnorme.
My early game drill is now to mine the Sol system, get some minerals from surrounding systems (avoiding dangerous mining in A Centauri) to get RU for more fuel, and then head to this Tauri system. I never have trouble with RU after that, and the Auric world can usually give me enough bio data to get a Melnorme tech.