The Local Guards of the Turian Hierarchy are unique formations, created due to the simultaneously fractured and highly authoritarian nature of the Hierarchy. The number of dextro amino acid worlds existing in the galaxy is rather limited compared to their more conventional counterparts, and the worlds that do exist are spread far and wide. Due to this, turian colonization can be found across the entirety of the galaxy, islands of dense settlement often found deep within the other states or sparkly settled space. This far-flung nature has caused significant problems for the Hierarchy Armed Forces, especially when dealing with constant low level threats like piracy, which often fluctuate in threat level rather quickly with the shifting movements and power of pirate bands. The size of the Hierarchy Armed Forces made it difficult for forces to be properly allocated and commanded across the entire galaxy.
The solution to this was the formation of independent Guard units, each raised by a single planet or colonized region for their own protection. These Guard units would deal with local problems, their smaller size allowing for a more fluid reaction to local threats, while the Hierarchy Navy, Army, and Legions protected the entirety of Council Space, assisting the local Guards whenever a situation got out of hand, such as during the pirate campaigns across the Cyclops Delta in the time prior to the First Contact War.
All Guards are part of the Hierarchy Armed Forces, with them using the same rank structure and unit organization as the Navy and Army. The equipment provided to the Guards is generally surplus equipment from the other HAF branches, with some Guards also gaining newer equipment through additional funding allocated by their Primarch depending on the local threats. When needed, Guards formations will be deployed alongside Navy and Army formations, usually under the other branches' commands.
The area a Guard operates in depends on the local Primarchs. Each moderately populated world within the Hierarchy is required to have a Guard, but it is common for Guards within local regions to be amalgamated into a single larger Guard in order to pool resources. The Cyclops Delta Guard, for instance, was founded from 5 separate planetary Guards that joined together to protect the entire cluster, with several more joining as the cluster grew.
The strength of local Guards varied greatly depending on the individual colonies and regions. For instance, the Cyclops Delta Guard is formed out of a few dozen Regiments of troops, with a stronger naval presence that includes 2 light cruisers, a dozen destroyers, and dozens of frigates and corvettes. The Palaven Guard, on the other hand, can match many full navies, having hundreds of warships, though none of greater size than a light cruiser. The amount of resources allocated to Guards leads to the HAF looking weaker on paper than it is in practise, its troop numbers and warship tonnage increasing two and a half times when adding the Guards into the equation, though these forces are less bloodied and worse equipped than their regular counterparts.
The Cyclops Delta Guard would serve heavily in the early stages of the First Contact War, fighting humanity alongside the forces of the Hierarchy Navy.